Antivirus software - NAV vs NIS vs NSW?

[ctmagnus]

I'm getting a new system in the next wee bit of time and will likely need some sort of protection. I'm considering either Norton Antivirus, Norton Internet Security (NAV plus some Internet-related stuff) and Norton SystemWorks (NAV plus some non-Internet-related-but-still-useful stuff), but am still undecided which to go with.

(I've tried other solutions in the past, and I really prefer Symantec's products over other companies' products.)

Does anyone care to weigh in with their opinion of which of the above Symantec products they like/use/recommend the most?

[Darius Wey]

If you're after basic AV protection, just stick with NAV. I find the other packages to be a tad bloated. However, NIS may be worth a look if you want an antivirus and firewall package by Symantec, but bear in mind there are free firewall solutions out there such as ZoneAlarm.

[ctmagnus]

Yeah, if I went with NIS, I'd likely only use the antivirus and firewall portions of it. I did some careful deliberating and decided against NSW. But I can get a free firewall and use it with NAV and get basically the same feature set (at least that I'd use) for less. And I found the bloat to be quite a pain in the posterior, at least on machines with 256MB or less RAM. So it looks like I'll likely go with NAV and a firewall, even though it'll be an extra icon in the tray.

Thanks for your opinion!

(btw, people, vote! ^ ^ )

[Janak Parekh]

If you're after basic AV protection, just stick with NAV. I find the other packages to be a tad bloated.
Agreed. Myself, I find any firewall beyond the XP SP2 firewall to be too bloated, so I just NAV + Windows Firewall.

--janak

[cml]

I agree with everyone else. NAV is great, but for a firewall, either Windows Firewall or any Zone Alarm product is more than sufficient.

[Steven Cedrone]

I use NAV and the Windows XP SP2 firewall as well. This combo has worked great so far!

[jbachandouris]

I personally use NIS, but I probably would go along with everyone else. With NIS, if there are any problems with it, uninstall/re-installs are a real pain. The last time I just ended up reformatting my hard drive and starting over. I have used Zone Alarm before, both paid and free, but the local computer shop in my area does not recommend it.

[PocketPC Addict]

Personally, I've found McAfee to be more stable - but that wasn't one of the options :wink: