Posted on 01/07/2008 2:26:14 PM PST by Red_Devil 232
First, Comodo firewall 3.0 is awesome. It can be complicated though, you have to write your own rules for certain programs and certain behaviors of certain programs. (I’ve created “custom” port sets for IRC, FTP, P2P, system process defragment utilities like O&O Defrag and perfect disk 8, for example, so far in my use of it) Biggest problem is each FTP server I use requires a seperate rule because each server uses a different default port.
Second, AVG Free, is NOT awesome in default configuration. You have to shut off the daily virus scan, or the thing will destroy your hard drive eventually. Without buying the pay version, that means you have to manually keep to a schedule of initiating full system virus scans. I got around this by using my calendar program in my Thunderbird email software to send me a reminder once a week to do a scan. A Post-it on the monitor could be just as effective.
Third, as others have mentioned, install a free hosts file manager at this point, and save yourself further time (by blocking ads from downloading and rendering), and protect yourself from malicious IP addresses. I personally use HOSTSMAN, http://www.abelhadigital.com/ , though there are a good many free programs to do this.
To delete Norton and it’s random files, first download CCleaner, http://www.ccleaner.com/ and select the option to fully delete all Norton files, CCleaner removes the orphan files from Norton that wouldn’t be removed otherwise. Then use the control panel add/remove programs to fully remove Norton. After that you can use CCleaner again, this time the registry cleaner option, and remove any orphan references to Norton in your registry. ALWAYS make a back up of your registry before using CCleaner registry editor.
That should have you running smoothly.
* AVG Anti-Virus
* Windows Firewall
* Windows Defender
They are all free, and they work fine for most applications. If you're reasonably careful about where you surf and what you open in your email, you won't have trouble.
I have probably a dozen home users on this combination, and haven't had one of them reinfected after switching.
Norton is a resource hog of the first magnitude, so I have been steering customers away from it.
If you are already infected, you may need more powerful tools to get cleaned up, but once everything's cleaned up, those three work just fine.
Hope you have better luck uninstalling Nortons than I had.
Even after a thorough registry search I had to format the hard drive to get rid of the stragglers.
I didn’t use the programs outlined here by others.
I’ll never,never put Nortons on another machine. Worse than the disease.
Norton was very problematic not too long ago. Unistalling a firewall can be difficult. Good luck.
Trend Microsystems
0r F-Prot
I removed all my Symantec/Norton software when I just got tired of the slow bloatware. The main tricks to removing it:
1. Disable the product protection feature. There’s a checkbox somewhere in the options, something like, “Turn on protection for Norton products.” UN-CHECK this first before doing anything.
2. Use the Symantec uninstaller from the “Add/Remove Programs” control panel.
3. Also un-install the LiveUpdate program from the “Add/Remove Programs” control panel.
Rebooting before you start and after each step is probably a good idea too.
That’s how I did it. I didn’t have any problems, but suddenly my computer booted up a lot faster. Good luck.
1. Remove Norton - use the Norton Remover from Symantec
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/Norton-Removal-Tool.shtml
2. AVG with a firewall, no problem.
3. Commodo - excellent choice together AVG. Commodo is the one bidirectional firewall that’s free and easy to use.
Don’t forget to add a good anti-spyware program.
Good luck.
>>Routers are generally configured from the factory to block nearly any connection except common ones; such as HTTP (for web browsing). It’s not 100% bulletproof by any sttretch, but neither is Windows Firewall or any other firewall. Software firewalls are fine to use, but they’re only really important if you don’t have a router between your machine and your internet connection. In your situation, AV software and anti-spyware software are going to be far more important than a firewall.<<
Everyone should absolutely have a hardware router with SPI (stateful packet inspection) to stop attacks before they get to the computer.
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