Anti-Virus Subscription
 

my norton subscription is about to run out in 7 days and i'm wondering if it was worth it to subscribe.

norton caught 2 virus' in the 6 months or so that i've had it.

to renew for 12 months, it would be 34.95 and that's a pretty hefty sum for an unemployed soon to be college student.

so, do u guys update the def's or what?

It costs money to update virus definitions?

I hit up McAfee's website (ftp.nai.com/pub/antivirus/datfiles/4.x - going from memory, may be wrong) every week and grab the newest ones. I got VirusScan Enterprise 7 for free through my college.

I'd be very surprised if your college doesn't offer some kind of antivirus product either for free or at a large discount to all students.

I use TrendMicro's online virus scanner.

The definition is updated every time you use it and its free.

URL here: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

If you're going to college, I know I get anti-virus free through the computer science department. You might want to look around for that.

yes, UT offers Symantec AntiVirus Client 8.1.0.825 free of charge and i can download it off the net free.

but what i have now is norton anti virus. i know it's the same company, but is that the same product?

and is there a way i can extend my subscription without actually removing the norton i got (i've grown used to the yellow icon appearing in the systray)

there's a trick to get free updates.... set your computer clock back before your expiration, then start live update.... for some reason, live update doesn't double check against its own clock. long story short, you should be able to get updates until norton figures that out.... but you didn't hear that from me. :-)

Whatever you do, don't go without a scanner!

I'm still a little confused here - Norton charges for Virus Definition updates?

Pragma, They give you 12 months free access, then you have to rebsubscribe , so in a word yes

AVG works for me, less klunky than NAV

mine was not 12 months. 6 months max.

but i didnt buy mine. it came bundled with my mobo.

That's pretty damned bastardly, especially since AV dat files never mange to prevent you from getting hit by new viruses, and are always reactionary. So you're constantly going "Damn, new virus out. Ok, gotta wait for the vendors to put out dat files and update."

If I was the sort of guy who saw conspiracies everywhere, I'd have to say that the whole AV industry is a giant sham.

Pay the ££ for a auto update..

I am not gonna worry for 12 mo' for 50$. Cheap at half the price for me anyway.

I think it depends on the type of computer user that you are. If you're aware enough to get by without an antivirus scanner, then you can save your money.

However, having the saftey net of an undated AV scanner is definitley a good idea, especially if it isn't just you using the computer.

Personally I reccomend AVG (grisoft.com) Anti Virus. the software is free, as are the definition updates. You'll need to learn to love a different coloured system tray icon though ;)

Just re-install the Norton AV. I've done that twice now. Every time I re-install I get another year free.

Whoo hoo. So, now I'm protected against viruses that are already out. It's just the new ones that will fuck me.

Why do I run Antivirus software again?

I go to a swap meet to get an oem version of the latest disk. Usually System Works. Only about $10 more than the renewal, and all the latest version.

Philip

I usually reinstall my os every 9-12 months or so. I have to reinstall NAV so it renews my subscription. Try that. Its always good to give your computer a good spring cleaning.

I (and about every other SA I've checked with at work) has had nothing but bad experiences with Norton.

If your system is already hosed, don't install Systemworks to fix it. You'll corrupt the drive 9 out of 10 times. If your system has been up and running for more than a week, or if you've installed applications, don't install Systemworks. You'll corrupt the drive 50% of the time.

In general, I've got serious issues with it, but if other people have good luck, it must be some bad karma I've got raining down on me.

Norton AV seems to be the only component of their utility suite that remotely works. I use a corp version at work that works really well, and my parents use the home version and it gets them past their computer idiocy all right.

If you're going to keep using it, pay for the definitions. They're the only thing that is worth keeping the scanning software for.

And personally, I think Norton is the best AV software out there.

Ditto. I just spent the last 12 hours rebuilding my drives because of System Works 2002. I now run Mcafee.

This is going to expose me as a complete computer dunderhead, but will I be able to use the same copy of McAfee Viruscan v.8.0 Antivirus Software as a friend of mine? He says the guy at Office Depot told him it was possible to share, but if you have to subscribe with the same cd code and such, wouldn't they catch it?

Just use the one your university provides you. It is free, will work fine, and may even be a managed client. Here at UNC, our client checks for new updates from the UNC server every 2 hours or so. We have had *no* problems with it. It is the corporate version too, meaning it is leaner--it doesnt come with all the junk that systemworks comes with. Just the virus scanner.

And yeah, dont go without one. Here if there is a virus on your machine, the network bans your MAC address and the only way to get back on the network is to come to us in tech support and have us clean your machine and get rid of the block. I dont know if UT does the same thing, but I wouldnt test it.