But shouldn't be two? Norton AV and Live Update? What's the third?Andrea

Another vote for NOD here!

NOD32 or AVAST, which is better?Glen Lee

This was a very interesting thread indeed!! I've been a Norton user for quite some time and maybe I've gotten used to the performance in a way where I actually don't see how good my rig really could perform without any Norton programs running in the background all the time...at least that is what I have started thinking after reading this thread.Just downloaded Avast! and will give it a try after removing the Norton suite of programs but would also like to know which one is better of the two alternative programs mentioned here - NOD32 or Avast! ? I'm also using Norton Ghost which I find VERY usable since it will let me keep working images of my system partition which I can always revert back to in case something goes really wrong. Wonder if Norton Ghost is an equal burden to the PC like the firewall and antivirus part of the Norton suite...anyone knows?

Personally I think NOD is the better of the two. However, its not free. That could be a deciding factor.. :)

:-) OK, thanks John!Just did some testing here, ran 3DMark 05 first with Norton Internet Security installed and then when it wasn't and actually the difference wasn't that big...only a couple of 100 points. But I will do some flying now and see what the difference is then...after all the FPS in FS is all that really counts ;-)Speaking about Internet security...what do the rest of you say - is the built-in firewall in Win XP with SP2 installed enough protection or should I try to find an alternative to the firewall in Norton Internet Security as well? I know there is a free firewall called Zone Alarm, is that to prefer over the built-in firewall in Win XP and is it worth the hazzle and one more entry in the list of installed programs...?

Don't bother with the windows firewall, its rubbish. I use Sygate Personal firewall and have never had any issues. :)

OK, and is that one free like Zone Alarm? Would be quite nice to be well protected without having to buy new programs for it...

>:-) OK, thanks John!>>Just did some testing here, ran 3DMark 05 first with Norton>Internet Security installed and then when it wasn't and>actually the difference wasn't that big...only a couple of 100>points. But I will do some flying now and see what the>difference is then...after all the FPS in FS is all that>really counts ;-)Look forward to seeing your results. I've got Norton, and I use FSAutostart to stop all the services, and get reasonable results.Next time I fire up the sim with autostart I'll do a process list and see if anything Norton is actually running, and then add them to my "kill" list.

I don't think the freeware Sygate firewall is available any more .... probably related to the fact that Symantec bought Sygate.Both ZoneAlarm and Sunbelt/Kerio have free versions with limited functonality. There are probably other freeware firewalls as well.phil

Hi Phil,I do know ZoneAlarm has a free version of their software firewall, question is if it's that much better than the built-in firewall in Win XP with SP2 applied - anyone who knows?

Hi Timothy,I promise I'll report my findings here in this thread.