bitdefender/norton etc

[Mark Rozitis]

I have an Asus F3 series laptop with more resources than I know what to do with, get a 4.8 score with Vista and almost never go above 35 percent CPU until last week......

I used to use Norton years ago until I discovered Pctools products and then Bitdefender which I've used for about two years now with not a single problem until last week when my 2008 subscription expired and I renewed and that renewal makes me download internet security 2009 and well guess what? It won't install/run on vista home or ultimate, just totally locks the system and the only way out is a hard shut down, start up in safemode and do a system restore.

Turns out others have posted same in the bitdefender forum so it looks like it might be a big "ooops!" On the part of bitdefender and there is no fix yet.

Unless someone here happens to know?

Secondly, needing a security system I decided to give Norton 360 a try and what a mistake that was, as soon as I touch the keyboard is doesn't take much to max out the CPU to 100 percent and bog down my system.

when Norton did the registry thing is off'd a couple of needed entries and .dll's, nothing critical just anoying.

My quickbooks 2007 no longer works so I'll have to re-install that, guess it had a disagreement with Norton during the install and quickbooks lost :)

Norton doesn't seem to have improved in the resource hog department over the years.

So I guess my question to the experts here is does anyone know how to get Bitdefender internet security 2009 running in vista? I bought the key, would love to stay with that system and it doesn't use hardly any resources and just works with not one single problem in the two years I've been with them, it's just won't go in vista.

Thanks.
I'm a news camera operator in Toronto/ontario and cover the GTR regionals but with the 14+ hour days I'm not on here that often as you can tell.

You're thoughts? Obviously remove Norton, if I can't run bitdefender yet...would windows firewall and defender do for now?

Thanks again,
Mark

Asus F3 series
Vista ultimate
Sp1 and all updates
4GB RAM
Intel 2.G processor
160G HD

[comphappy]

I cant really help you with the specific software that you are talking about but for a home user I would recommend that you use AVGFree, I use it at home, and at the two places I work we use the commercial version which is basically the same protection but without the commercial support. I can attest to it JustWorks TM on all versions of Vista and XP. It is also not really a resource hog.

Good luck with it.

[Mark Rozitis]

Thanks, I will check that one out as it might be awhile before Bitdefender figures out the problem they are having with 2009 locking up vista systems.

I'm sure Norton is good product, it's just a huge engine and uses a lot of power to run.

mark

[artdutra04]

My advice is to avoid Norton; there is better A/V software that doesn't use up all your system resources. One of my roommates earlier this year converted me to NOD32 (http://www.eset.com/products/). After seeing it in person, I don't think I'll ever use any competing virus scanners for the foreseeable future.

About 80% of NOD32 is written in assembly; this means that the program runs insanely fast and uses only a few megabytes of RAM. It's also the least "obtrusive" of all the anti-virus software I've used, while still providing amazing "always on" virus scanning. And so far, I've haven't had it cause any problems or conflicts with any other software in either XP or Vista.

The only downside to NOD32 is that the user interface can be difficult to use at first. But after using it for a few days, it becomes no different than any other virus scanner.

[Gdeaver]

Norton Internet security 2008 was a resource pig. Norton internet security 2009 is MUCH improved. However most of the improvements rely on at least a dual core. Forget norton 360 or just the AV. Newegg has the IS disc only for system builders for 29.00$.

[rdlevy1215]

I second the "Use AVG Free" ... It is what i use (i run Vista Ultimate SP1), and i use that along side Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and UAC (yes, i actually leave it running). I have yet to get a virus/ad/spyware/ and my PC preforms pretty well for what it is (Pentium D, 2GB RAM)

Hope this is helpful

[Mark Rozitis]

My advice is to avoid Norton; there is better A/V software that doesn't use up all your system resources. One of my roommates earlier this year converted me to NOD32 (http://www.eset.com/products/). After seeing it in person, I don't think I'll ever use any competing virus scanners for the foreseeable future.

About 80% of NOD32 is written in assembly; this means that the program runs insanely fast and uses only a few megabytes of RAM. It's also the least "obtrusive" of all the anti-virus software I've used, while still providing amazing "always on" virus scanning. And so far, I've haven't had it cause any problems or conflicts with any other software in either XP or Vista.

