Vista Tutorial - Norton 2009, McAfee, AVG, or None of the Above

I am having to do a recovery of Windows Vista due to an apparent virus/malware attack. After I recover, I want to have really strong antivirus/anti malware protection. According to CNET, Norton AV 2009 had really good reviews. As far as McAfee, my old Dell Computer with Windows XP has it and has never had a problem with malware, though it seems to slow down the computer a little bit. Then again, it has only 1 GB of RAM and a 64 MB graphics card (it's six years old). I had AVG for a short time before my system crashed, but also saw that the free AVG does not provide protection from rootkits and does not contain a firewall (which the upgraded version does). Here is what I am looking for:

1. Powerful, very reliable protection from viruses, rootkits, hacking, and any form of malware.
2. Something compatible with Windows Vista Home Premium. I say this because I experienced problems with Symantec products on Windows Vista and knew people who also experienced problems. As I said earlier, Norton 2009 had good reviews, so just wondering about it.
3. Not to expensive. I am willing to spend money, but I can't afford to go overboard.
4. Does not hog system resources. I have a pretty strong system (i.e. 3 GB RAM, 2.4 GHz dual core processor, and 256 MB graphics card), but don't want my resources to be used up as I do some gaming.

I am leaning towards Norton AV 2009, McAfee AV, or AVG (upgraded). Any advise is greatly appreciated and if you would like to recommend something other than these three, I'm all ears.

P.S. I hope this doesn't get posted twice. I couldn't find it after I submitted it the first time.

Quick reply to my own post. A review of Norton Internet Security 2009 on PCMag's website gave Norton excellent reviews. The only concern I have is compatibility issues with Windows Vista Home Premium. I say this because I used to have Symantec Antivirus Enterprise (given to be through the university I attend) and it gave me BSOD after running Windows updates. I confirmed this by doing a clean boot and discovered that when I activated the Symantec services, I got the BSOD. Any links to possible compatibility issues would be greatly appreciated.

Article from PCMag: The Best Security Suites for 2009 - Norton Internet Security 2009 - At A Glance - Reviews by PC Magazine

Hello Soonertiger,

I would recommend the McAfee, that's because I use it on my all three notebooks. I'm sure someone else may suggests the other AV, perhaps much better one.
I have been using the McAfee Internet Security for almost four years now. Recently, I switched to the Total Security Suite.
Answering your question how much resources does it use? Guess, not much and even I can't tell when Mcafee is performing his full schedule scan on my computers unless the fans start spinning faster. That's the only indication that something is going on in the background.
You can check more about the McAfee here.
Hope that's help...cheers...

I wouldn't have Norton on my system if they gave it away. I had NIS on XP for several years and it was nothing but problems and the biggest resource hog I ever had on a computer. Once you try to uninstall it, it still leaves behind a lot of files in the registry. You never really delete all aspects of having installed it.

I have McAfee on Vista because it came free for 15 months. After that, I'll probably just use the built in firewall and with a Linksys router, WinPatrol, Spybot, SpywareBlaster, and Spyware Guard, I feel pretty swell covered. BoClean was another good one but I think they went belly up not long ago.

Gibson Research has a couple of neat programs for testing your system for open ports, trojkans, etc. Scroll down about half way and you'll see "Shields Up" and "Leak Test". do both and you'll see where you're at security wise.

GRC*|*Gibson Research Corporation Home Page**

This is what you want to see in the GRC test I mentioned above-totally stealthed on all ports.

Hello ColColt,

My all notebooks are from Gateway, the reason I mention that is that the first one came with McAfee preinstalled by Gateway, the last two came with Norton Security 2008. I agree with you the Norton leaves a lot of files after uninstalling it. On both my laptops the solution to get rid of Norton forever was to clean install of Vista on the drive.
I used the Norton for about week and indeed it uses a lot of resources. Now I wonder how will look and perform the free AV from Microsoft which will replace the current Live OneCare.

Cheers...

I tried going into the registry to delete anything that had anything to do with Symantec. If it had Norton in the file name or Symantec it got deleted. I soon found it was an endless task and abandoned the idea since I don't think it hurt anything anyway. However, you can bet no Symantec product will be downladed on this new computer!

Once McAfee runs out for me I'll probably use avast antivirus since it's done me well with the other XP computer. I rely heavily on my router and often I think I could do without a firewall just having it, but; you still need a good AV software installed to compliment it.

Yeah, I was hunting these files also, it was useless. I reckon the one file was so hard to delete I decided to kill it by reformating the drive.
As to the firewalls I use one in the router the same as you do and the second one supplied by McAfee. Don't like the Avast, it looks like media player.
Btw, As the supplement to system security I allow to full scan my machines by the Clean Up Center - Windows Live OneCare safety scanner from time to time. It does good job.

Cheers...

hello:
---I use Avast a/v now and I love it---some ppl. suggest Avira also---then there is Comodo which has various uses, firewall, anti-malware, etc. - please lookie here--->Free Firewall Protection Software AntiVirus Buffer Overflow Attack Computer Security Free Personal Firewall---
---please post your results---thank you---

peace

Hmm
first, Mcafee with Artemis has been certified Advanced+, without it, it only recieves standard certification.

So my answer would be Symantec Norton 2009, or none of the above.

Norton 2009 is good, but has poor heuristic detection abilities

They are both better than AVG though (standard cert). The funny thing is if you want a AV that outperforms both Mcafee (without Artemis), and AVG, go with the free Avast! or Avira Antivir; both are Advanced certified.


As for the firewall leak test I can ace that with Vista firewall/and a hardware firewall- there really is no need for a "security" package, and if you dont feel like configuring it yourself, try the Sphinx free firewall control. See post #286 http://www.vistax64.com/system-security/139503-whats-best-antivirus-security-suite-29.html

for source, and more information regarding certification labs and testing, see:Whats the Best Antivirus/ Security Suite??