Norton Internet security 2011 (€29.99) Tesco

Richard Dower

Tesco Limerick that is, Roxboro Road...NIS 2011, 1 year subscription + can be installed on three separate PC's

I grabbed one today, i know 2012 is due soon but 30 squid is a sweet deal!, only about 3-5 left on the shelf...back on the second isle as you walk in, snoopage essential

CreepingDeath

Microsoft Security Essentials... free. Linky

AVG Virus Scanner Free Edition... free. Linky

Richard Dower

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Microsoft Security Essentials... free. Linky

AVG Virus Scanner Free Edition... free. Linky

Seriously? :rolleyes:
I'd rather forked out 30 quid for Norton, "bloatware" and all.

miralize

If your smart, you actually dont need one at all. However, Microsoft SE, does keep people I know safe.

No need to look down at products, especially if you havent tried them.

confuzed

Good find.
Even its 2011 you will get all updates for one year from the day you register so not much difference. Mine is still valid until dec so not much use but thanks for sharing.

tricky D

Strange bargain, €30 and inferior???

jive

A word to the wise, don't bother. Microsoft security essentials and other free software are just as good / better e.g. Malwarebytes, AVG, spybot S&D. Just because you have to pay for it doesn't mean it's better. I use Microsoft security essentials 24/7 and run the occasional scan with malwarebytes and spybot.

Dilbert75

Norton has an excellent parental controls add-on though - can be active across all the pcs on the account and applies the same restrictions across them all. I have only used vista parental controls and found them very inflexible and light in comparison. My kids are not happy about Norton but that's how i know it works.

CaSCaDe711

jive wrote: »

A word to the wise, don't bother. Microsoft security essentials and other free software are just as good / better e.g. Malwarebytes, AVG, spybot S&D. Just because you have to pay for it doesn't mean it's better. I use Microsoft security essentials 24/7 and run the occasional scan with malwarebytes and spybot.

+1

tricky D

jive wrote: »

A word to the wise, don't bother. Microsoft security essentials and other free software are just as good / better e.g. Malwarebytes, AVG, spybot S&D. Just because you have to pay for it doesn't mean it's better. I use Microsoft security essentials 24/7 and run the occasional scan with malwarebytes and spybot.

Yup, there's a sticky on the Virus & Malware Removal with what you need for free.

T0mmyM

Some people like to pay for software, some don't. Norton is one of the top Security suites right now.

If you have a family and want to make sure you're computers are safe then Norton is an excellent security suite.

I wouldn't put much faith in Microsoft Security essentials and AVG to protect users who don't know much about computers or security. They're average at best

partyatmygaff

T0mmyM wrote: »

Some people like to pay for software, some don't. Norton is one of the top Security suites right now.

Top in memory usage or CPU usage?

T0mmyM

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Top in memory usage or CPU usage?

Neither, back 4 years ago I would agree with you but alot has changed since then.

dunworth1

T0mmyM wrote: »

I wouldn't put much faith in Microsoft Security essentials and AVG to protect users who don't know much about computers or security. They're average at best

are you trying to tell me that the company that made the operating system
wouldn't be able to protect it best.

its made so that anybody can use it and there giving it for free
unlike Norton to which scam people who dont know much about computers
by getting to pay for something that can be got for free

iknorr

T0mmyM wrote: »

Some people like to pay for software, some don't. Norton is one of the top Security suites right now.

If you have a family and want to make sure you're computers are safe then Norton is an excellent security suite.

I wouldn't put much faith in Microsoft Security essentials and AVG to protect users who don't know much about computers or security. They're average at best

From that statement you clearly have little experience running any of these programs.

Are you just reading reviews from consumer sites? You know these are all biased?

"top" me arse. You dont need security suites....

Tea_Bag

Microsoft security essentials is the simplest and one of the most lightweight (nod32 being the leader last I checked) antiviral packages out there atm. its highly regarded in its industry and anyone who knows anything about virus removal would agree with this.

I too used to be a sucker for Norton. its not the bees knees anymore and if you think it is id put money on the fact you don't know what you're talking about.

don't even get me started on McAfee though.

if you're willing to pay, get nod32. if not, MSE.

johnmcdnl

it's a good deal at it's usually 40 euro anywhere so your saving 25%

it's a ****e deal because there's a plethora of better free programs out there that'll do the job for free... and don't cost 30/40 quid a year after that....

if it was a one of thing - maybe I'd accept it... when it's a recurring cost :mad: even Microsoft don't charge you for yearly updates....

anyone who thinks paying for Norton is the best option out there doesn't know a lot about security programs... I can't say how good the new Norton's are because I haven't used them but the free ones I've used have been more than adequate for me and I've never had any problems with viruses... ever

so no need to pay for it - but OP's post is a good bargain if your hell bent on buying it... but don't just don't waste your money where it's not needed

Dilbert75

I agree that Norton used to be very resource-hungry and it seems to me that it has improved over the past two years in particular. It also seems to me that Microsoft consistently put out buggy, vulnerable software in their operating systems and I wouldn't trust them to give me free software to protect their buggy, vulnerable systems. Bit like letting the inmates patrol the prison.

