Hi All,I've been using Norton Premier System Works for a about 4 years now and my license will expire shortly. I've heard though that Norton is real resource hog. Given that we need all the available power now to run FSX (and FS9) what is the best protection i can get without impacting heavily on background resource ??I've heard that AVG is pretty good and also free, although i don't mind spending on good protection.Can anyone comment or advise ??? Apologies now if this is the wrong forum. Was kinda unsure...:-hmmm Thanks in advance...Best RegardsEddyNorth Wales - UK

Eddy - I've tried several over the years and the one that I'd recommend is NOD32. This AV program is highly effective and has the least impact on system performance of any I've used. You can learn more at www.eset.com . (They have a fully-functional 30-day trial version also).Doug

My subscription to Norton also expired this month and after reading many reviews I settled on the free AVAST. At least 4-6 less processes are running. Set up was a breeze after uninstalling NIS firstI had also installed AVAST 3 months on my daughters laptop connected to our wireless home network to see how it performed and that went well. Updates are regular.When I fly there is a one click disable and its good to go.So far I have had no problems considering its free for home useYMMVBill

Hi Eddy,Nod32.And speaking about available power, have you ever tried FSAutostart?Been using this small program from Ken Salter since forever now. It frees about 100 MB more memory of available Ram at my system. You can choose whatever you want to shut down and there is an explanation of what services you can securely shut down. Very handy program. You can find it in the Avsim library by typing FSAutostart.

I switched from Nortons to AVG years ago and never have had a problem.

I used Nortons for about 10 years but switched to AVG free about 3 years ago and Ive not looked back! Its just as good as Nortons but its free. Anyone looking for an AntiVirus and I point them to AVG.http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-freePete

I am trying MS One Care. It seems to work fine and little impact on my system. Norton was a monster resource hog. I had to manually uninstall it on my wife's computer last year. I think the printed instructions was four pages. Trend Micro is an excellent AV, which I use on our office network. I have not had any major viruses cause any downtime; yet.Bob...

I'll echo Doug's statement regarding NOD32. Very small footprint and very effective.

>Eddy ->> I've tried several over the years and the one that I'd>recommend is NOD32. This AV program is highly effective and>has the least impact on system performance of any I've used.>You can learn more at www.eset.com . (They have a>fully-functional 30-day trial version also).>>Doug>>That's what I use too... very good... another thumbs up from me :)

Hey Guys,Thanks to you all for your information. Much appreciated. Off to have a look at them all now...Thanks again and regards,Ed

I've sure been happy with AVG by Grisoft. I have it on 2 computers, it works great very intuitive and doesn't open a half dozen processes. Saved my butt twice. They also just bought Ewido spyware so you can also install the Ewido product from the same people on trial then it reverts to a non trial version which is still very good. I've also been very pleased with that product, nice interface, works well, just be sure to use it manually for the free versions and don't expect them to do everything for you like the payware versions.McAphee came installed on my new comp and it was ####, I hated it. It ran at least 9 processes and I am still getting rid of Mcaphee garbage two weeks after uninstalling it. It caused my startup to take a full extra minute longer.

I've sure been happy with AVG by Grisoft. I have it on 2 computers, it works great very intuitive and doesn't open a half dozen processes. Saved my butt twice. They also just bought Ewido spyware so you can also install the Ewido product from the same people on trial then it reverts to a non trial version which is still very good. I've also been very pleased with that product, nice interface, works well, just be sure to use it manually for the free versions and don't expect them to do everything for you like the payware versions.McAphee came installed on my new comp and it was ####, I hated it. It ran at least 9 processes and I am still getting rid of Mcaphee garbage two weeks after uninstalling it. It caused my startup to take a full extra minute longer.

Thanks also Nes...Will be checking it out.RgsEd

Eddie, I have used Norton before (been a long time though) and all I can sayis use anything BUT Norton. There are many very good programs out there and some of them are even free. I'm not going to name a specific one because they all have there goodand bad points. Craig

I probably shouldn't say anything, but, I don't bother with anti-virus. YOU are the best anti-virus software you can buy. As long as you are careful with what you download, stay up to date on Microsoft's latest security tweaks, and don't open anything in your email with an attachment unless you are absolutely sure it is safe (just because you know the sender doesn't mean it is safe, they could have been compromised) you should be safe.I agree, Norton stinks (my wife has installed AV on several of her computers). They are so intrusive and seem to me just a new way of constantly forcing you to buy updates. I check my system from time to time with several of the various free virus checkers out there just to be sure, but I've never had a problem (well, see below). I have downloaded a few files with viruses attached, but I never open files I download from places I don't trust without first checking them.The only time my machine has gotten infected was when my son loaded Instant Messenger on my machine even though I told him not to. The machine was password protected against him the instant that happened.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180