Does Norton's AntiVirus Software Noticeably Slow Down Computer Please Advise

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Peachesbackwards

Member
From experience I know the Norton's Internet Security software slows down your computer at least in regards to web browsing but does Norton's AntoVirus Software by itself (not coupled with anything) noticeably slow down say a computer like my desktop HP 260n Media Center(Pentium 4, 2.5gb RAM, 120 GB HD, 2.0 GHZ, XP, Broadband Cable Connection) or my laptop Toshiba A 105
(Dual 2 Core, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HD, XP, 1.66 GHZ, Broadband Cable Connection)? I do not game or do graphic works, just basic stuff like the internet, downloading & burning CDs/DVDs & word processing?

I ask this because I've been using Nortons Anti Virus (by itself) & while I'm OK with my computers speed, I keep reading posts from people who say, Norton's slows the computer down. If I had different Anti-Virus software, would I actually notice these 2 computers operating faster? If so, what Anti-virus software would you recommend, instead?
 
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Norton is well known as being a resource hog and there are a few far better retail and even free antivirus prpgrams to be found. One of the best freewares is Grisoft's AVG found at http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-spyware-free

For a retail product Trend Micro's antivirus software is often seen combined with adware and spyware removal tools included. Norton is unfortunately down at the bottom with McAfee as far as retail products. A program like AVG, Avast, Trend Micro's PC-cillin, and some others don't chew ram up and should see some improvement there.
 
What exactly is a Resource Hog Specifically In Regards to My System?

Do you mean, that Nortons AntiVirus on a Dual 2 Core, 2GB RAM, 160 HD,XP, 1.66 GHZ and/or a Pentium 4, 2.5 GB RAM, XP, 120 HD, 2.0 GHZ would hog up enough resuorces on these systems to cause it to slow down or are the resources large enough that they wouldn't be affected by Norton's hogging them up? Please clarify
 
Well I'm Going to Try Nod32

I just bought & installed Nod32 on my desktop (Laptop still has Nortons) to see if I notice any difference in regards to my computer speed. Nod32 got very high ratings from consumers on CNET. I would have tried Kasperskys but some people complained that it slowed their computer down too.

After an hour of trying it, I'm pretty happy with it as it did make my desktop run faster & I'm going to run it on my laptop too & uninstall Norton's as well. The only negative is, on my desktop, if I run Google Accelerator it apparently causes a bunch of conflicts on some sites on the the web (I use Firefox) and it won't let me get Yahoo Mail- it says "Bad Request" & caused problems posting things on forums, but as soon as I stop Google Web Accelerator, the problems ended on the web. Apparently a bunch of people have had similar problems in regards to a conflict with Google Web Accelerator & Nod32 & I haven't seen any solutions posted other then not using Web Accelerator. But the added overall speed outweighs disconnecting Web Accelerator.
 
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Peachesbackwards said:
I just bought & installed Nod32 on my desktop (Laptop still has Nortons) to see if I notice any difference in regards to my computer speed. Nod32 got very high ratings from consumers on CNET. I would have tried Kasperskys but some people complained that it slowed their computer down too.

After an hour of trying it, I'm pretty happy with it as it did make my desktop run faster & I'm going to run it on my laptop too & uninstall Norton's as well. The only negative is, on my desktop, if I run Google Accelerator it apparently causes a bunch of conflicts on some sites on the the web (I use Firefox) and it won't let me get Yahoo Mail- it says "Bad Request" & caused problems posting things on forums, but as soon as I stop Google Web Accelerator, the problems ended on the web. Apparently a bunch of people have had similar problems in regards to a conflict with Google Web Accelerator & Nod32 & I haven't seen any solutions posted other then not using Web Accelerator. But the added overall speed outweighs disconnecting Web Accelerator.
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well hope you like NOD32 i love it, i use it at work
 
I've tried Norton numerous times on different computers with specs that cover the spectrum. It's slowed each one down to a degree that was unacceptable to me.

I now use AVG free with AVG anti-spyware free. Seems to do the job just fine. I just try and stay aware on websites I visit and e-mail I open.

I'll occasionally do a scan with Trend Micros free online scanner.
 
the past Norton antivirus realy does slow a system down...my friend told me he tried the new Norton 360 out on his lappy and thats its better than Nortons previus antivirus as it doesnt use as much resources but finally they are going in the right direction...
 
profundus said:
I've tried Norton numerous times on different computers with specs that cover the spectrum. It's slowed each one down to a degree that was unacceptable to me.

I now use AVG free with AVG anti-spyware free. Seems to do the job just fine. I just try and stay aware on websites I visit and e-mail I open.

I'll occasionally do a scan with Trend Micros free online scanner.
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Trend Micro's PC-cillin is an older but excellent combination there. Their online scanner is certainly a great tool from all reports on it. For retail I give them a high rating. For AVG I run that without one item lagging along with Ad-Aware SE Personal and Spyware Terminator with it's own mild firewall and rarely even see a browser hijack attempt. The last two clean up the typical data miners easy with AVG flagging trojans and other crud.

Nevakonaza said:
the past Norton antivirus realy does slow a system down...my friend told me he tried the new Norton 360 out on his lappy and thats its better than Nortons previus antivirus as it doesnt use as much resources but finally they are going in the right direction...
Click to expand...

Norton's platform has always been to have a ton of things loaded with Windows. You can be sure that a latest version will still have quite a bit for the little gain seen there. The rep for it is probably making them think about making those improvements. :P
 
nod 32 is the best.... i have tried others....... i never look at norotn or anyhting anymore...... rmrber ot uninstall norton to...don't have no more then 1 antivrus software running a tonce or they will conflict... gl...and btw, u made a good choice...
 
Trend Micro's antivirus as well as other softwares will automatically remove another program during the installation process. Most are found to be that way where one will clash with another. NOD 32 is also a retail product which should do the same. AVG 7.5 is a free version with regular updates for home use.
 
I was originally going to try Trend but a bunch of comments, I don't know how true & how smart these people were, made it sound like it was a bit complex to use. I definately did not want an antivirus that also includes internet security (based on Norton past experience). Nod32 got an incredible amount of high consumer ratings & comments on CNET I think (oddly higher then the editors) & based on that I just went ahead & purchased it outright because I read something that the trial version was slower. Anway, as I said, so far it works great, is easy to install & use & after uninstalling Nortons, I installed it on my laptop & desktop & they both run noticeably faster including boot up time.
 
Trend Micro separates their internet security program from their antivirus/antispyware combination product seen at http://us.trendmicro.com/us/products/personal/trend_micro_antivirus_tav/index.html

When the shareware version of PC-cillin was tried out here a few months back it performed well and even removed the data miners that Ad-Aware usually takes care of. That's one thing that's makes it a good retail product to go with. I use AVG as a rule here since I can pick and choose what other programs to use along with it and won't see any clashes. Plus I can recommend various freewares found good that way.
 
A couple of high rated freewares are Commodo and Jetico for that. The spyware/adware remover called Spyware Terminator includes a mild firewall there for that free program. The links here are for the three freewares.

For Commodo go to http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/ For Jetico go to http://www.jetico.com/ For the Spyware Terminator go to http://www.spywareterminator.com/

The three links here bring you right to the home page for each to look over before deciding on them. The ST tool should work with either of the two firewall programs installed. It also suppliments Ad-Aware and AVG here quite well.
 
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