I've been using Norton Internet Security for years. Never had a single virus, worm, malware, you name it. It's very low profile and catches everything. 

No anti-virus or anti-malware program is 100% effective!  Even the 'creme-de-la-creme' catch only 98% or so...

 

The biggest danger in terms of viruses and bad things getting into your system come from

 

e-mail  (#1 source of infection!  Often a friend has a virus that sends itself to everyone in your buddy's address book - including YOU!)

 

'adult' websites and other edgy sites (Kazaa-type filesharing is a biggie) often are riddled with malware and worse.

 

Even legit sites like PC Magazine's famed "Download.com" and Adobe.com (if you can believe it) have sold their souls and pile a lot of crudware and worse along with your desired download file!  Oft times you must be vigilant and do a "custom install" and DE-SELECT a lot of the crudware that is riding along with your installation!  If you select 'default' install - whammo- you have ASK.com as your new search engine, and a bunch of annoying and nosy "toolbars" on your browser!  (and WORSE).

 

Invest in MalwareBytes PRO - you'll be amazed at all the bad stuff that is on your PC!

And I like Norton 360 - not just for the Firewall and Anti-virus stuff, but the system tuneup tool (including a decent DEFRAGGER) will delete your internet cache files and do a lot of behind-the-scenes housekeeping.  Over time, your system will tend to run faster as it is always tuned-up, a process many PC users are clueless about.

 

Important!  If you have a SSD (solid state hard disk) you should DISABLE disk-defragmenting for that drive!  NAND flash drives (SSD drives) get worn out from writing and re-writing data, and the data retrieves just as fast from a fragmented SSD drive as a defragmented one, because all data is pulled electronically, not mechanically as is the case with a typical high-rotation hard DISK (spinning) drive.

I disable Norton Backup and I don't use their Registry Cleaning Tool.  I like CCleaner much better for that purpose.

 

So my 'must have' utility list:

 

1. Norton 360 - annual subscription, updates free, runs on Windows 8.1 "Preview" edition - not all Norton products do.

 

2. MalwareBytes anti-spyware (free and PRO version).  I like the PRO version.

 

3. CCleaner (free) many plus features including deleting 'bad' cookies while keeping commonly good cookies like your banking sites and other frequent locations like Amazon etc.

 

If you are Comcast customer, you can get Norton Internet Security 100% free (there is a max number of machines you can install on, I think it's about 5).  I would avoid the Comcast all-encompassing solution and download only the Norton product.

 

Finally, as always, backup is a MUST!  I like Acronis True Image Home 2014 edition which seems as if they may have finally gotten it 'right' in terms of robustness and reliability.  If you want, you can download and run it free for 30 days.  

 

Can do complete system backups (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) or you can do accumulative imaging or even just your own critical files. 

FSX pilots NEED a full-system backup image.  Be sure to have the software 'test the image' after the backkup completes (this is called 'verification').  If not, you may run around thinking you have a valid backup image, but it could be corrupted.  Common sense:  Have many backup images in several different places.  True Image Home 2014 offers "Cloud" storage as well, not a bad idea either!

Even legit sites like PC Magazine's famed "Download.com" and Adobe.com (if you can believe it) have sold their souls and pile a lot of crudware and worse along with your desired download file! 

 

 

False. Most of the stuff included in some downloads from Adobe and CNET are just Ask toolbars.... Even Java asks if you want the Ask toolbar.

 

And I like Norton 360 - not just for the Firewall and Anti-virus stuff, but the system tuneup tool (including a decent DEFRAGGER) will delete your internet cache files and do a lot of behind-the-scenes housekeeping.  Over time, your system will tend to run faster as it is always tuned-up, a process many PC users are clueless about.

 

 

Use CCleaner or Glary's utilities for that, or Advanced System Care which has schedules.

 

I disable Norton Backup and I don't use their Registry Cleaning Tool.  I like CCleaner much better for that purpose.

 

 

Then you can't really consider it a benefit, can you?

