OT-Virus Control

[Al Millstein]

Would appreciate input on this off-topic.

I have had McAfee virus scan protection for years; it has always protected me from viruses. Normally I update every day or so, or at least weekly.

My complaint is that the downloading is very quirky. At present time, I cannot download becaues it blocks me with advertising, throws crazy and illogical franchise agreements at me, etc. They make it virtually impossible to contact them for help.

I am considering switching to Norton. Anyone have similar experience, or suggestions?

Al

[Jodi Frye]

In 2001 I started with Norton Antivirus then in 2002 I upgraded to Norton Internet Security Pro. I plan on updating to the next latest version of Norton in June of next year ( my updates are paid t'il then ) and have never had the problems you are describing. I believe Norton's latest version is called ' Internet Security '...not sure what the options are with this one. My current version includes a firewall which i have been very pleased with thus far. I have not had Adobe/Norton wars like some claim to have but I use the 'disable' option in my Antivirus when i install my photoshop products....a few minutes to install then i turn my Norton back on. I am very pleased with Norton and have never had a virus...KNOCK on Wood !

[Kenneth Liffmann]

Have been very pleased with Norton Antivirus. Have quaranteed several viruses and deleted them from system. Updates come along periodically. I follow drill outlined by Jodi when installing new programs.
Ken

[Ray]

Al,

You have described in exactly the same words the reasons I switched from McAfee to Norton. Their
constant habit of trying to sell you anything else got to the point where I went directly to
Norton's website, downloaded Norton and got rid of McAfee, all this in 15 minutes!

It was two years ago, and never have I had regrets about this. Norton doesn't force you to go to
their website, LiveUpdate (a function of the anti-virus) can download and apply new virus defs files
in the background. And it doesn't force you to connect to the internet, if you're on a dial-up
connection. It detects the connection and proceeds, as per configuration. LiveUpdate are available
every Wednesday, on a regular basis, but if you need a better level of protection, you click on the
button and it'll check for the latest update (some weeks there are many, others there are none).

And, on my particular machine, installing Norton has got it to work just a little faster than
McAffee.

Finally, since I made the move, all my familly did and no one have had problems with Norton since.

Ray

[Nancy S]

Al,

Though some people have mentioned problems with PSE and think it related to Norton, I'm not sure about that. Like Jodi, I don't have Norton running when I do any installs. My personal experiences are that for nearly four years I have had Adobe products running happily beside each new release of Norton.

This new computer came with McAfee, three months ago and I didn't even wait for the free trial period to end before purchasing the newest Norton again. I found I couldn't live with the update procedures of McAfee, so I can relate to your criticism. However, this is only my personal experience based on my preferences.

Nancy

edit: I bought the suite called Norton Internet Security which includes Norton Antivirus and Norton Personal Firewall.

[Ed Wurster]

"Al Millstein" <almillstein@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:2ccd4e86.-1@webx.la2eafNXanI...

> Would appreciate input on this off-topic.
>
> I have had McAfee virus scan protection for years; it has always protected

me from viruses. Normally I update every day or so, or at least weekly.

>
> My complaint is that the downloading is very quirky. At present time, I

cannot download becaues it blocks me with advertising, throws crazy and
illogical franchise agreements at me, etc. They make it virtually impossible
to contact them for help.

>
> I am considering switching to Norton. Anyone have similar experience, or

suggestions?

>
> Al

If you want to pay, then I suggest Norton AV over McAfee. Norton is not
trouble-free, but the upgrade/update process with McAfee caused problems
last time I tried it.

McAfee also uses more resources of the computer.

You could also try AVG, which has a free for personal edition. I find that I
am downloading that with more frequency for individual users who have
various problems (with McAfee or Norton AV) where the subscription ran out,
or the software has stopped working and must be removed.

Ed

[bethC]

Al, I've used McAfee and Norton but for the five years I've been using OnTrack. It is a great system. I'm still using Version 4 but will be getting the new version. A new version was just released - you can check it. The new system is called v-com System Suite 5. at <http://www.v-com.com/>
It is very user friendly and I've not had a virus problem ever while using it.

beth

[Byron Gale]

I don't doubt anyone's reports of trouble... but my experience with McAfee
is hitchless.

I have it set to automatically check for updates daily, and it
downloads/installs them in the background. I never have to interact with
it.

For curiosity's sake, I regularly check the activity log to see what it has
done, recently... but that's just me.

I never have to visit their web site, so do not have to deal with any
advertising.

....oh, yes... I've never gotten a virus since I began running McAfee. The
one and only virus I ever got was in '95 or '96... the Laroux (Excel macro)
virus. That's what prompted me to select an antivirus product. Can't tell
you why I chose McAfee, but I've never had a problem. I can't remember the
last time I turned it off during a software install (Adobe products
included!). No troubles, there, either.

