What do I do now?
By celticeagle
@celticeagle (159400)
Boise, Idaho
May 5, 2011 7:46pm CST
I have a refurbished Dell computer. I had problems with the original Dell that I had so they sent me a refurbished one. It worked for about a week and they had to send out a tech to replace the HD. It worked very well from then on. (That was in November)It has Windows 7 on it and is real nice to use.
I have used Norton 360 for several years now since I had a bad trojan and Norton was the only one that could get it off. I was so happy with them. I thought they were alot better than it seems they are. About 8:30p. night before last my PC wouldn't go to the desktop. It would turn on, I would put the password in and then it would go to a dark screen. Time and time again. So I called tech support. The tech did a restore and it worked fine again. Said it was a conflicting driver. So onward I go. Lastnight at almost exactly the same time(which I thought was alittle weird) it did the same thing again. So I called tech support. This time they said it was a software issure and I would have to pay for it. So I payed $94 to have them do a complete scan rather than do a PC restore which could take my pics and docs off the PC. Didn't want that. So they did the scan and found 28 viruses. The tech told me that Norton was only about 90% sure of keeping viruses, trojans and such at bay. So when my Norton subscription comes due the 13th of this month I don't know if I want to pay for it. Especially when I have payed the $94 already. I am thinking of using the free stuff the tech installed and uninstalled on my computer and just use that and not get another subscription to Norton. What do you guys think about this? Your thoughts please.
3 people like this
10 responses
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
6 May 11
New viruses come out, probably daily, and if Norton (or whoever) hasn't learned about it and updated their programs for it before you get hit with it, you're just out of luck. I'm going to guess that Norton and the guys who charge for the service are a bit more on top of it than the free ones though.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (159400)
• Boise, Idaho
7 May 11
Well, I will use the free one for this month and perhaps get Norton back next month. Norton has been there for me that is for sure!
@lsdshrooms (214)
• United States
6 May 11
Yeah Norton in the best antivirus, however no antivirus programs are good enough to keep up with today's malware.
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
6 May 11
When I used Norton, I had many many problems with conflicts and not catching bad files. Since then, with four computers over time, I've used the free AVG and had no problems. It catches the files as soon as they try to load and there are no conflicts. AVG updates automatically every day and they stay current with the bad stuff. I haven't been disappointed for one minute.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159400)
• Boise, Idaho
6 May 11
I had some problems with that in the beginning but haven't anymore. Is that www.AVG.com?
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
6 May 11
i think you are right to let Norton go. my daughter had that and every time she turned around there was another virus. also, you need to make sure you contact norton or they will automaticlly take it out of your account. plus they get higher each year i noticed. our provider protects with i think Mcaffree.
or use the free stuff. my daughter does and now it works better then norton
@celticeagle (159400)
• Boise, Idaho
7 May 11
Yes, ya see I originally had McAfee on my computer. I got a very bad virus that wrapped itself around files and really made a mess. Even McAfee would not help get rid of it. So Norton was recommended to me along with another one. It worked and I have used it for about three or so years now with no problem. I have rethought continueing to use it because I had to already spend money for software support and had expected to use that amount for the Norton. I will try the freebie for awhile and see how well it does me.
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
7 May 11
I think its worth a try. If they are using it..it must be pretty good. Some of the best virus software is free I think. I have AVG and Malwarebytes on my computer right now. I also have a IP provided virus protection called Charter Security Suite. Sometimes you can't have too much protection..lol. I have used Avira and there are a lot of people that like that one..but I guess I started with AVG and haven't had any trouble. It is the free version too..not the paid subscription.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159400)
• Boise, Idaho
8 May 11
Becareful. I have heard through my research and asking different people that if you have more than just one they can make one not work right and too many put too much on the HD and it will run slower too. I think I will try AVG. Thanks.
@krajibg (11923)
• Guwahati, India
6 May 11
Hi celtic,
I too had almost similar problem last year and mine too was Norton. It seemed working well but I observed that the machine has considerably slowed down and a lot of issues started popping up like slow response, slow start and most irritating one was the hang.
Now I have 'Bitdefender Internet security'. It does not slow down the machine even when you have put it scan. Trojan is not an issue. Either it quarantine or delete the worm and virus.
I guess it cost me $49 for one year. And the original and full version can be used by three parties at the most.
Why not give it a try?
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159400)
• Boise, Idaho
7 May 11
Sounds like a good fit for you! Why not give it a try? Because I am thinking of trying a free on that several people have rave reviews on.
@krajibg (11923)
• Guwahati, India
7 May 11
Why not give it a try?. Your post was a kinda ask for solution and when put to you repeated my words!!! What does this mean?
Remember anything free will not give you full protection. I read somebody saying he worked without anti virus program for two years. No, not possible. As soon as you are connected to Internet the uninvited guests big or small would come along any safe site. And there is no safe site in the net. If somebody says so he/she is saying white lies.
@GardenGerty (157650)
• United States
6 May 11
Some of the free things I have run, and the thing that saved my desk top when I kept getting those fake security viruses was Malwarebytes, and it was free. I think my son has it running on my lap top, now that I think about it, on a scheduled basis when I am offline.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
6 May 11
lost my response darn., okay I had awful luck with expensive nortron and AVG is great but it was not compatible with my emails so I now have avast which is doing great and its perfectly free too. I hope this
helps you decide on a free virus protection.
1 person likes this
@marapplestiffy (2182)
• Philippines
6 May 11
Norton is really good but as you pointed out, it's expensive, I've used Norton for 3 months which I had to buy a CD to install it again on the other months and it needs a lot of space in the hard drive too...now I'm using a free anti virus software which my friend installed for me which is AVG, and it works quite well too...but Norton is really better though, still AVG is free...you could ask your local technician which would be better...
@lsdshrooms (214)
• United States
6 May 11
You should get a new computer, and to me antivirus programs never worked. My computer was still as slow, and still as infected. The best you can do is completely restore your computer, or get a brand new one.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159400)
• Boise, Idaho
7 May 11
For me they did work. I once got a virus immediately after just using the usual search engine to find some games for my grandson. It is amazing the places that give them to you! I have a refurbished computer and a one year warranty on it. When the warranty runs out I will get a new computer either online or at Walmart.
