Is it worth me buying an AV?

[sarf321]

Thanks everyone, After a conversation with a Norton Technician, I now have my old subscription for Norton 360 v4.0 , and once that runs out I will certainly be using MSE + Windows Firewall.

 

[whs]

Just curious - where was it that you had to enter the key? (just testing my memory - LOL)

 

[Frostmourne]

MSE+Windows Firewall+Malwarebytes (depending on what you surf).

 

[sarf321]

If you already have the subscription on your account, log into your symantec account, and be on it. Then open My Account in the top right and then click something like add/change/my subscription. Then choose the enter the product key option.

 

[Terrorz]

I say its not worth it, as most antivirus paid/free are quite the same so just get MSE its free and its great.

 

[sarf321]

Na, I already had bought Norton 360 2.0 for Vista, then did a clean install and 360 2.0 was the only program not compatible, so I got COMODO, but now I know about this, I'll keep 360 till October then use MSE + Win7 Firewall.

 

[PeteC]

Comodo is one of the very few AV's that I have not tried...so I am no expert there! However, for the vast majority of users,and by that I mean home users, MSE, AVAST Free, AVG, in fact any of the free AV's are just fine, and for those that do not come with a software firewall, Windows 7 firewall is quite adequate.

What you "give up" are some of the options and flexibility that some of the paid versions give you, and for those who want that finite control, I am not knocking their choice!

Over the years I have used most of the major AV brands, both paid and free...I find MSE & Windows firewall more than adequate, and the price is right...

 

[Terrorz]

Na, I already had bought Norton 360 2.0 for Vista, then did a clean install and 360 2.0 was the only program not compatible, so I got COMODO, but now I know about this, I'll keep 360 till October then use MSE + Win7 Firewall.

Oh yea forgot to mention get MSE+ Malwarebytes+Windows Firewall (Great Combination) You can still get malwarebytes with the current Antivirus you have because it dosent replace your antivirus but it add extra security...

 

[sarf321]

I did have malwarebytes and norton 360 but it slowed down my computer by quite a bit.

 

[Frostmourne]

I did have malwarebytes and norton 360 but it slowed down my computer by quite a bit.

Your specs are not enough for 7 - I'm not surprised.

 

[malexous]

Did you have Malwarebytes real-time protection enabled?

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

I did have malwarebytes and norton 360 but it slowed down my computer by quite a bit.

Your specs are not enough for 7 - I'm not surprised.

Also Norton 360 is rather resource intensive, you should try just running Microsoft Security Essentials and see if its better.

 

[Frostmourne]

I did have malwarebytes and norton 360 but it slowed down my computer by quite a bit.

Your specs are not enough for 7 - I'm not surprised.

Also Norton 360 is rather resource intensive, you should try just running Microsoft Security Essentials and see if its better.

Most AV's would choke with 1GB of RAM.

 

[malexous]

Also Norton 360 is rather resource intensive, you should try just running Microsoft Security Essentials and see if its better.

When is the last time you used Norton 360? An outdated version of Norton 360 v4 running on an outdated virtual Windows XP SP3 uses less than 10MB of RAM when idle.

Most AV's would choke with 1GB of RAM.

Avast! 5 and Norton 2009/2010 are two that don't choke with 1GB of RAM.

 

[sarf321]

I'm only using Norton 360 v4 because I have about 200 days left on the contract, when it runs out in October I will be using MSE and Win7 Firewall; I think I did have Malware Bytes real time protection on; I do a full scan once a week, but apart from that it is lays idle in the system tray.

 

[sarf321]

And I do have 2GB of readyboost from my USB always on, if that helps.