Need to choose different security software. Any suggestions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sharron
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Sharron

I've been using Norton Internet Security with Windows XP for years but in the
last 45 days encountered problems that resulted in two crashed hard drives.
It has been suggested that Norton may be the culprit for the problems I
described. Anyone had awesome success with a different software provider?
 
Sharron said:
I've been using Norton Internet Security with Windows XP for years
but in the last 45 days encountered problems that resulted in two
crashed hard drives. It has been suggested that Norton may be the
culprit for the problems I described. Anyone had awesome success
with a different software provider?
Click to expand...

This combination works well...

- eSet NOD32 AV (only)
- Built in Windows Firewall
- NAT router for high speed access
- Occassional scans with MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware and Spybot Search
and destroy (no need to have them running at all times unless you attract
malware now.)
 
Sharron said:
I've been using Norton Internet Security with Windows XP for years
but in the last 45 days encountered problems that resulted in two
crashed hard drives. It has been suggested that Norton may be the
culprit for the problems I described. Anyone had awesome success
with a different software provider?
Click to expand...

Shenan said:
This combination works well...

- eSet NOD32 AV (only)
- Built in Windows Firewall
- NAT router for high speed access
- Occassional scans with MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware and Spybot
Search and destroy (no need to have them running at all times
unless you attract malware now.)
Click to expand...
If the router has a NAT firewall, is there any need to run Windows
or other firewall as well?
Click to expand...

Yes.

- A NAT router does *not* necessarily contain a true firewall.
- Are you the only machine behind the NAT router?
- Always?
- Ever heard of a router being hacked? (Not all that difficult really.)
- Two layers are better than one layer when it comes to defenses.
 
Sharron said:
I've been using Norton Internet Security with Windows XP for years
but in the last 45 days encountered problems that resulted in two
crashed hard drives. It has been suggested that Norton may be the
culprit for the problems I described. Anyone had awesome success
with a different software provider?
Click to expand...

Umm, "it has been suggested that"?
With all due respect, you may want to be a bit more thorough in your
trouble-shooting so you don't spend an inordinate amount of time on your
"security software" only to have the problem come back unexpectedly
again. Since this is your first post, I suggest you should return with:
-- OS and version,
-- Specifics about your computer
-- Nature of the drive failures (crashes),
-- Was it 2 separate drives, or twice on the same drive?
-- How you recovered from them,
-- Why you think it was a program that cuased their failure and not just
a coincidence or malware at work? I would more suspect malware or normal
wear of the drives is more likely to be the causes.
-- Results of chkdsk and mfr disk diag program,
-- Specifics about what you were doing and what happened when the drives
succumbed and any other ongoing issues of problems you've been
experiencing.
-- Check the Events Viewer for hints,
-- any relevant information you can think of.

There are several good alternatives for anti-virus software (apparently
what you mean by "security software"), free and paid. There is no "best
of breed" for such a thing, but you will find plenty of opinions,
especially from a few fanatics here and a few egoes that will insist
their program is the only one to use and better than everything else,
but there really isn't any such thing. What works best for YOU is the
best software to use.

It's higly unlikely that Norton or any other security software would
cause a problem as you described it. Actually I might go so far as to
say that over 45 days no reputable software package caused the demise of
two disk drives.

To start:
Besides Norton AV, what other spyware detectors/scanners have you run?
Was each one updated just prior to running it?

From there I think a good attempt can be made to try to decide what may
have happened to your drives.

HTH,

Twayne
 
DonQ said:
If the router has a NAT firewall, is there any need to run Windows or
other firewall as well?
Click to expand...

NAT routers are good first-line protection but they aren't the cure-all.
It's generally considered a good idea to also run a second line of
protection in the form of a software firewall. I've had a few (only a
few) get past the router and be picked up by my software firewall. At
least the XP firewall should be used, better yet a full bi-directional
firewall in case you mange to invite in a dropper or similar kind of
malware that goes out and invites ofther malware to join it.

HTH,

Twayne
 
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