Re: Norton & McAfee "crapware"

From: Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\) (mikehalll_at_mvps.org)
Date: 11/12/05 

Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 11:21:27 -0500

Philip

I was the biggest defender of McAfee ever since it appeared as shareware on
diskette, but the versions 2004 and 2005 have become so invasive.. as a
virus detector, it has few peers, but the performance hit and convoluted
update method has rendered it garbage..

Norton and Symantec products have always been invasive, and always affected
performance compared to other programs of the genre.. I also have my own
issues, as do a few others, with Symantec over beta testing of a product
some years back.. at a personal level, I do not feel that the company can be
trusted..

I now use, and have done for some while, the free version of AVG on all
three computers on my network at home.. I have had no strange behaviour that
would indicate a virus infection, so assume that all is ok.. it updates
daily, and uses few resources.. for this reason, I recommend it to all of my
clients..

Utilities like AV and firewall should just get on and do a job behind the
scenes, requiring the absolute minimum of intervention by the user.. also,
the problems that some have in uninstalling and re-installing McAfee and
Norton products makes one wonder if they are the best choice.. at the point
that they start to invade, it is time to look for something else..

I can't say anything about other brands because I have not used them, or the
brands have disappeared from general circulation, and as such have no
relevance.. 

-- 
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User
"Philip K." <Philip@aol.com> wrote in message 
news:OgwfRbx5FHA.1188@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> I can not understand all the angry posts in the Windows News Group to the 
> effect that Norton and McAfee antivirus programs are "crap-ware".  Neither 
> can I understand why anyone would trust antivirus Freeware.   Is some rich 
> guy (or company) giving his time and money to a staff of AV experts just 
> for me?
>    Yes, I have had my share of Norton upgrades "crapping" up the registry. 
> On the other hand, back in the summer of 98 Windows 98 wiped out my entire 
> computer.  Office XP gave a lot trouble until a few SP's came out.
>    The big question is which AV program is the most reliable not which is 
> most convenient.  The choice may be like getting an unpleasant flu shot 
> versus tasty herbal teas.   Does anyone monitor these Freeware sites on a 
> daily basis to see how effective they are?
>

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