Anyway, this is not the place for a discussion on internet security packages - leave that to the Computers and Technology forum. This is a bargain alert and a bargain could be described as a cheaper price on something you would have paid more for.

I've seen NIS11 on sale in PC World for €70 (3-user license), I've bought it myself for €35 (also in PC World, also 3-user license) and by my definition this is a bargain. If you wouldn't buy it at any price, move on. Nothing to see here.

Mc Love

Norton is still pretty bad in terms of both CPU usage and memory usage. McAfee is a joke, after being infected by trojans and what not, ever since I have installed a free Firewall from PCtools and free antivirus MSE, I havent had one problem

partyatmygaff

Dilbert75 wrote: »

I agree that Norton used to be very resource-hungry and it seems to me that it has improved over the past two years in particular. It also seems to me that Microsoft consistently put out buggy, vulnerable software in their operating systems and I wouldn't trust them to give me free software to protect their buggy, vulnerable systems. Bit like letting the inmates patrol the prison.

Microsoft don't release buggy, vulnerable OSes. The only reason for there being so much malware for Windows is the fact that most computers for personal use run Windows. If Linux or Mac OS had the same market share as Windows then you'd be calling them "buggy and vulnerable".

Microsoft have upped their game, their software for the past few years has been excellent.

T0mmyM

dunworth1 wrote: »

are you trying to tell me that the company that made the operating system
wouldn't be able to protect it best.

its made so that anybody can use it and there giving it for free
unlike Norton to which scam people who dont know much about computers
by getting to pay for something that can be got for free

That made me laugh. New vulnerabilities and exploits in the OS are found on a very regular basis and thousands of new malware released daily. Microsoft don't have much of an advantage ovr other vendors.

All I'm saying is that Norton covers all your bases in an efficient package. Parental controls, antispam, login manager, firewall, AV etc...

All Microsoft security essentials is an AV. No more no less.

For a free AntiVirus I would recommend Avast! free as it scores much better in independant tests, and has more features than Microsoft's solution. http://www.avast.com/en-eu/index

Cantona's Collars

Norton-the favourite of PC World staff to sucker in people who know little about computers and make them spend more money in their store.
Avast is free and better,combine it with malwarebytes and pctools firewall then you're very well protected and haven't spent a cent.

I wouldn't care if Norton was €9.99, I still wouldn't buy it.

Dilbert75

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Microsoft have upped their game, their software for the past few years has been excellent.

I'd argue the same about Symantec.

Mc Love wrote: »

Norton is still pretty bad in terms of both CPU usage and memory usage.

Not from what my task manager tells me - with Firefox, Outlook, Word and numerous background processes, I have 3% of processor being used. Of the many processes underway, NIS is nowhere near the top of the list of RAM users.

Like I said if you don't like it, don't buy it. This is Bargain Alerts - its designed to highlight price reductions on items you would have paid higher prices for elsewhere - hence its a bargain. If you wouldn't have bought it anyway, why comment?

Mc Love

Dilbert75 wrote: »

If you wouldn't have bought it anyway, why comment?

To warn non-tech savvy people not to buy it - as I think and know that you can get the similar better piece of software for free

a5y

Dilbert75 wrote: »

I'd argue the same about Symantec.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_AntiVirus#Criticisms

The FBI confirmed the active development of Magic Lantern, a keylogger intended to obtain passwords to encrypted e-mail and other documents during criminal investigations. ..Symantec and other major antivirus vendors have whitelisted the Magic Lantern trojan, rendering their antivirus products, including Norton AntiVirus, incapable of detecting it.

A security company that explicitly tested its antivirus software to ensure a trojans can run on my computer?

Think for a moment what will happen once someone writes a trojan similar enough to ML that its accepted on the whitelist too? Or, simply identifies they've been infected by Magic Lantern and analysing the code the way security professionals routinely do, every day? Imagine how far and wide that'll spread.

And all thanks to security companies not offering security. Idiots.

On January 28, 2010 Symantec Anti-virus update marked Spotify as a Trojan horse disabling the software across millions of PCs.

At least with free software a lack of testing before release would be defensible. This isn't - they've the money for an incredible amount of resources.

Retail customers report slow and indifferent service on bugs. Examples include a faulty error message stating current subscriptions had expired. Users received an error stating "Your virus protection cannot be updated." This error occurred after an update to the software and refused to allow daily updates. Though the bug was reported in 2004, it was not corrected for the 2005 or 2006 versions.

