Good afternoon all. Ever since installing Norton Internet Security 2006, my system has slowed to a crawl. When I close either browsers or prgroms the screens close by peeling down from top to bottom. I've run Ad Aware, Spybot, Spysweeper, Spyware Defender, Spyware Blaster, Trojan Hunter and Registry fix, and nothing seems to help. Does anyone have any suggestions. I'm particularly interested in trying an alternative to Norton Internet Security 2006.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Al
Norton is known as a bit of a system hog. It probably will slow your PC right down unless your PC has some extra special features. I have 512mb RAM and i only have Norton Anti Virus 2006, none of the other Nortons and it slows my PC alot. It's either something you'll have to live with unless you opt out of using it. Maybe a RAM upgrade? Your call. I hope this helps.
Hi toby5396,
You're not alone when it comes to having difficulties with Norton/Symantec security utilities.
Opinions vary, but in general Norton/Symantec provides excellent protection,…….. but at a high cost to system resources, which can slow a machine down to a crawl.
To get an idea of how much of your system resources Norton/Symantec "hogs", go take a look in your System Configuration Utility. You find around 11 Norton/Symantec processes running in your StartUp(tab) listing, and still others in your Services. Those items are probably responsible for slowdown that you are experiencing.
To view the items actively running from StartUp:
Start - Run (type)MSCONFIG - hit Enter - then Select - StartUp(tab)
A good alternative AntiVirus which I recommend and run on many machines is AVG AntiVirus (the "free" edition). It provides the same kind of AntiVirus protection, without degredation of security, AND you will notice that it Runs as few as 4 processes from StartUp. That should help your system responsiveness.
You'll also want to replace the Firewall function currently provided by Norton with a lower impact utility like the well-regarded Zone Alarm (free).
If you decide to switch to AVG and Zone Alarm products, download them to a location that you can easily find, "prior to" uninstalling your Norton/Symantec product.
Then disconnect from the Internet and Uninstall all Norton Symantec security products using Control Panel - Add/Remove.
Next (while still disconnected from the Internet) install the AVG (free) and Zone Alarm (free) products.
Next, reconnect to the internet and allow AVG to update itself.
Keep us posted with your progress.
Best Regards
^^^
No disrespect Dough, but personally, i wouldn't recommend AVG Free at all…..nor AVG Professional. I have had both and it doesn't recognise many viruses at all, nor does it get rid of them efficiently. Norton is better in my opinion but as we've both said, Norton uses alot of the systems resorces. However…….whatever anti-virus you prefer you should use, it's just my honest opinion.
I hope this does not grow into one of those threads of whos best !!! heres a selection of what I feel is a good recommended varied selection for any user, not just an opinionated version on one AV alone.
For licienced products I feel there are 3 main contenders, all have a trial period available
Nod32 -> http://www.eset.com/download/index.php Kaspersky -> http://www.kaspersky.com/downloads Norton (symantec) -> http://www.symantec.com/index.htm
In all honesty im not a norton fan due to the amout of recourses it consumes, but you have to give them credit as the largest selling AV. Maybe the others are just not marketed right, after all, how many shops do you see nod32 or kaspersky sat on the shelves ?
There is also bitdefender 8 as a freebie but this program does not stay resident. In my opinion no one can recommend one anti virus to the other due to the simple fact of how long is a peice of string! Heres a comparison table I came across from Aug 2006 -> http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/defaul…d=82&mnu=82
