Seriously thinking about this

[Rick W.]

I've had it with Norton Internet Security and I had the same kind of luck with McCaffee about 10 years ago! A few different people told me that hackers specifically look for these more popular(?!)antivirus programs when they attempt to hack into your system. It seems like everytime I turn around my Explorer settings mysteriously get changed. About 8 months ago, I got a phone call from my bank asking if I made a purchase from Somalia for $500, then for $400, then again for $350. They attempted to bill my account 3 different times. Apparently, they had my account number, but didn't have my PIN number, so my bank didn't approve the bogus purchases. I'll be darned if I'm going to financially support Al-Qeida to kill our troops or support the Somali pirates! Anyway, I'm not happy about the antivirus program I have now. What I want to do is format my hard drive and reinstall everything back to original settings and also make sure that no virus survives. I've done some research on Wikipedia on different programs and Avast 6.0 Freeware looked to be about the best I saw. When I accessed this forum, I saw that there are a lot of people happy with Avast, but some people also have some problems with it too. Based on your past experiances, I wonder if I could get some foresight on whether there would be any kind of problems after I install Avast. What I have is;

Emachine W3653
Intel Celeron CPU E1200 1.60GHz
2GB ram
Intel 829456 Express Chipset Family
Windows Vista Home Premium
32 bit operating system
Service Pack 2
Fax/modem with smart CP installed
Netzero dial up service(tight economy right now)

Antivirus I'm running now;
Norton Internet Security Online
Windows Defender

Antivirus programs I want to use;
Avast 6.0 Freeware
MS Security Essentials(Windows Defender probably included)
possibly use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware if all the bases don't get covered

(1) Does anyone have any input on this as to whether I will have all the bases covered with firewalls, antivirus and anti spam? I want to keep these people out of my computer!

(2) Also, based on your previous experiance, does anyone have any idea whether I will be having any program clashes like some of these other people on here are having?

[Gargamel360]

I've had it with Norton Internet Security and I had the same kind of luck with McCaffee about 10 years ago! A few different people told me that hackers specifically look for these more popular(?!)antivirus programs when they attempt to hack into your system.

Sure.  Just like Windows itself.....you can debate inherent security all you want, but the biggest bull's eye (by that I mean what has the most users, therefore the most profit potential) is going to get the most thrown at it.

When I accessed this forum, I saw that there are a lot of people happy with Avast, but some people also have some problems with it too.

Sure, but its a support forum, not a review column.  More people come here with problems than praise, but that has nothing to do with Avast! itself, all support forums are like that.

Avast 6.0 Freeware
MS Security Essentials(Windows Defender probably included)

You can't do that.  Or at least you shouldn't.  MSE and Avast! are both resident, on-access anti-virus programs, and you never want 2 of those installed on the same PC.  The results can be just as bad as any infection (minus the bank account problems you have ran into).  Malwarebytes is different.  It can be used with either Avast! or MSE.  And is a good choice, I might add, whether you choose to only use the free scanner or the paid protection.

I wont go into detail of Avast! vs. MSE, since there is a recent thread about that>>http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=91694.0

Oh, and just to clarify you on this often mistaken impression;

hackers specifically look for these more popular(?!)antivirus programs when they attempt to hack into your system.

You should almost feel honored if someone actually tries to manually hack you.  An individual PC is not worth their effort. A common misconception (brought on mostly by movies) is some skinny brainiac sitting there typing furiously, breaking into your PC.  This can happen, but is the most remote possibility.  Instead, they hack websites and leave traps.
 

[mchain]

Rick W.

Garamel360 is right.  No two resident (active and real-time) antiviruses on a system at one time.

You did not address what firewall you would put in to replace what you have with Norton Internet Security.

As of the moment, (and these sort of things can change in the blink of an eye), I would not recommend McAffe either.

See here:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-57360694-245/mcafee-software-lets-scammers-hijack-pcs-to-send-spam/?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Vista firewall can be configured to block and filter internet traffic as a high quality firewall, but it takes a bit of work and you have to know what you are doing.

In any case, Windows Add/Remove often is not enough to prepare your system for a new a/v properly if you decide to uninstall NIS.

