Is Avast good replacement for Norton 360? And which firewall?

[omega3]

My Norton 360 abbo is about to expire so wondering whether to extend it or not. I never had any problems with viruses though i think it slows down my older pc.

Is free Avast just as good as antivirus and could i use it with zonealarm or even the vista built in firewall?

 

[Elixer]

This is for Vista?
For firewall, I like Comodo.
For AV... never did like norton, and I am unsure what works (and still gets updated) for Vista.

 

[Captante]

Norton Security (replaced 360) works pretty well and is supported in Vista. Its also a bit lighter on resources then 360.

Personally I would avoid AVG ... if you want free AV I'd suggest Avast or Bitdefender free in conjunction with Comodo. Even the built-in Windows firewall is better then nothing.

 

[omega3]

Norton Security (replaced 360) works pretty well and is supported in Vista. Its also a bit lighter on resources then 360.

Personally I would avoid AVG ... if you want free AV I'd suggest Avast or Bitdefender free in conjunction with Comodo. Even the built-in Windows firewall is better then nothing.

Am i correct that Norton Security does no longer has auto defrag (performance tools) built in like Norton 360?

 

[KeithP]

If you are interested, Fry's has Kaspersky Total Security 2016 for $10 after rebate, ships free. If you sign up for their "promo codes" there is a $10 discount which makes it free after rebate.

Personally (and I know I will get shouted down for this) in regards to firewalls, anything other than Windows built-in firewall is a waste of time. They will end up causing far more problems than they solve. Don't take my word for it, search on the subject.

-KeithP

 

[omega3]

If you are interested, Fry's has Kaspersky Total Security 2016 for $10 after rebate, ships free. If you sign up for their "promo codes" there is a $10 discount which makes it free after rebate.

Personally (and I know I will get shouted down for this) in regards to firewalls, anything other than Windows built-in firewall is a waste of time. They will end up causing far more problems than they solve. Don't take my word for it, search on the subject.

-KeithP

Isn't it so that Norton in the background simply uses the windows firewall?

 

[balloonshark]

Avast is fine but I would keep a close eye on their detection rates at the various comparison sites. If their detection drops off I would switch to something else. Virustotal just cut off any AV that was leaching and not contributing. I expect some AVs will have a drop in detection because of this action. Not sure if Avast will be one of them or not.

During install you can pick and choose the features you need so you don't end up with extra bloat.

 

[xgsound]

I always use a free A/V because it will not expire.
Use one and only one anti virus and keep it updated. MSE and Defender have become very limited. Some free ones are Bitdefender, Avira, AVG, Panda, and Avast. I have had excellent luck with Bitdefender free since 2014. It has never needed renewal or reinstall. It is light after verification and first update.
I have found the windows firewall adequate.

Jim

 

[haedon]

I use free AV such as AVG, Eset and Avast then but, it didn't protect from viruses. Until I decided to use paid AV. There are more features in paid AV than in free AV.

 

[Entropism]

Avast is fine. Bitdefender free has basically become abandoned, for the most part. Lots of bugs that never gets fixed, though it still gets definition updates.

If you want something free, I suggest Avira or Avast. AVG is good, but they publicly state they sell some of your info. It's not much, but if you feel strongly about it, avoid them.

Personally? I grabbed a few years of Webroot when it was on sale at Newegg for $5/year, and have that combined with a Malwarebytes AM lifetime license. Light as can be with excellent detection and prevention.

 

[Captante]

Am i correct that Norton Security does no longer has auto defrag (performance tools) built in like Norton 360?

Its still there but disables itself for SSD's ... in addition its very easy to turn it off completely if you prefer.

Isn't it so that Norton in the background simply uses the windows firewall?

To the best of my knowledge Norton uses its own firewall and turns the Win firewall off by default.

Further I've had exactly zero problems using it on my own machines and on the majority of my clients as well.

 

[sourceninja]

I always disable 3rd party firewalls and use the windows firewall. For my 'real' security my home network has a meraki MX64 UTM device with the advanced security license. It does AV/malware, IDS, and content filtering. Got it for free at one of their webinars.

 

[Captante]

I always disable 3rd party firewalls and use the windows firewall. For my 'real' security my home network has a meraki MX64 UTM device with the advanced security license. It does AV/malware, IDS, and content filtering. Got it for free at one of their webinars.

