OT-Norton Adware/Malware

[RonB]

You are late. I already apologized for my atrocious writing capability, and fully described the problem in my response to Twayne.

Should be about 5-6 up in this string.

[aemeijers]

I haven't tried any of the recent Nortons, since maybe version 10. Used to use it on all my machines, since I could legally use it free from work. But it wouldn't play nice with XP (or some other program) on one machine, and kept throwing runtime errors even after a full reload. I finally decided Life Is Too Short for that BS, and bought a 3-machine license for PCTools antivirus, for 35 bucks a year. On secondary machines, like those I give away to broke relatives, I use the free AVG. Knock on wood, smooth sailing for 2+ years so far, with no unrecoverable crashes.

And yes, at least on the older versions of Norton, it was as hard to remove as AOL, especially if it was corrupted by one of the many exploits it didn't block.

[HeyBub]

No, I'm referring to Norton's reputation.

If someone comes to you and says: "I'm on parole for child molestation, arson of a business, exposing myself to a blind person, and maybe a few other things, but I've reformed," and you, in the spirit of Christian forgiveness, immediately hire him instead the four holy fathers, one Buddhist monk, and two nuns who said they'd work for free, then I salute you for charity if not common sense.

[HeyBub]

Oh yes they do. If you invoke a feature of Microsoft Office that you've not previously installed, the main program will attempt to install it (often asking for the installation CD). If you click on, say, a PowerPoint file and you've not installed PowerPoint, MS Office goes nuts and will not be gainsaid in insisting on installing that package.

I've got a Hewlitt-Packard printer that the HP software, on every re-boot, insists on trying to install the printer drivers. During installation of those same drivers, I told the installation program that this machine would NEVER be used to send faxes. It insists on installing the fax software.

Of course this is Hewlitt-Packard and not the best example inasmuch as HP's software is almost as crappy as Norton's.

[gpsman]

I suspect HP wrote the book on crappy bloated software.

N's persistence and proprietary uninstall app make sense to me as defenses to malware which might attempt to disable or uninstall it. -----

- gpsman

[clare]

Only problem is, there are NUMEROUS trojans out there that WILL disable it - but while disabling it is not (apparently) all that difficult, irradicating it is a different story.

[Ron]

Number 1 according to who? I think you better go read some reviews. And I mean real reviews, not ones from magazines that advertise their product.

[Ron]

Avira 10 free along with Malwarebytes - Antimalware

[Ron]

Nero.

[clare]

No problem ever removing Nero from anything I've worked on. And there's been a LOT of Nero, on a LOT of machines.

[Ron]

Well, that's you. They make a removal tool for a reason.

[Oren]

For Avira 10 free, I had to remove version 9. I download the file, ran the setup and checked for updates - up to date? Until I removed version 9, version 10 looked like in went on and installed. All is well.

Besides my running free Avira and Malwarebtes, I also run the free "Spybot - Search & Destroy". I'm happy the price was right :-/

[Ron]

I run SuperAntiSpware along with Malwarebytes.

[Oren]

I just went and put SuperAntiSpyware on this machine. It runs right along side of Spybot - Search & Destroy. No concerns, both are loaded at boot. I am impressed it found old stuff on a secondary (storage) drive. Spybot - Search & Destroy only finds stuff on the primary drive?

I like it, thanks. Oh, the price was right :-/

Might even remove Spybot - Search & Destroy in a few days..

[Peter]

I duuno Oren. I just (15 minutes ago) installed Avira 10 free over Avira 9 free without any warnings, special settings, or problems. I think you did too much. The Avira web site indicates that you can install 10 over 9 and your settings in 9 will be retained (and mine were).

[HeyBub]

I stand corrected. Thank you.

On a completely separate matter, who in their right mind uses piece-of-shit Nero?

I mean, considering that free, equivalent programs exist that don't require special removal tools.

[Twayne]

Yes. YOU should read some current reviews.

[Oren]

After I removed v.9 and installed v.10 it worked fine. My OS is Windows 2000.

Not from the Readme file:

"When attempting to update, users who have a previously installed ANSI version of the Avira AntiVir Personal software package on a Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP operating system receive an update message.

To perform an update, proceed as follows:

1. Uninstall the installed version of Avira AntiVir Personal.
2. Download an up-to-date software package from the download area of the Avira AntiVir Personal website at Install this software package on your computer."

All is well :-)

[Ron]

I have. See "World Bench Test" page 13.

[Peter]

Some inconsistencies exist on the Avira web site. From the Forum, a sticky message from Stefan Berka, Avira's own administrator: "Hello, The new Avira AntiVir version 10 is available for download now.

• Avira Premium Security Suite, version 10.0.0.536 | User Manual * Avira AntiVir Premium, version 10.0.0.597 | User Manual * Avira Personal Free AV, version 10.0.0.561 | User Manual

The installation files are available at our website

and for AntiVir Personal Free. The existing version 9 has not to be uninstalled before because the new version upgrade the existing installation itself and import the existing configuration and license file."

Go figure!