Norton Antivirus: 'World's Most Trusted' title mystifies me.

` I have a small bit to say about this Norton business!
` This is more of a philosophical analysis more than a critical (practical) analysis though, because I haven't run a bunch of experiments. A trusted source, however, points out that; "Norton sucks."

` This is my practical knowledge:
` The other day, Windows was acting like it needed to be repaired, and I thought; "Maybe I have a virus that got past Norton Antivirus?" (Not that it had caught more than five - I really figured viruses were rare!) However, Norton couldn't be manually interfaced with for some reason - though it had at least scanned automatically each day. I thought I'd lost my Norton CD until I ran across a one that said 'Antivirus Software', even though it didn't say Nullsoft or Norton on the front. So I reinstalled it, but that didn't change anything!
` I asked EdgeWalker what to do. He told me ClamWin is a perfectly good (and nonbulky!) antivirus program that's free - so I downloaded it and tried it out.

` Norton had missed 99 viruses!

` I also needed to use the 'Operating System' CD, which in my case has Windows XP on it, to repair damaged Windows files!
` I think the 197 pieces of spyware I found shortly afterward were mostly responsible for all the viruses, as I'd forgotten to use my SpyBot program for more than a month. (There's been a sudden explosion of spyware lately!)
` But does this mean that Norton sucks?

` Logically, not necessarily. As I understand it, Norton may miss many viruses that ClamWin gets, but ClamWin might let other viruses slip that Norton would catch... then again, Norton's only caught 5 viruses since I've gotten my computer in 2002. Perhaps there are still some that are on my computer than neither would catch.
` Then again, I suppose if Norton caught 5 viruses out of 104 that ClamWin caught... I mean... it missed 99 of 104 or more possible viruses... Most likely, I'd say, Norton does suck compared to ClamWin!
` That coulda been real serious!

` 'Norton: Most Trusted Antivirus in the World...' if that is so, then the World is idiotic! And from what I know about people... they're usually only idiotic in certain areas. I guess that's enough problem if these areas tend to be computer sensibility - hey, that gives me an idea of what to do for my next blog! Hee hee!

` As it is, I'm going to use ClamWin and completely stop paying for Norton Antivirus updates... 5 out of 104 viruses!!!! Obviously, they've been practically useless!

` So, do you rely on Norton? Or perhaps another antivirus software that's expensive and/or annoying? Here's a practical experiment: Go HERE:

` Once you get there, you should be able to find something to download... install it (it's a much smaller program than Norton 'CPU-hog' Antivirus), and scan your computer. For my little 80-gig drive, it takes about 4 hours. (This could be because the screen saver keeps coming on and fighting with it.)

` ...Ah, I remember what everyone thought about my first computer: "Two gigs is enormous!" And for that computer, if it had the speed this one does, ClamWin would take only 5 minutes!

` Anyway, if you have an okay-sized hard drive, it may take some time, so perhaps when you go to bed or something, you can update it and then use it. (Always update before each use! It will say you're really out of date when you go to 'Scan' - I think that's what it's referring to.) In the morning, or whenever you come back to it, go and see if there are any viruses it has caught.
` If there are a whole buttload... tell me how many! Similar stories? I'd be interested to know!

` Unless ClamWin drags viruses into your computer, I see no reason why it isn't a better bet. Perhaps my Norton was really badly damaged and that's why I suddenly couldn't interface with it? I don't see how that many viruses could have gotten in... I'd say one of the many viruses already in the hard drive had done that to Norton! Anyone wanna try an' prove me wrong? Huh? Huh?