Anyone know how to renew Norton trial to another 30 days?

The Norton subscription only ends your automatic update capabilities. The AV engine still runs, but it nags you about a paid subscription. You can.... if you want to spend the energy, manually update the virus defs. You can find the link and instructions on the Norton site - look for support, virus definitions, and then locate the manual download info stashed somewhere on their site. They don't make it easy, for a reason of course, but they do make it an option.

But why not take the sage advice of the members who posted here? I personally use Avast software on other machines, I have used MSE and also AVG at various times. You only need one, so try one, then another until you find one that suits your needs. I'll have to make the same decision in a month or two when Norton runs out on this machine. I'll be happy to replace Norton with one of the other very good products that are Free.

When I tried MSE a few years ago, I was not impressed, hence the AVG -> Avast path taken. Things change and it sounds as though MSE has matured into a reliable product, so methinks that will be what I setup after Norton expires. In any case, the Norton engine will run and check your system against the last virus defs it has - it just won't get updated.

Peace!

Why didn't MSE impress you?

Was it too non-interfering? Too small a footprint? Provide the greatest number of av database updates of all? Include a very solid firewall? Include an excellent, always up-to-date remover of rootkits, never causes any hangups with Microsoft software, used on enterprise systems?

I could go on and on extolling the benefits of Microsoft security software, but an excellent, overall presentation is:
Understanding Microsoft Anti-Malware Software 2012 ~ Security Garden

Incidentally, this statement of yours did provide some humor:
"When I tried MSE a few years ago,"

Win 7 was Released To Manufacturers on 24th of July 2009

Karl,

Perhaps I misspoke and it wasn't MSE back then, but MS offered a security pkg that was just fluff. Maybe it was the Live brand, I don't recall. What I do recall is that it wasn't mature - more of MS's entry into security. Probably the web-run only version or an extension of it for download.

Microsoft Security Essentials

CNET Editors' review
by: Seth Rosenblatt on December 22, 2010

The bottom line: Microsoft Security Essentials 2 will protect you, and it will generally do it well. However, its impact on system performance could be improved, and it's still a bit light in the tool belt.

Review: Now in its second iteration, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) debuted as the lightweight, cloud-based successor to the paid security suite Live OneCare in 2009. Version 2 introduces deeper hooks into Internet Explorer and the default firewall in Vista and Windows 7. Security Essentials has begun to mature, although it's still rough at the edges.

I'm not looking for a pissing contest - each of us have our opinions and our favorite software. I fail to find the humor in "When I tried MSE a few years ago," - then again... humor is subjective.

Yes, yes, yes - you advocate MSE. I'm ok with that - didn't mean to step on your toes. For many years (funny?) I've used the same tools mentioned throughout this forum - and I've found new ones referenced here, all good, since discovering the forum a while back. I've grown to trust the forum as reliable and accurate information. So basically, I'm not against MSE - just haven't tried it in a while (still humorous?). I understand it works for you and many others are happy with MSE. I'll give it a shot when Norton expires and see if it does the job to my satisfaction.

edit: After reading what I wrote a few times, I think Live OneCare was originally offered for free, not a trial, but free. I also think that was the pkg I should have referenced,not the web-run only, instead of MSE. I do know that whatever it was, it ran local. I'm fairly certain that the Live brand offered many freebies - I built two websites hosted for free using their offering. Now it's all coming back to me.

Peace!

MS replaces Defender with MSE in Win8.

Peace!

Slartybart said:

Karl,

Perhaps I misspoke and it wasn't MSE back then, but MS offered a security pkg that was just fluff. Maybe it was the Live brand, I don't recall. What I do recall is that it wasn't mature - more of MS's entry into security. Probably the web-run only version or an extension of it for download.

Microsoft Security Essentials

CNET Editors' review
by: Seth Rosenblatt on December 22, 2010

The bottom line: Microsoft Security Essentials 2 will protect you, and it will generally do it well. However, its impact on system performance could be improved, and it's still a bit light in the tool belt.

Review: Now in its second iteration, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) debuted as the lightweight, cloud-based successor to the paid security suite Live OneCare in 2009. Version 2 introduces deeper hooks into Internet Explorer and the default firewall in Vista and Windows 7. Security Essentials has begun to mature, although it's still rough at the edges.

I'm not looking for a pissing contest - each of us have our opinions and our favorite software. I fail to find the humor in "When I tried MSE a few years ago," - then again... humor is subjective.

Yes, yes, yes - you advocate MSE. I'm ok with that - didn't mean to step on your toes. For many years (funny?) I've used the same tools mentioned throughout this forum - and I've found new ones referenced here, all good, since discovering the forum a while back. I've grown to trust the forum as reliable and accurate information. So basically, I'm not against MSE - just haven't tried it in a while (still humorous?). I understand it works for you and many others are happy with MSE. I'll give it a shot when Norton expires and see if it does the job to my satisfaction.

edit: After reading what I wrote a few times, I think Live OneCare was originally offered for free, not a trial, but free. I also think that was the pkg I should have referenced,not the web-run only, instead of MSE. I do know that whatever it was, it ran local. I'm fairly certain that the Live brand offered many freebies - I built two websites hosted for free using their offering. Now it's all coming back to me.

Peace!

I will admit that all of the versions of MSE before 4 weren't the best with detection, but version 4 is very impressive in detection and doesn't nag me like Avast did.