Ive just logged on this morning & my internet security has expired. Im not quite sure what to do now,

Do i renew again with norton for another year (2005 package) ? Buy the new updated package which is nearly double the price ? or buy a package with a totally different provider ?

Any help would be very much appreciated

I really wasn't sure what I was doing when this happened to me so I just renewed with Norton for another year.
Not much help I know sorry.

I will watch this thread with interest as my Norton Security is due for renewal too....
I am getting a bit paranoid about internet security having read some disturbing articles in the Newspapers recently....
I downloaded Spybot yesterday....but am still a bit lost with it!!!

I just paid the renewal and I haven't had any problems so far. I have got a Dell computer that automatically gets updates so that might be helping too. As long as you have your firewall on all the time renewing should be OK I think.HTH

My Norton is also due to expire as well! Not sure if I'll renew it though, I also use spyware doctor which is really good.

What does your Internet Security do?

Is it a virus scanner or something different?

I set my internet securities via Internet Explorer and this controls the level of obscenities etc. that can be viewed. I also have a Virus scanner which is updated on a very regular basis.

To help stop spam entering your mailbox, Seanny posted a link to "Mailwasher" software.

The renewal is for the subscription of files which update the anti virus checker. These files contain errm stuff to protect you against new types of viruses so as a minimum you need to renew the subscription.

You don't have to buy the whole thing again (not unless you want to) because you already have the full Norton software on your computer at the moment. Hence the above statement about renewal.

Also if you don't have one already - get a spyware package - it's as important as the anti virus imho.

Hope this helps a bit if you want any more info give me a shout - or Seanny as he is good with computers as well

Thanks guys, think i will renew with Norton. I noticed that Mcafee have 30 day free trial for small business but wasn't sure if that would be of any use to me as i don't really use the internet for business

I personally prefer Mcafee, but the problem you would have there is that you would have to purchase the full license after the expiry of the 30 day free trial if you liked it better than Norton so it would cost you more to do this then renew subscriptions with Norton - hope I'm making some sense!

Of course, you could always go down the best route of all (IMO) and use Avast. It updates its anti-virus database at least once a day, sometimes more than that. If there's a new program update, it will update your pc automatically. Simply download the program, and register your details at the Avast website. This takes about a minute to do, registration allows you to use the program for one year, when the year is up..... simply re-register and you're good to go for another year.


Reasons to use it:
How much does it cost for this anti-virus program? It's 100% FREE
How much for anti-virus database updates? 100% FREE
How often do you get these updates? Daily
Are they easy to install? It's done automatically.

Reasons not to use it:

So if i got avast would i still need Norton ? Im a bit thick when it comes to computers !

Hi Juliette, I've bought two computers recently, both came bundled with Norton software. The first thing that I done was take Norton off both machines and then installed Avast.

You should uninstall Norton before installing Avast.

Thanks for that, i have removed programs before so i should be ok (i hope) just one more question, I promise.

Why does Norton have to be removed first ?

I use Kapersky on all my pc's I wouldn't touch norton with a barge pole
Take Seanny's advice and get rid.

I suppose the non-technical answer is that they'll possibly conflict with each other.

Imagine if you could, using all available anti-virus programs simultaneously......... just to make sure that you were covered for all eventualities. It just wouldnt work, each AV program using all the processing power checking the other AV programs.