Consumer Reports - Top Anti-Virus Programs

[Steve]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "bumbledor" <bumbledor at ...> wrote:
> 
> bboyminn:
> 
> > ...edited...
> > 
> > I currently use Norton System Works (PC Utilities and 
> > Anti-Virus), but as of the 2005 editions I've grown 
> > disillusioned with it. Most of the utilities I count on
> > are no longer available. So I am thinking oflooking else
> > where. Zone Alarm or some variation of it is looking 
> > more and more appealing.
> > 
> > ...edited...

>bumbledor:
> 
> Norton is such a systems resource hog, that I Had to 
> delete it. it took my 2.3 Gig machine and turned it 
> into an 8mhz XT system.
>

bboyminn:

No denying the Norton is a resource HOG. I have been using Norton
System Works for many many years and liked many of the features
(Speedisk Defrag, System Optimiser, Norton Disk Doctor, Win Doctor
(Reg Clean)) but most of these features have been crippled or lost
with the advent of Win-XP. System Optimiser is gone, Speedisk Defrag
is a shadow of its former self, Disk Doctor seems to have been
crippled, and so on. 

Really, I bought System Works for the utilities and just accepted the
Anti-virius that came along with it. For me the critical applications
were Disk Doctor, Speedisk, System Optimiser, and Win Doctor.

Disk Doctor used to find and fix hard drive errors and directory
inconsistencies, now when it finds an error it just runs Microsoft
Check Disk at boot time. Why am I paying money for it to run a free
program? 

Speedisk used to be the best and most valuable asset to computing. It
defrags the hard drive, but also allows you to structure and organized
the hard drive. For example, when I had Win-98, I use to  move the
Directories and Folders to the front of the drive, then I sorted all
the folders and files in ascending alphabetical order. That way .com,
.bat, .exe, .dll and most other critical executable files were at the
front of the hard drive. Only .VBX files we left at the end, and I
could live with that. There we other true optimization options as
well. My hard drive ran fast and furious, frequently out performing
machines with much faster processers. Those options are all gone now.

I swithced to Perfect Disk for defrag, while it does a good job,
rather than give me the options to oganize the drive the way I want,
it has a 'Smart Defrag' feature in which the program analyzes the hard
drive and decides the best order for everything. It does a good job
but I miss the personal control.

System Optimizer used to move critical boot files to the front of the
drive, then defrag and reorder the Registry files. It did a pretty
good job of keeping my computer running at top speed. But now it's gone.

Win Doctor analyses the Registry and find entries the are unused or
for files that no longer exist, or for files that are misplaced. It
has an auto-repair feature, but I like to go through everything it
finds one-by-one and make the repaidrdecision for myself. When you
select an individual item, it gives a list of possible repairs;
usually it simpy 'Delete Entry'. Slightly dangerous since it make
changes to the Registry, but also keeps you machine lean and clean.
This feature is still there, but I'm thinking of buying a separate
Registry Cleaner program to do the job. There are many of them out there.

The problem is Norton used to come with everything for a reasonable
price. If I buy these equivalent programs separately instead of
costing $40, they are going to cost $40 each. 

As to your problem with Norton, if it was really as bad as you say,
then I suggest you had a bad install. Norton is notorious for bad
installs and it is usually your existing anti-virus that is causing
the problem. It is /critical/ to close every conceivable program even
if you have to go into you Start Up list and shut them down
temporarily while installing. 

Also, Norton likes to initiate a lot of automatic processes like
auto-update, scheduled defrags, and other assorted background and
start up tasks. It's important to close or kill all these to keep you
machine running efficiently.

As long as we are on the subject, he are two of the best free
tech-suport sites I have found. I have been a member of both for many
many years.

Hardware Tech-Support- 'Hardware Central'
http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/

Software, OS, and General Tech-Support- 'Virtual Dr' (virtual doctor)
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/index.php?

You can also post HiajckThis Log files here for analysis. For those
who don't know 'HiJackThis' is a free computer scanner that will find
deeply hidden Spyware and Viruses in your Registy. It produces a long
complex log-list that must be analysed by an expert. The experts here
at Virtual Dr, are the best. By the way, there are several other sites
that will also analyse HiJackThis Log files.

At both forums listed above, you can search and read without
registering, but if you want to post or reply, you have to join. I've
been a member since 1999 and have never once receive any kind of Spam
for joining. Your email address will not be sold or used in any
commercial way. My username at both these forums is 'boyblue'.

As a sample of the kind of help you can get, he is a link to one of my
post requesting an alternative to Norton Utilities-

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/showthread.php?t=207682&highlight=boyblue

That should give you an idea of the level of help you can get.

Steve/bboyminn