The only downside to NOD32 is that the user interface can be difficult to use at first. But after using it for a few days, it becomes no different than any other virus scanner.

"difficult to use at first", any ideas on how to get it installed past the BSOD? :) and yes I did try removing all traces of other security software and from the registry etc and turning off the windows firewall, still saw a lot of blue.

[Tom Line]

I tend to recommend against AVG, and suggest instead AntiVir or Avast.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/a/freeav_2.htm

Both are also free and have a higher detection rate than AVG.

As a general rule, I also suggest changing to a web browser like firefox, and install the adblock plugin. For additional security you can install the noscript plugin, though I found that one a bit of a hassle.

However, please realize that these programs stink at picking up adware. You'll need to install another program, like Spybot Search and Destroy, or Ad-Aware, both of which are also free. Of those, Ad-Aware is currently considered the "best".

The best for-pay system out there is Kaspersky, FYI. Highest detection rate, and also gets the spyware at the same time.

Please note, when I say best - that is based on the latest reviews. These are always somewhat subjective, and everyone always has an opinion one way or another. Be careful of anecdotal evidence from one user. You know how many computer illiterate people there are out there, and they are far more dangerous than any spyware :D

[JohnBoucher]

before you install a different package, make sure all of Norton is gone from your computer. They provide a tool to do this.

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

[rsisk]

SpyBot has a brilliant little tool called the TeaTimer which monitors writes to the registry and prompts for permission to allow the write to succeed. You would be amazed at how many web ads try to write to the registry. It also builds white and black lists to minimize the number of prompts for permission.

Stopping unwanted writes to the registry will significantly reduce the chance of a virus infecting your computer.

[Mark Rozitis]

before you install a different package, make sure all of Norton is gone from your computer. They provide a tool to do this.

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

oh yes, I have made sure all traces of Norton is gone :)

My laptop is now once again super fast and barely using 10% CPU, That Norton 360 might be good but I think I need a supercomputer to run it :)

[Kingofl337]

I don't think the above review was with AVG 8.0 based on lower scores against Avast.

Here is a counter review for AVG 8.0. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2291466,00.asp

So another +1 for AVG and Spyware Doctor running in tandem with it.

[Mark Rozitis]

I tend to recommend against AVG, and suggest instead AntiVir or Avast.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/a/freeav_2.htm

Both are also free and have a higher detection rate than AVG.

As a general rule, I also suggest changing to a web browser like firefox, and install the adblock plugin. For additional security you can install the noscript plugin, though I found that one a bit of a hassle.

However, please realize that these programs stink at picking up adware. You'll need to install another program, like Spybot Search and Destroy, or Ad-Aware, both of which are also free. Of those, Ad-Aware is currently considered the "best".

The best for-pay system out there is Kaspersky, FYI. Highest detection rate, and also gets the spyware at the same time.

Please note, when I say best - that is based on the latest reviews. These are always somewhat subjective, and everyone always has an opinion one way or another. Be careful of anecdotal evidence from one user. You know how many computer illiterate people there are out there, and they are far more dangerous than any spyware :D

Antivir is what I ended up going with and all is well, as usual as a last resort I knew if I came here I would get good advice. Kinda disappointed that Bitdefender 2009 would not install for me but I'm sure that bug will be corrected in due time.

I came across a wierd one this evening, my quickbooks would not run, unexpected error and it would close, turns out you have to set all you're internet explorer settings to default for quickbooks to now run even though I actually use Firefox as my browser.

[Tom Line]

You got reasonably lucky :D

AVG just had a bug that deleted the user32.dll file from some computers so they wouldn't boot :ahh:

If you want to get rid of the antivir nag screen, go to Control-Panel, Computer Administration, Security Policies, and add a new path policy to deny avnotify.dll.

You can find better instructions online.

[Mark Rozitis]

Not only was I happy with Avira free software I upgraded and bought the premium suite and wow! it's like the old Bitdefender before there big problems with Bitdefender 2009.

Thanks again, works great and hardly uses any CPU. just amazing and not ONE bug installing it, it installed and set itself up and it working flawlessly.

mark