Topic: Norton Costs.

[JK]

I am using Norton antivirus and firewall which a both due to be renewed this week.
I find the subsciption costs a joke. As with all USA software they are charging the USA dollar price in GBP. The update site is in Ireland with a 21% vat rate on top. Can you recommend a firewall and antivirus software that is better and cheaper than Norton?. I bought the antivirus software on amazon for less that 1/4 of the subsciption renewal price. At least Norton are not in the same league as Microsoft, with the UK Vista pricings.
Having bought items on Amazon I was offered Vista at a pre launch special price, which I noted and then went onto the amazon USA site. It was 1/3rd of the price.
I did have old versions of Norton before I upgraded. I attemped to upgrade from a site in Canada. The site detected that I was from the UK and redirected me to the UK one. The difference about 60% extra.
If I could have or find a pirate version of Norton I would be happy to download and use it.
If you are in the UK they are taking the P**.

[Simon]

You could try Ebuyer, which offers OEM versions of many brands of security software, including Norton.  If you want to stick with Norton, you could go for Norton Internet Security, which incorporates AV / Firewall / Anti-Spyware and Anti-Spam, which would cost you round about £25 plus a bit of postage, but if you fancy a change, I would recommend you try F-Secure Internet Security (OEM), which is about £10 cheaper than Norton. 

One thing to say about F-Secure is, you would be required to uninstall all other security software from your PC, and you would definitely have to ensure that all traces of Norton are removed, by using the Norton Removal Tool (there is an updated version for Norton 2007), but I have found F-Secure to be very satisfactory, at a lot less than the cost of Norton.

[davy51]

If it were me i would switch
to comodo firewall and avast anti virus

they both work perfect and are free

[DJ]

to comodo firewall and avast anti virus

Exactly what I'm using that the moment, no problems at all.

DJ

[Simon]

It's probably just me being cynical, but I can't help thinking that free equivalents of non-free products must lack something that the paid for versions offer, otherwise, why would they be free?  That said, I have to admit, many people use the free products, seemingly with no problems.  I just have difficulty believing in something for nothing these days.

[davy51]

comodo is a security site which charges for security services

http://www.comodo.com/


and avast has a paid pro for business version which pays for the free


http://www.avast.com/


they give the free versions away as an advertising gimic

and as test beds for the paid versions
that way they save paying customers problems

[Simon]

I note Comodo also offer free Anti Virus and Anti Malware protection. 

[davy51]

i tried the anti virus
it seemed a little complicated so i stoped it and went back to avast
i havent tried the anti malware yet

[JK]

Thank you for your very kind replies. I will try the software. I was very grumpy when I sent the message. I was very upset at the pricing of software in the uk. Last year I had an old version of Norton which I wanted to upgrade. I found a north american norton site with a upgrade download at a nice price. The site detected that I was from the uk and redirected me to another site with the same software at 60% more, as it was is Ireland vat at 21% would be added to that price. Then I bought the same software on Amazon for £5.
I feel that £16 GPB is a very very high price for anti-virus  subscription renewal. Again its a UK price rip off. As the USA renewal price is much cheaper. I would welcome your comments.
But I feel sure that many pc pals UK members have gone out and been ripped off when buying Visa in the uk.
No need for replies to my postings are just a view and I presume you will share ,except those who have paid over 150% more like 300% extra(USA to UK price) to have vista. My question would not be asked if I had vista as  my  operating system, as it is now, norton and most of my other software, would  not work at all with Vista

[JK]

Hi davy51
Love the look of comodo firewall and want to try it but have a major problem with it. When installed my modem will not connected at all. I am on line and download comodo, which requires a reboot. After the reboot my modem will not connect at all says line is down, and stays like it until comodo is uninstalled?

[gmax]

If "Norton antivirus" was free i still would not use it, "Norton antivirus" slows your computer down badly and also is difficult to remove once installed. Norton virtually admit this fault by providing a help site on the web with software to remove it.

[Simon]

Hi davy51
Love the look of comodo firewall and want to try it but have a major problem with it. When installed my modem will not connected at all. I am on line and download comodo, which requires a reboot. After the reboot my modem will not connect at all says line is down, and stays like it until comodo is uninstalled?

I haven't used Comodo myself, but have you checked in the settings, that you don't need to enable something to have internet access?  Your browser, perhaps?  Also, it might be worth checking that Windows Firewall is switched off, as running two firewalls simultaneously can cause problems.

[sam]

Thank you for your very kind replies. I will try the software. I was very grumpy when I sent the message. I was very upset at the pricing of software in the uk. Last year I had an old version of Norton which I wanted to upgrade. I found a north american norton site with a upgrade download at a nice price. The site detected that I was from the uk and redirected me to another site with the same software at 60% more, as it was is Ireland vat at 21% would be added to that price. Then I bought the same software on Amazon for £5.
I feel that £16 GPB is a very very high price for anti-virus  subscription renewal. Again its a UK price rip off. As the USA renewal price is much cheaper. I would welcome your comments.
But I feel sure that many pc pals UK members have gone out and been ripped off when buying Visa in the uk.
No need for replies to my postings are just a view and I presume you will share ,except those who have paid over 150% more like 300% extra(USA to UK price) to have vista. My question would not be asked if I had vista as  my  operating system, as it is now, norton and most of my other software, would  not work at all with Vista

agreed mate... software and infact most things in the uk is overpriced, fact of life... :-( - reason I use open source / free when possible.

[JK]

Hi
Thanks for your advice.
I have got comodo firewall working but now have a problem with active x.
Trying an active x test site, it says that I have a scripting problem. My brower's settings appear to be correct and the only changes are the removal of norton and the installation of comodo firewall and AVG antivirus.
Any ideas please?

[JK]

Re active x test the result said ''If you see a blank space, ActiveX is probably working properly, but not scripting''.
Thanks