Change from Norton to Avast

Recently I am with Norton’s Internet Security. I don’t know that is true or not that they protected me from over 17,000 virus attacks in the last year (sounds somewhat incredible.)

On the other hand their customer support is outrageous. For weeks I tried to get an answer for a simple question, all I get sales pitches. They don’t even have a decent forum where their customers might help me out.

So I am considering to switch to Avast on the recommendation of a friend. I can see it has a nice forum as well. It is not the money (that Avast Home is free) but a good support, since I am not a “techie”, many times I need a step by step hand holding.

So my first question is: how is their large customer base satisfied with Avast over Norton or McAfee? Particularly, how good is Avast’s support?

Question: When downloading and installing Avast Home do I have to uninstall Norton first?

Thank you and regards.

I won’t answer this… ;D

One of the worst of all antivirus.

I’m an ex-Norton user and ex-McAfee. I’m here quite a long time.
Support? The forum is the best and faster one :wink:
Welcome 8)

Sure.

  1. Remove NAV through Add/Remove programs from Control Panel. Boot.
  2. Use Symantec removal tool following the three steps defined in the SymNRT tool info or here.
  3. Boot.
  4. Install avast! Boot.
  5. See what you get.

Full SymNRT info:

  1. Download and save these three files to the Windows desktop:
    a) ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/linked_files/tsgen/MSIFIX.bat
    b) ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/linked_files/tsgen/SymNRT.exe
    c) ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/linked_files/tsgen/SYMMSICLEANUP.reg

  2. Run the three files that you just downloaded
    a) On the Windows desktop, double-click the MSIFIX icon.
    Click Run.
    A black window may appear very briefly.
    b) On the Windows desktop, double-click the SymNRT icon.
    Click Run.
    Click Next.
    Click I accept the License Agreement, and click Next.
    Type the letters and numbers that you see in the white box, and then click Next.
    Click Yes or OK at each prompt.
    You may need to click more than once. Your computer may be restarted for you more than once.
    You may be asked to repeat some steps after the computer restarts.
    c) On the Windows desktop, double-click the SYMMSICLEANUP icon.
    Click Run, and then click Yes.
    Click OK.

  3. Boot.

Avast’s support is excellent! I first tried avast after reading user reviews on a few websites and browsing through some threads in avast’s forums. I used the search function to find topics that might be relevant to me, to see what sort of support I might find here. Both the experienced avast users and the avast team are incredibly helpful.

My college-age daughter’s computer has been protected by avast home for slightly more than a year, with no problems (or viruses!) whatsoever, after NAV was forcibly removed by my “PC guy.” I was unable to uninstall it myself; it simply would not be uninstalled. I also installed avast home on my mother’s computer, following removal of AVG, which had been installed to replace Norton. My computer had Norton Internet Security, with 10 months remaining, when I switched to avast pro. I have also used McAfee, which I liked even less than Norton.

In my opinion, avast is a great improvement over any of them.

t|s, do you have installed a firewall? NIS has a firewall, avast doesn’t (yet ;D).

As long as Avast does not have a firewall, can it be combined with the Microsoft XP Home firewall?

Sure it can.
You can use a thirdy party firewall if you want too: like ZoneAlarm, Comodo, Kerio, Sygate, Outpost, Jetico, etc.

Fine… but Norton slowed down my PC considerably even with Windows XP firewall turned off.

Wouldn’t two sources (Avast and a firewall from another source, like Windows XP) slow the PC down even more?

:slight_smile: Hi Charles :

  When REMOVING NORTON, I usually recommend 2
 "Additional Steps" ( After "uninstalling" & using the
 "Removal Tool" ) consisting of using your computer's
 "Search > All files and folders", followed by running a
  registry cleaner.
  As to your last "even more" ; even more than what ?
  I use Avast, Ad-Aware Personal, Ewido antispyware,
  SUPERantispyware, SpywareBlaster, Sygate Personal
  firewall and my "speed" seems ok !?

You will find that avast and a firewall of your choice will not slow down your computer nearly as much as anything Norton. Norton is well known as a resource hog which is what slows your computer down … the unnecessary loss of resources.


No. Good antivirus and good firewall always use less resources than Symantec ones 8)

Yes, Tech, I have a firewall (Outpost Pro 4.0). I had WinME on this computer when I uninstalled NIS (using your excellent instructions, of course), and the first thing I replaced was the firewall. My mother and my daughter also have firewalls.

Thanks for asking! :slight_smile:

Terry

I just dumped Norton and installed Avast. Wish me luck.

I wish you luck ;D
I mean, there are tons of ex-Norton users here… Welcome 8)
Oh, are you sure you fully removed Norton before installed avast? What did you do?