Norton AntiVirus

[compuguy52?]

Hi everybody :
I went to check the status of my Norton AntiVirus, and it's up for renewal. But........I also found out that Norton has been bought-out by Broadcom(company), who only services business clients. So....my question is..........could anyone recommend another antivirus software [still using Windows 7]. I tried McAffee before, but could never get it to function properly.
Thanks,
compuguy52?

[Digerati]

First, I have seen nothing that says the newly merged company, now called NortonLifeLock, will only service business clients. There is nothing to suggest Norton for consumers will go away. So if you like your current Norton AntiVirus, and you don't mind the recurring renewal charges, you can renew with confidence it won't suddenly stop working or go away.

But if you are tired of paying for an anti-malware solution, I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7. Contrary to what many Microsoft haters want us to believe, MSE is very capable of keeping our systems clean AS LONG AS you keep your OS and MSE updated, you don't partake in illegal activities or visit illegal pornography or gambling sites, and you are not "click-happy" on every unsolicited popup, attachment, email, download, or link you see. These, of course, are the same precautions we all must take regardless our security solution of choice.

Also recommended regardless your primary security solution is to have a secondary scanner on hand just to make sure you, the user and ALWAYS weakest link in security, or your primary scanner didn't let something slip by. I generally recommend Malwarebytes for that.

FTR, I used MSE with Malwarebytes on all my W7 systems and never had any compromises. I then migrated to MSE's sibling, Windows Defender (now Microsoft Defender) when I migrated to W10. And still no compromises.

I use the free version of Malwarebytes on 4 systems here and run manual scans every couple weeks. I run the Premium version on my two main systems. It has a real-time scanner.

Now, for the elephant in the room. It is past time to upgrade to Windows 10. It is important to remember this unsupported operating system is not just a potential risk to you and any other users of that computer. The bigger issue (just as it was with XP) is it is common for the bad guys to target and exploit unpatched vulnerabilities to then use those compromised computers to attack the rest of us! They use those computers to distribute malware and/or spam, or to draft those computers into their bot armies for DDoS attacks against our financial, educational, government and corporate networks - all without the user of the compromised computer knowing they have been infected.

I am NOT saying you are a threat today. The problem is, you might be tomorrow, next week, or maybe next year. Nobody knows when that will happen. But it will happen.

It is important to also remember that it is very easy to make W10 look and feel like W7. It is also important to remember that W10 is NOT the privacy threat some want us to believe it is. And especially important to remember is there is a HUGE difference between privacy and security. While W10 may share some technical information about our computers, it does not collect or share any personal information about us. In fact, it does a better job of securing and protecting that information than any previous version of Windows. Plus, Microsoft heard the complaints and the current version of W10 gives us much more control over what information is collected - to include seeing what is being collected. Google and Facebook are much greater threats than Windows has ever been. And our ISPs and particularly our cell phone carriers are even greater threats because they already have our real names and billing information.

In the case of cell phone carriers, they know our Internet surfing habits, our contacts, who we have texted and talked to. They know where we have been, where we are currently standing to within a few feet - to include the aisle of the store we are in! And they know which direction we are heading and how fast we are traveling.

When we connect our PCs to the Internet via Ethernet cable, the closest Microsoft knows of our physical location is our PoP (point of presence), the physical location where our ISPs connect us to the Internet backbone. In my case, that is 10 miles away in the next town over!

Frankly, when it comes to privacy and security, Microsoft should be the least of our worries.

It is time to upgrade to W10.

[renegade600]

I totally agree with the previous post.

[kuzzz]

I've been with Norton for 20 years and have always been satisfied with their performance and their customer service. I've never been charged a renewal fee. I always get the one that covers 10 devices. My cell phone was stolen last year and Norton took me right to the persons house all the while screaming absurdities at them til I got there.

kuzzz

[Digerati]

I've never been charged a renewal fee.

Wow! How did you manage that? I am not aware that Norton ever offered a lifetime subscription. There were "scam" offerings circulating a few years ago. But they were total scams - as buyers soon found out.

I just looked and this is all I can find. Monthly and annual rates only.

Are you sure you don't have automatic renewal set up and perhaps you just don't notice the withdrawal from your bank account?

FTR, I have never thought Norton products were bad or otherwise performed poorly. On the contrary, when it comes to protecting us from security threats, they are very good.

What turned me off about them (and McAfee too) was their marketing tactics, and prices. They often would bundle "trial" versions with new computers. Then, as the trial period was ending, they would toss up very scary and intimidating messages telling users how vulnerable they were about to become. For the less informed, these messages were very convincing that renewing was the only way to stay protected.

Also, for those who decided to go with another product, perhaps one of the many very capable "free" products, Norton and McAfee both made it nearly impossible to completely disable and remove those programs from their computers. Not good.

Then of course, the renewal prices are no cheap.

My cell phone was stolen last year and Norton took me right to the persons house

That's great and I'm glad you got your phone back. But there are free apps for that. The Google app, Find My Device, comes free with all Android phones.

[kuzzz]

I'm sorry I miss understood you I thought you were saying they charged a fee on top of the renewal.
kuzzz

[Digerati]

Ah! I see now. Thanks for clarifying.