Consequently, I have never had to consider using a competing product.

Byron

[Nancy S]

A matter of personal preference for sure. I don't think it out of the realm of possibility that a person may have different experiences due in part to one's unique system configuration. The bottom line seems to be, as usual...whatever works best for you.

[bethC]

I agree, Nancy :)
It has been interesting to hear everyone's point of view.

[Schraven Robert]

Byron,

same here.
I have had macafee for over 5 years now and followed them onto the internet with now macafee doing their own updates in the background.
Never had any reason to switch.

Robert

[carl sutherland]

There is a major difference in the support system unless I did not figure everything out which is possible. I was told I had a virus by my ISP recently. I have Norton on my Windows unit and McAfee on my MAC both units plugged into an Airport so it could have been either of them. Both machines tested negative for viruses. I went to both for support trying to figure out what was going on. Norton could not help me except for a very expensive phone call. Since it was a question of whether their product was doing its job, I found that really irritating. McAfee provided a forum like this one we are on and answered my questions. Since both products seem to have done their job during all this virus problem, I'll favor McAfee.

Carl

[tello daronatsy]

Sometime ago I read in a column by Jim Coates, who is the resident columnist for the Chicago Tribune and writes a couple columns a week relating to computers, and his advise was that everyone is making too much of the virus protectors. I have not had any virus protection on my computer since I read that particular column in which he said that he does not use any virus protection. That was about 2 years ago and I have not had any problems since then.

[Al Millstein]

Thanks to all for the wonderful input. I'm digesting it, and I'm sure it will all help me decide what to do.

Al

[Jodi Frye]

you like to live in danger ? Good Luck



:)

[Joe Henry1000]

I'm with tello on the whole virus protection thing. Course I use a Mac so I think I'll be ok.

Hey Jodi, is that an avatar or just a little html?

Joe

[Patti Anderson]

Is Jim Coates a virus expert? Anyway, that was two years ago, hackers have gotten more crafty. Tello, unless you are using a Mac, you ARE living in danger. How do you know that your computer is virus free and is not inadvertently infecting others?

With this latest virus outbreak, my virus software (PC-cillin 2003) cleaned and deleted a lot of viruses. Mind you, I teach online classes so thousands of students have my email in their address book. I cannot imagine being without a virus protection!

Case example: My daughter's college network was crippled because of the Blaster worm. One student infected the whole network (it only takes one on a network). That person decided they didn't need anti-virus software or bother to update Internet Explorer. It was a mess.

Off my soapbox now. I go now and find a PE topic to read...LOL

Patti

[Peter Duniho]

"Patti Anderson" <omd01639@mail.wvnet.edu> wrote in message
news:2ccd4e86.15@webx.la2eafNXanI...

> Is Jim Coates a virus expert? Anyway, that was two years ago, hackers
> have gotten more crafty. Tello, unless you are using a Mac, you ARE
> living in danger. How do you know that your computer is virus free
> and is not inadvertently infecting others?

Probably because he practices "safe computing". I don't use anti-virus
software either. I used to run it, but I sick and tired of the performance
problems and data corruption that bugs in the anti-virus software caused.
But, I also don't download software from untrusted web sites, and I never,
*ever* open attachments in email that could be carrying a virus.

Also, keep in mind to not get confused about a "virus" versus a "worm". The
recent "MSBlaster" worm would have been unlikely to be stopped by anti-virus
software, because it didn't require any action on the part of the user (and
so can propogate faster than any anti-virus definitions), and would not have
come into the machine via any of the mechanisms anti-virus software normally
looks at (and so probably wouldn't have been noticed by the anti-virus
software anyway).

The best way to protect against worms like MSBlaster is to make sure you
keep your computer up to date with the latest security patches, and to use a
firewall (which is a different type of protection from anti-virus software).

> Case example: My daughter's college network was crippled because of
> the Blaster worm. One student infected the whole network (it only takes
> one on a network). That person decided they didn't need anti-virus
> software or bother to update Internet Explorer. It was a mess.

The only way the network could have been crippled by the worm would have
been if most of the machines on the network had not been updated. Which
quite likely was the case. The reason MSBlaster got so far is because so
few people download the security updates. But I don't think it's fair to
blame even a single person for a network getting infected by MSBlaster. If
anything, the network administrators should be blamed, because the worm
comes in through a network port that there's not really any good reason to
be left open. Alternatively, if one student should be blamed, then every
student with an un-updated computer should be blamed.

Anti-virus software is an *excellent* choice for many users, depending on
their technical expertise and the network environment in which their
computer exists. But it's no panacea, and is not the right answer for every
user.

Pete

[Jodi Frye]

[carl sutherland]

Jodi,

Those animations you do are so cute! How do you do them?

Carl