Norton

annie1 · Post by **annie1** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:49 am

Hi all,

I have always used Norton as an anti virus, my daughter had told me about free AVG and I have been reading all the comments about it, my anti virus is about to run out, so I am going to try AVG, but do I have to uninstall my Norton first?
I really am hopeless

when it comes to this and terrified I make a mess of it

Ann

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:00 pm

Hello Ann,

Download the AVG program and save it to somewhere you can find it.

You need to uninstall Norton before you install AVG and that should be fairly straight forward but make sure that you don’t end up connected to the internet without an operating firewall.

Depending on what version of Norton you have there may be an included firewall. If that’s the case, and you have Windows XP Service Pack 2 or 3 or presumably Vista, the built in Windows firewall may have been turned off. You may have to check that it’s running after Norton is uninstalled.

It’s probably not a good idea to stay connected to the internet while you’re uninstalling a Norton firewall and reconnecting the Windows firewall and I’d be inclined to turn the connection off (pull out the plug or whatever) if necessary just to be safe. Norton may lock the door when it leaves but it’s best to check.

You probably know whether your Norton has a firewall but if you’re not sure or if it does have one turn off your internet and uninstall Norton. You’ll probably then have to restart your computer and you may then get messages from Windows about turning on your firewall and how to go about it. If not go to Start – Settings – control Panel – Security centre – and you’ll see its status and how to turn it on if necessary.

Complete the installation of AVG before reconnecting to the internet if that’s possible but if not just connect up and then install it. Take your time and post back if any doubts.

Hope that helps,
Alan

Moray_Lass · Post by **Moray_Lass** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:17 pm

If you have problems uninstalling Norton there are two tools hidden on the internet that do the job. I use NoNav at work nearly every day, there is also a Norton Uninstall on the Symantec website. I have both of them on my laptop at home from when I stripped the Norton trial that came with my laptop.

Personally I wouldn't use the Windows Firewall, I have heard that it doesn't stop outgoing packets - like a virus sending emails. I use the free Zonealarm firewall. I have never had a problem with the free AVG, but I did with the paid version - and they have *no* support whatsoever.

If you find you don't like AVG try Avast.

annie1 · Post by **annie1** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 4:32 pm

Alan,

Thank you for your help, I have uninstalled Norton, I did this through my control panel and it said programme was now uninstalled, but when I went to install AVG, it said I already have an anti virus software in use in my computer, and it advised me to uninstall it

I have Vista, and managed to turn the firewall back on, I have checked my programmes and I cant see anything left of Norton

Moray Lass, I will have a look at the Symnatec website, maybe I have missed something. Thanks

Ann

Moray_Lass · Post by **Moray_Lass** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:43 pm

Hi Ann

This might point you in the right direction
http://service1.symantec.com/Support/ts ... 3108162039

And this is the NoNav.exe
http://ca.huji.ac.il/bf/mcafee/NoNav.exe

If you download this on another pc virus check it - I can't vouch for the site (looks like a university in Illinios) but it has always been a file that is ahard to track down and why I kept the last copy I found.

Hope that helps

ninatoo · Post by **ninatoo** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:50 pm

Norton is very hard to eradicate properly. I hope you are able to do it!

Nina

Post by **Tracey** » Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:35 pm

Norton wouldnt uninstall from mine either and kept on "running" so the man that does removed it and somewhere on here i have a file called Norton Remover. Then had similar problems McAfee but we wont got there............ then the man that does installed AVG Free and Windows Firewall is working away there anyway and its all fine along with spybot and something else i cant think of at the moment. The only anti virus that i got a virus with was McAfee.

Doesnt the wireless internet box also have firewall or some other kind of defence included as well ? Sorry for the lack of technical terms of these things

annie1 · Post by **annie1** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:20 am

I finally managed to do it

I downloaded the Norton tool from Symnatec and it did the trick, thanks Maggie. I could not believe how much stuff there was left in the computer after I had tried to uninstall it myself

Not sure now if I need extra spyware, or will windows firewall do the job?

Ann

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:03 am

Hello Ann,

It’s nice to see that’s been sorted out.

The firewall won’t detect the presence of spyware on your computer. The latest AVG Free will also detect spyware when it does its Virus scans. It can be a good idea to have an additional spyware program that you can scan with occasionally to detect any that AVG doesn’t. There’s Spybot already mentioned and Ad-Aware and some others.

I agree with Maggie about the Windows Firewall and I’ve always used Zone Alarm. The Windows XP SP2 Firewall is better that nothing although I think the Vista version has been improved and will stop outgoings such as programs phoning home etc but it’s still not as good as Zone Alarm.

If you’re connected to the internet by what’s known as a router chances are that it will have an inbuilt firewall, known as a hardware firewall, and that will hide your computer from any nasties circling the internet looking for a computer to attack. A hardware firewall plus a software firewall like Zone Alarm is a pretty good setup. You would have to check the specifications of your internet connection box to see what it is and whether it includes a hardware firewall.

When I was on dial-up years ago I just had a modem and my software firewall was constantly reporting that my ports were being probed by something looking for a way in. Since I’ve had the Router my ports never get probed because my computer is invisible to the attackers and nothing from outside gets as far as Zone Alarm. My main use for Zone Alarm is to stop any programs, including any nasties that may get into my system (none yet), making contact with the outside world unless they have my permission.

You can test the effectiveness of your firewall at ShieldsUP and maybe elsewhere https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Here’s links to some of the programs I mentioned, they’re all free.
Zone Alarm: http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/ZoneAl ... alarm.html
Ad-Aware: http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Ad-Aware/adaware.html
Spybot: http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Spybot ... pybot.html

Hope that’s useful,
Alan

Moray_Lass · Post by **Moray_Lass** » Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:40 am

I can't speak for all wireless router/modems but mine (3Com) and others I've set up have a firewall, called a packed firewall, which is the simplest type. It isn't recommended that you only use that, you should have a software one on the pc as well.

Personally I like to control what is going out of my computer as well as coming in. I have Zonealarm firewall and Spybot Spyware on my Windows 2000 pc along with Avast Anti Virus. My Vista laptop I have paid Zonealarm Suite, after the paid AVG failed. I feel safer with a paid version on Vista at the moment till I feel happy breaking and fixing it

I have never (touch wood) had a virus that wasn't caught coming in on any of my pcs, though I have had to remove viruses at work which uses Norton

Edited - Snap Alan

There is also free Comodo Suite which does everything - I had that on my brothers pc for a while but he doesn't have any patience and it annoyed him asking if it should let a program access the internet.