Is that even legal? A customer pays for something but because of incompetence they don't get it until more than 2 years later?

Norton AntiVirus has been criticized for refusing to uninstall completely, leaving unnecessary files behind.

Any one of these should be a giant red flag to stay the hell away, but together its a parade of failure, complete with marching band, jugglers on unicycles and a clown car.

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Like I said if you don't like it, don't buy it. This is Bargain Alerts - its designed to highlight price reductions on items you would have paid higher prices for elsewhere - hence its a bargain. If you wouldn't have bought it anyway, why comment?

That software is sold at an enormous margin, by salespeople eager for commission. There are enough vested interests and bad quality to justify the warnings; not to mention the free alternatives are *at least* good, if not better.

T0mmyM

Excellent research you did there.

Most of those points can be applied to most other security products out there.

McAfee issued an update that made peoples PC's unbootable, and many other programs have identified widely used programs as malicious. This happens.

Many other security products leave traces of themselves behind and can be difficult to uninstall.

Glitches and bugs happen, give me the name of some software that has never had issues?


I hear so many people knocking Norton who haven't even tried their software. Price aside, I can't see what major problems people have with it.

Tea_Bag

T0mmyM wrote: »

Excellent research you did there.

Most of those points can be applied to most other security products out there.

McAfee issued an update that made peoples PC's unbootable, and many other programs have identified widely used programs as malicious. This happens.

Many other security products leave traces of themselves behind and can be difficult to uninstall.

Glitches and bugs happen, give me the name of some software that has never had issues?


I hear so many people knocking Norton who haven't even tried their software. Price aside, I can't see what major problems people have with it.

None of those points apply to MSE though. I've never heard of a single fault with MSE, and it uninstalls just fine. Noone here likes McAfee, and if you do, don't bother posting.

T0mmyM

Yes I agree, not many issues with MSE and I have used it for the last year before switching to Avast! (You Norton on my main PC)

Keep in mind what you're comparing MSE to though, a basic Antivirus against a full suite with all the bells and whistles. Which is more likely to encounter
issues?


Oh, and yes I agree about McAfee, very poor product.

a5y

T0mmyM wrote: »

Keep in mind what you're comparing MSE to though, a basic Antivirus against a full suite with all the bells and whistles. Which is more likely to encounter issues?

Ooh, ooh! I know this one! The answer is:

"The suite of badly coded, resource hogging bloatware with FUD and snake oil sauce, with sprinkles of organic grinded teeth, served on bed of freshly chopped wasted time."

This isn't just software. This is Norton software. :cool:

johnmcdnl

T0mmyM wrote: »

Excellent research you did there.

Most of those points can be applied to most other security products out there.

McAfee issued an update that made peoples PC's unbootable, and many other programs have identified widely used programs as malicious. This happens.

Many other security products leave traces of themselves behind and can be difficult to uninstall.

Glitches and bugs happen, give me the name of some software that has never had issues?


I hear so many people knocking Norton who haven't even tried their software. Price aside, I can't see what major problems people have with it.

are you a Norton rep or something like.... have you not tried any other security software yourself to be in a position to compare...

what about Norton is worth 30 euro that can't be got for free... spending 30 euro on a product that doesn't provide a far better service than a product that can be acquired for free is a waste of money...

Norton isn't worth 30 euro, when the alternatives match up just as well if not better and can be acquired for free...

can you tell us what part of Norton's security package is worth 30 euro of my money.. your after saying yourself that most programs have glitches and bugs and some downsides... well the other products are free and Norton isn't.. therefore if your after spending money on it surely it should need to be 100% perfect to be worth spending money on seeing as the alternatives do as good a job if not better...

Can you tell us what part of AVG or Avast or MSE is dodgy compared to Norton...

why are you so adamant that Norton is worth investing in compared to the free alternatives that are just as good

Mc1981

I have used avg, norton, McAfee and microsoft security essentials over the last number of years and the only one I've had problems with was McAfee. Not much to separate the others but when you consider mse to be free why pay for norton.

I have had no problems with mse and have been running it for a good while now.

T0mmyM

johnmcdnl wrote: »

are you a Norton rep or something like.... have you not tried any other security software yourself to be in a position to compare...

what about Norton is worth 30 euro that can't be got for free... spending 30 euro on a product that doesn't provide a far better service than a product that can be acquired for free is a waste of money...

Norton isn't worth 30 euro, when the alternatives match up just as well if not better and can be acquired for free...

can you tell us what part of Norton's security package is worth 30 euro of my money.. your after saying yourself that most programs have glitches and bugs and some downsides... well the other products are free and Norton isn't.. therefore if your after spending money on it surely it should need to be 100% perfect to be worth spending money on seeing as the alternatives do as good a job if not better...

