Something I should know but don't

[windandwater]

So, but Shukaku (my laptop) and the home comp have Norton on them. The free trial period for Norton on the home comp just ran out and it's bothering me to subscribe. I'm planning on doing so, but I want to know if the subscription I get for the home comp will ALSO be transferrable to my laptop, or if I'd have to pay for the subscription twice. That doesn't seem very fair somehow, though very capitalist.

And is there a way to find out just WHEN your subscription runs out? I'm sure the one on Shukaku will run out sooner or later but I want to know before it actually happens.

Comments

[chaoticmikey.livejournal.com]

OR you could kill that diseased freak of an AV program and install the free version of AVG ( http://free.grisoft.com ) which has a lighter memory footprint and a superior detection rate.

There's only a couple of AVs that I consider better in detection rate (like Kapersky and NOD32) and they're MUCH more resource intensive.

[chaoticmikey.livejournal.com]

also, a good idea would be to run Windows Defender (Microsoft's antispyware resident program) along with AVG. Spyware is classified differently from virii, and even good AVs won't catch a lot of spyware.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

I'm already running Windows Defender. ^^ Plus ZoneAlarm, and AdAware and Spybot S&D. And I know about AVG, but downloading that onto the home comp would be full of pain and burning. I just wanted to know about the Norton.

[chaoticmikey.livejournal.com]

what's pain and burning? add/remove programs, kill teh nortonz.

btw, norton is usually purchased per machine :/
you can usually check your subscription status by simply doubleclicking the icon in the tray.

but ye gods...norton? :( you make me a saaaad panda.

[kitedreams.livejournal.com]

Just use avast - http://www.avast.com. It's free, it's what I use, and it's already caught multiple virii on emails.

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

It's pain and burning to download, since the home comp is on a modem. Mock all you like, I'm still trying to get us DSL.

[chaoticmikey.livejournal.com]

so your laptop has a 'borrowed' wireless connection?
you have blank cds or a thumbdrive, ne?

;)

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

I like to think that the neighbors 'share' their wireless with me. >_>;;

I suppose I can do that. We'll see.

[windandwater.livejournal.com]

I've heard of that and AVG. Still trying to decide. Is Avast really good?

[chaoticmikey.livejournal.com]

we tried it at work and it started hosing systems infected with a certain virus. it'd remove the virus, we'd reboot the box, and it'd immediately BSOD requiring a repair install. AVG successfully removed the virus (if I remember right, it was W32.Stration) and so I recommend it over Avast. Avast also seems a little bit resource-demanding at times. Antivir Classic is also free, but I'd recommend the other two over it.

[kitedreams.livejournal.com]

I've had no problems with it. I did a lot of research before choosing between that and AVG. In the end, they came out equal in performance based on stats, professional and private reviews. I chose Avast because it's set up more for dialup users - it downloads the dat files in much smaller chunks and doesn't suck up my connection speed. I don't even notice it updating.

[chaoticmikey.livejournal.com]

*shrug* i probably had the reg corruption problem happen at least twenty times with avast. they ignored my emails regarding the problem and its potential cause. there was a small microwave ISP up here bundling avast with its client software which is how i came to see the problem in the first place - after talking with their admin for awhile i got them to switch to AVG. after that, no more problems.

grisoft on the other hand was happy to work with our input in fixing a couple of problems we noticed with AVG and later ewido. (at the time, i was one of the senior techs at a chain of computer stores in norcal.)