A question regarding Internet security

[nillefix 0]

Does anyone know how much Norton Internet Security affect the FPS when flying the Queen?Many thanks/Merry Christmas!Regards/Nick

[Guest Robin.B]

It shouldn't affect the actual FPS much, but Norton is known to be hard on the system resources, so loading times should be higher. :)Merry Christmas!

[lefteris 70]

This actually varies a LOT with different antivirus programs. My *personal* experience with Norton was that it would cause HEAVY loads on the PC, thus affecting FPS by sometimes over 40%. Once I went away from Norton (I have Avast! now), things became much smoother overall.

[Tabs 2,790]

Another vote for Avast here - it's free and WAAAAY lower on the bloatware scale than Norton/McAfee etc...www.avast.comFor an example of how bad those "security" programs and such can slow down a gaming PC, check out this recent Dell review on HardOCP...http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0

[kmanning 12]

Hi,I have Norton's AntiVirus Program and Norton's Internet Security. Even if I disable them both or turn them off, will it still cause heavy loads on the PC?Ken.

[kmanning 12]

Ryan,The link you posted, http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0 is not active. It says that the web site is unavailible. I don't know if it's down or if it's the correct link. I like to find out about those security programs and how they slow down PCs. Ken.

[Chaos81 110]

>Ryan,>The link you posted,>http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0 is not active. It>says that the web site is unavailible. I don't know if it's>down or if it's the correct link. I like to find out about>those security programs and how they slow down PCs. >>Ken.>Works fine here. Might have been down for a bit.

[Guest captbdel]

Norton products are really a waste of money, there are some superb FREE anitivirus software available that can do a better job with less impact on your computer try www.free-av.com Me personally I don't use any Security products, WHY because if your using broadband ADSL your ISP should be handingling any suspect emails and internet connection security and WinXP if updated completely with Firewall active.CaptbdelAer Lingus

[kmanning 12]

Hi,The site works fine now. Must have been down. I've searched but still cannot find the information about security programs affecting PCs.Ken.

[Guest gremel]

That's a good question Ken...Does anybody know the answer?Regards,noullet

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Nick-Disclaimer: The following is my opinion as an individual and does not represent the opinion or stance of PMDG. (You know it's going to be good when I have to say that, no?)In my opinion, Norton products are more damaging to my system than a virus. I was a strong supporter of Norton for nearly a decade- but in 2003 I started noticing that their "bloat" was expanding faster than hardware development could keep up.During testing of the 747-400, I was having HORRENDOUS problems with FSP drops, spiking, stutters and other issues that are generally related to stressing the system resources. Since we were working very hard to conserve system resources in order to make the -400 compatible with a broad range of hardware- it was incredibly frustrating to see 3-10fps on a MONSTER development rig....At the suggestion of one of the other members of the team- I turned all of my norton services off- and saw a small improvement in performance. After running some diagnostics- i found that EVEN WHEN TURNED OFF- norton was consuming a vast amount of resources on my machine.....So as an experiment i uninstalled EVERYTHING related to norton. This took some creative searching of the ADD/REMOVE SOFTWARE menu- since Norton installs about 10 different items and they each need to be found and removed....When done, I installed Privoxy and NOD32, and reloaded MSFS.My FPS went up almost 300%.As an experiment, I conducted the same process on two other machines I use here- and saw similar results- the WORST results being an improvement of 100% in FPS.Norton might make a good product for folks who aren't technically savvy- but if you expect performance from your rig- you'd be better served smashing it with a sledge hammer than to install any product made by Norton.Just the opinion of a former Norton customer. :-)

[nillefix 0]

Thanks for all the tips guys! Removed Norton Internet security (think i got it all.)"This took some creative searching of the ADD/REMOVE SOFTWARE menu- since Norton installs about 10 different items and they each need to be found and removed...."Remove everything that had Norton in the name. Anything else that I might have missed? Found only three items.Thanks again.Regards/

[SMaus 1]

Hi Nick,an excellent starting point for security related items ishttp://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.phpThey also should have a link for a program specialized on removing Norton stuff from your HD.

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Nick-If you look in the ADD/REMOVE for that little Norton Icon- you should get everything pretty easily. There was nothing hidden- it just wasn't all clumped together.... I dont' recall the entire details at the moment.....

[SwervR1 1]

If you do find there are traces left behind (and it is a possibility) then you can download a tool called symNRT.exe from symantec which cleans all.