 

 

 

1. Norton 360 - annual subscription, updates free, runs on Windows 8.1 "Preview" edition - not all Norton products do.

 

 

Windows 8? Nah

 

2. MalwareBytes anti-spyware (free and PRO version).  I like the PRO version.

 

 

Good, but the free version is good enough.

 

If you are Comcast customer, you can get Norton Internet Security 100% free (there is a max number of machines you can install on, I think it's about 5).  I would avoid the Comcast all-encompassing solution and download only the Norton product.

 

 

When I used to be a "dumb" computer user, I used to use the Comcast provided AV. It used to be McAfee, and now it's Norton. I don't think the limit of installs/activations is enforced anymore (Just like the 250GB bandwidth limit). My brother has downloaded it many times on many computers he has had. 

 

 

 

 

Finally, as always, backup is a MUST!  I like Acronis True Image Home 2014 edition which seems as if they may have finally gotten it 'right' in terms of robustness and reliability.  If you want, you can download and run it free for 30 days.  

 

 

Can do complete system backups (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) or you can do accumulative imaging or even just your own critical files. 

 

FSX pilots NEED a full-system backup image.  Be sure to have the software 'test the image' after the backkup completes (this is called 'verification').  If not, you may run around thinking you have a valid backup image, but it could be corrupted.  Common sense:  Have many backup images in several different places.  True Image Home 2014 offers "Cloud" storage as well, not a bad idea either!

Can't you just copy and paste your files onto a external hard drive? Or even better, for free, use Windows backup (*Unless you're on Windows 8, which, of course, is missing this feature*) that saves an image of your hard drive in which Windows can recover from later?

 

 

*Windows 8 does have this feature, but it's deprecated and it's almost hidden from the user.*

That Ask toolbar was the bane of my existence when Oracle/Java slipped it by me years ago. Almost bought a one-way ticket to Kenya to be trampled by a wild elephant, I was so frustrated.

 

I've since learned to avoid criminal insanity by investigating every step of any install carefully, no matter from where, before I click Next.

 

The Bing toolbars are another Hated Foe; it's like MS has been trying to plaster that everywhere in my system in 42 different interface components for years now. Enough, already!

 

Ryan, re: the heuristics, I just leave that on and don't just automatically believe the Terrorist Attack Red Alert Code 0000 messages when Norton freaks. It's its job to freak, and mine to assess and usually mock. Then there will be that one time it actually catches something and sends it to My Own Private Guantanamo Bay on my HD, and then I'm a happy man, too.

Can't you just copy and paste your files onto a external hard drive? Or even better, for free, use Windows backup (*Unless you're on Windows 8, which, of course, is missing this feature*) that saves an image of your hard drive in which Windows can recover from later?

 

It depends on your pain tolerance level.  Sooner or later, your system WILL fail.  Either a flat-out hard disk drive failure, or a corruption of your Windows files.  Once that happens, the fact that you copied ONLY your FSX folder and maybe your photos and music to an external drive is going to leave you VERY sad - because the PROGRAMS that are in FSX folder are ALSO written to other places on your system, most-notably the REGISTRY and the hidden user APPS folder.  Yes, you CAN use Windows 7 built-in backup- but it's a little convoluted IMHO.  I like the 2014 version of Acronis True Image - but there is other backup software out there, and yes, even your dreaded Norton 360 includes a BACKUP portion.  The important thing is you:

 

• Backup your entire system, either full image or incrementally  ( a full image plus later changes )  on a REGULAR basis.
• Use a storage device for your backups that is BIG ENOUGH to permit you to have a 'library' of SEVERAL different backups so you can go back in time.
• SYSTEM RESTORE is NOT a substitute for a valid backup.  You may have already learned this painful lesson.

To properly restore your system to "pre-crash" status, you ideally have a FULL IMAGE of the drive, which will re-write everything back to the new (or uncorrupted) drive.  