Nice ... wish I could afford one but looks like they go for like $400?

 

[Charmonium]

Here's results from AV-comparatives for their April tests

Kaspersky had the best rating with the fewest false positives. And you can usually get a deal on the price if you search 'kaspersky discount' or 'coupon.'

 

[John Connor]

I used to use Avast many, many years ago. Like 2006. When I had the network protection on or what ever it's called, and I ran a speed test at speedtest.net I noticed a slow down. With that protection off I had a speed increase. I uninstalled and used Avira for many years, then they went to hell and it was HELL! removing it. Had to use their registry tool. So I tried Avast again and it STILL made the network slow doing a speed test at speedtest.net. So I said screw this and found Bitdefender Free. Small, lightweight and a pretty good detection engine. It's all you really need. It will also stop you from loading an infected website it has a definition for. But you should also use Sandboxie or something like VoodDoo Shield or Shadow Defender. Which would be in the extreme. So Bitdefender Free and Sandboxie would be pretty good. Combine that with just the Comodo Firewall. Sandboxie has to be configured to have access to your browser profile though. Otherwise your addon updates won't stick or your bookmarks. Sandboxie does have a forum.

 

[sourceninja]

Nice ... wish I could afford one but looks like they go for like $400?

If you work for a company in IT, you can take their webinar and get a free one with 3 years of their advanced security license.

https://meraki.cisco.com/webinars

 

[John Connor]

Nice ... wish I could afford one but looks like they go for like $400?

An ITX computer with dual NICs running Sophos firewall would be pretty close if you ask me. Content filtering can be done with OpenDNS. You could use DD-WRT in a router and block DNS in the rules, forcing DNSmasq onto your network so no one can change their DNS locally. I have done this.

I would never by a three star rated product. http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Meraki-Security-Appliance-200Mbps/dp/B00T8A2646

Has to be 4 or higher. Typically 5 for most websites.

Edit- That's just two reviews though.

Untangle sells appliances too. https://www.untangle.com/get-untangle/

 

[Captante]

If you work for a company in IT, you can take their webinar and get a free one with 3 years of their advanced security license.

https://meraki.cisco.com/webinars

Looks like I qualify as a consultant so no freebee for me.

Untangle sells appliances too. https://www.untangle.com/get-untangle/

Could be a productive use for one of the old AMD X2 systems I have sitting around gathering dust.

 

[sourceninja]

Looks like I qualify as a consultant so no freebee for me.






Could be a productive use for one of the old AMD X2 systems I have sitting around gathering dust.

Call your rep, we were able to get our hands on a few at my last job which was 100% consulting.

 

[desura]

I've been using BitDefender lately. Reviews have it pretty good, but most importantly it is non-intrusive, unlike avast or AVG.

 

[John Connor]

Been playing with VoodooShield as well here. Seems promising.

 

[blankslate]

http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html


I've used this with the Windows 7 firewall before. It's since been updated for 10. and still has versions for 7 and vista to download.

Basically it's more granular controller for the built in firewall.

I remember being in a security class and someone was playing with a set of grey networking tools on a tablet. I knew when it happened every time.

Now I don't access public wifi without using a vpn so I just use the build in firewall.

As for antivirus. I use a freeware option with a subscription to MBAM for their active protection for malware.


_________________

 

[LPCTech]

Bitdefender, Avast and Kaspersky are probably the best Anti-virus programs at the moment.

 

[sourceninja]

Bitdefender, Avast and Kaspersky are probably the best Anti-virus programs at the moment.

I use bitdefender, but the free version doesn't work on win10 yet.

 

[Loser Gamer]

https://tinywall.pados.hu/

Tinywall firewall absolutely has the smallest footprint and just works in a super simple way.

I have tried many firewealls over the years and they are always fat clunky resource hogs that try to add other services.

TinyWall is just what the name says and it works well. I am very glad it works in Windows 10.

My main purpose for a firewall is to keep programs from phoning home that I do not want to. Windows firewall is good enough at blocking incoming as far as I am concerned. It's the sly programs trying to phone home that pisses me off. Sure I let some phone home that I chose but others get the whack