Here is a web site that has uninstallers for just about every current or older a/v suite:

http://singularlabs.com/uninstallers/security-software/ 

[Phenoman]

I've had it with Norton Internet Security and I had the same kind of luck with McCaffee about 10 years ago! A few different people told me that hackers specifically look for these more popular(?!)antivirus programs when they attempt to hack into your system. It seems like everytime I turn around my Explorer settings mysteriously get changed. About 8 months ago, I got a phone call from my bank asking if I made a purchase from Somalia for $500, then for $400, then again for $350. They attempted to bill my account 3 different times. Apparently, they had my account number, but didn't have my PIN number, so my bank didn't approve the bogus purchases. I'll be darned if I'm going to financially support Al-Qeida to kill our troops or support the Somali pirates! Anyway, I'm not happy about the antivirus program I have now. What I want to do is format my hard drive and reinstall everything back to original settings and also make sure that no virus survives. I've done some research on Wikipedia on different programs and Avast 6.0 Freeware looked to be about the best I saw. When I accessed this forum, I saw that there are a lot of people happy with Avast, but some people also have some problems with it too. Based on your past experiances, I wonder if I could get some foresight on whether there would be any kind of problems after I install Avast. What I have is;

Emachine W3653
Intel Celeron CPU E1200 1.60GHz
2GB ram
Intel 829456 Express Chipset Family
Windows Vista Home Premium
32 bit operating system
Service Pack 2
Fax/modem with smart CP installed
Netzero dial up service(tight economy right now)

Antivirus I'm running now;
Norton Internet Security Online
Windows Defender

Antivirus programs I want to use;
Avast 6.0 Freeware
MS Security Essentials(Windows Defender probably included)
possibly use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware if all the bases don't get covered

(1) Does anyone have any input on this as to whether I will have all the bases covered with firewalls, antivirus and anti spam? I want to keep these people out of my computer!

(2) Also, based on your previous experiance, does anyone have any idea whether I will be having any program clashes like some of these other people on here are having?

I Will tell you my experience with antivirus products where bad but i tried out avast Internet security and i love it never get a virus again and it blocks bad web pages thanks to avast!
I'm recommending avast internet security because it's the full package with a firewall and a side note i also recommend Windows 7 32 bit since you have a vista 32 bit you will be surprised how much quicker your computer is and for links compare the different versions of
Windows 7 Here - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare
Avast 6 Is Trial Here - http://www.avast.com/en-us/download-trial
Hope This helps you out!
Edit:Make sure you Disable Windows 7 Firewall and Windows Defender After Restart With Avast Installed if you try it out

[Rick W.]

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm a true believer in finding out how hot the water is before jumping into it(well, half the time anyway!! LOL) At least now I can do some more research on my options, but since looking into this, I'm finding more and more people that likes Avast. Now, all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to do for a firewall if I go with the Avast freeware or just go ahead and pay for it. I used to be pretty good at programing my own computer when everything was DOS, but I just can't keep up with the technology with Windows. I'll let you know if I experiance any problems. I'll go to your suggested websites and find out some more information. But, I think I've already made my mind up. Thanks again

[Gargamel360]

Now, all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to do for a firewall if I go with the Avast freeware or just go ahead and pay for it.

If you choose to use AIS (that being the Avast! suite w/ FW) I can tell you from the year I used it, the FW's selling point is it is very quiet and low profile (in its default config).  It is literally a Ron Popeil FW, as in "Set it and Forget It".  (its Ok if you don't get that, just my bad humor  )


btw: You email is showing public on the forum.  You can change that if you want, via your forum profile settings, to avoid it getting harvested by spammers. 

[Phenoman]

Now, all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to do for a firewall

Yeah for firewalls i use avast internet security with a firewall or you can do the free/pro version of avast w/ comodo firewall or windows firewall i prefer Avast firewall though

[Rick W.]

@Gargamel360-Thanks for the heads up on my email address. I guess I forgot to click an itty bitty box! Should be fixed now.

[Gargamel360]

@Gargamel360-Thanks for the heads up on my email address. I guess I forgot to click an itty bitty box! Should be fixed now.

Yep, its gone now (you should still see it, but I can't)