 

The discussion about A/V and Malware protection is interesting.  Everyone has an opinion - and everyone thinks their solution is "the best" or "the only" one.  As I said before, you're going to have viruses and malware get through.  The simple truth is because you are UNAWARE your system is infected, does NOT mean that it is 100% healthy.  Some viruses are time-release, others make your PC into a remote 'bot' and can be used for all manner of nefarious activity.  The only way to be 100% safe is to be UNCONNECTED to the web - and of course, that won't work for most of us.  So all you can do is try your best and use good common sense when visiting websites and particularly when INSTALLING anything at all.

 

You need not fear PMDG or other 'majors', and thus it's wise to turn OFF your A/V when simming, and especially when installing new Sim software products!  I don't use my sim PC for web surfing or email.  Thus in most cases, the A/V on THAT box is OFF.  The other PCs here all have active protection, plus I have a hardware firewall as well.

 

 

That Ask toolbar was the bane of my existence when Oracle/Java slipped it by me years ago. Almost bought a one-way ticket to Kenya to be trampled by a wild elephant, I was so frustrated.

I've since learned to avoid criminal insanity by investigating every step of any install carefully, no matter from where, before I click Next.  The Bing toolbars are another Hated Foe; it's like MS has been trying to plaster that everywhere in my system in 42 different interface components for years now. Enough, already!

 

I couldn't agree more.  I'm VERY offended that majors like ADOBE and others are routinely letting other (oft unwanted) software skate on top of their installers.  It's unethical and unfair.  Especially to novice computer users, whose systems become quite muddled with the garbageware.  Sadly, these folks have NO CLUE how to GET RID of or even AVOID this stuff in the first place.

 

WARNING:  You see a message suddenly pop up on your PC.  "Your computer is INFECTED... (blah, blah, blah)... press here to REMOVE this virus"  Of course, THAT is a virus.  Several of our users at work got hit with that and thought they were doing right when they clicked to remove.  Another famous one:  To view this content, your (Flash player, Media Player, yada yada) needs to be updated.  Press HERE to update...  and so it goes.  ARE YOU REALLY SURE YOU WANT TO LEAVE THIS PAGE?  Press here to leave... (A virus!)   Use task manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL) to locate your browser in running apps and KILL THE BROWSER, do not CLICK YES to leave.  Notice how if you try to click the red X in the upper corner you can't close the page?  It's taken control of your keyboard and is trying to force you to hit that deadly button that's in the center of your screen...

 

The scary thought:  This is just stuff we all know about (or most of us do).  There are so many more... a new bad actor hits the web EVERY HOUR.  It's incumbent on us as users to defend ourselves with good protection PLUS backups that go back over time.  External drives are dirt cheap, and good backup software is reasonable too.  But you have to USE that stuff.  Or not, and live in bliss until you see:

 

The average life expectancy of a high-speed hard disk drive is about 3 years.

Norton Antivirus just quarantined the "Opscenterupdater.exe" file and classified it as a "Suspicious.Cloud.9 virus". This even after I set install folders for exclusion.

Can someone please tell me how to allow this to install on norton, I'm not great with it and its not letting me install.

 

Thanks

 

Greg

It's kind of like getting stripped naked at the airport: you have to turn OFF both AV and the Firewall to allow the program through (and then turn them back on again afterwards), and hope a million hacking bots don't wake up and sneak onto your computer in those brief minutes (the last part is a joke, I think; about the bots, I mean.....).

Where in norton do you go to turn them off?

R-click on the icon in the system tray.

R-click on the icon in the system tray.

 

I will give that a try tonight when I get home.

 

Thanks

Just ditched my Avg   for  mse,   strange thing  now everything  seems  to be running  quicker  and loading  quicker,  time will tell.

It's free if you have Comcast internet. 

 

+1        ... or xFinity. How often do you get a free product from the cable company? This feature saves us a lot of money each year to cover our 6 computers. Easily enough to buy the PMDG 777.

Even worse...people still use Norton

I was going to say that too.

 

 

 

David Warner