Can you tell us what part of AVG or Avast or MSE is dodgy compared to Norton...

why are you so adamant that Norton is worth investing in compared to the free alternatives that are just as good

I've tried many AV's and have really liked Norton over the past year or 2.

Am I telling people to rush out and buy it? Nope. I'm just saying that you're getting more features and services that MSE and others don't include. Yes, I'm sure MSE is adaquate for your needs, but some people want extra protection and peace of mind.

i'm not going to list all the extra features of NIS but go and see for yourself if you want to.

I've tried many AV's and have really liked Norton over the past year or 2. I'm just sticking up for a great product.

TOMP

Interesting comparison of anti-virus programs

http://www.av-test.org/certifications

jpfahy

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Microsoft Security Essentials... free. Linky

AVG Virus Scanner Free Edition... free. Linky

+1

Dilbert75

TOMP wrote: »

Interesting comparison of anti-virus programs

http://www.av-test.org/certifications

Wait a minute - that gives the following scores for protection, repair and usability (out of 6, higher is better):

MSE: 2.5, 4.5 & 5.0
AVG: 5.5, 4.5 & 3.0
NIS: 5.0, 5.0 & 3.5.

Of the others that I've tried, Kaspersky gets 5.5, 5.5 & 5.0 but I found it horrible to use - possibly the difference between an old and new version - and McAfee gets 3.0, 3.0 & 3.5.

How does that add up?

maki

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Wait a minute - that gives the following scores for protection, repair and usability (out of 6, higher is better):

MSE: 2.5, 4.5 & 5.0
AVG: 5.5, 4.5 & 3.0
NIS: 5.0, 5.0 & 3.5.

Of the others that I've tried, Kaspersky gets 5.5, 5.5 & 5.0 but I found it horrible to use - possibly the difference between an old and new version - and McAfee gets 3.0, 3.0 & 3.5.

How does that add up?

They, like av-comparatives, actually rigorously test the programs.

People here seem to be under the impression that MSE is the be-all and end-all of AV programs because their particular computer hasn't been infected yet, and that Norton is slow and useless because it was like that in 2004.

Things have changed.

Just yesterday, in av-comparatives' latest performance test, Norton 2012 came out on top, just ahead of NOD32.

While MSE would still be my choice when it comes to freeware antivirus software, its detection rates aren't as spectacular as everyone makes out. It's heuristic abilities are lacking and 0-day malware does get through.

Besides, for the average user, a security suite is more attractive than having to download, install and manage antivirus, antimalware, and firewall programs all at once.
As such, yes this is a bargain.

Polar101

I've been using MSE for the past year or so and it seems pretty good for a free Microsoft product. It only notified me of a problem once, which either tells me a) my system doesn't have problems or b) it can't detect s*it.

Now, I got a two-month subscription of Norton Internet Security 2011 with my new motherboard, so I installed that. It seems much better than some of the older versions I've used, and uses very little resources. So far it has only informed me of some tracking cookies. If NIS was cheaper, I'd definitely use that.

Manzoor14

had a few laptop issues recently. My Mcafee antivirus subscription (came preinstalled) identified 0 threats. unistalled it and installed MSE for free, identified 6 threats and removed all.

Laptop was still running a little slow so downloaded superantispyware for free, identified 83 threats. Along with malwarebytes it has to be the best and most comprehensive free anitvirus software available...

iknorr

Manzoor14 wrote: »

had a few laptop issues recently. My Mcafee antivirus subscription (came preinstalled) identified 0 threats. unistalled it and installed MSE for free, identified 6 threats and removed all.

Laptop was still running a little slow so downloaded superantispyware for free, identified 83 threats. Along with malwarebytes it has to be the best and most comprehensive free anitvirus software available...

I have exaqctly the same experience .

it started when a colleague gave me a usb key with a virus on it....
he had norton. i installed MSE, instantly dectected a virus and upon a full scan detected a few more.
He was impressed and only runs MSE now. He told some other peeps in the office, i had a few enquiries and now 80% of people I interact with in work use MSE, most had paid antivirus suites. They have now uninstalled them and use only MSE.

Why pay money for an AV program when you can get better for free?

Whitehawk

CreepingDeath wrote: »

Microsoft Security Essentials... free. Linky

AVG Virus Scanner Free Edition... free. Linky

would one need a firewall as well - any feelings on free zonealarm one!

Hal Emmerich

Whitehawk wrote: »

would one need a firewall as well - any feelings on free zonealarm one!

PC Tools Firewall

or

Comodo Firewall

Automan

The Best Free Security Software for PC

http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

T0mmyM

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

PC Tools Firewall

or

Comodo Firewall

Comodo's defense+ alerts can be quite annoying and confusing for novices. Great firewall though.

If you're using Windows 7, the built in firewall isn't that bad and if you're behind a router with a built in firewall aswell then it's perfectly fine