Have AVG Free - do I need Nortons AV?

I bought an Acer laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium and have installed AVG Free, 7.5 that I have been using for a couple years.

There is also Norton AV on the computer, but have never activated it. It appears to be a huge file (~200MB) and runs on start-up. I would like to remove it, but not sure of what may be bundeled with it.
I would like to at least remove it from start-up, since booting-up takes forever (3 min.?). I am used to clicking "run" and typing "msconfig" - but there is no "run" tab here.
I know Norton AV can be removed through the Control Panel - but would like to know if I should - and where to find the "run" command.
I will have other questions, I'm sure - but maybe this is enough for one post.

Thanks,
charlie

 

Charlie,

If you aren't going to use Norton's, I would remove it. After you use the Control Panel to remove it, I would use Regseeker to remove any left over entries for Norton's. Hopefully, this will decrease your start times.

Mike

 

I partially agree with Mike... remove it if you're not going to use it (through the Add/Remove Programs). But I would then go over to Symantec's website and download whatever removal tool was required. To do this, you're going to need to know the version of Norton's that is currently installed on your computer.

 

• Norton Removal Tool

I agree with James, I would first uninstall Norton AV via Add/Remove Programs and then reboot. Then I would run the Norton Removal Tool and reboot again.

Symantec/Norton is notorious for embedding their products deep into the system. I have also had trouble uninstalling Symantec/Norton products in the past. The Norton Removal Tool always worked well for me after such situations.


EDIT: BTW, I have always used the Norton Removal Tool on Windows XP machines. I do not know about using it with Windows Vista.

 

ah yes, norton. My father's co-worker said norton was one of the best programs he have ever used. So, our computer was pretty badly infected, so we decied to buy it. Norton made things worse. Alot worse. It would not remove any virsues it found, and when we went to the website, they said they want ANOTHER 60 bucks so THEY can remove the virus (vundo). I said to the person, so we need to pay the same amount of money that we GOT the product for, but the product is not doing its job, removing viruses. So, we ended up reformatting, getting AVG, and other free anti-virus/spyware/other malware. Very saisfied with the free editions, they work great.

 

Hi, greenday.

On the flip-side, I have Norton SystemWorks 2006 (includes Norton AV) installed in my desktop computer and, in general, I am happy with it. However, I installed Norton SystemWorks while my computer was clean so that might be a significant variable that affected your experience with Norton.

 

Thanks everyone.
I did remove Nortons via Control Panel followed by running the Norton Removal Tool.

It seems quicker and smoother on start-up.

Will evaluate further over next couple days and get back if there are other issues.

Again, thanks

cc

 

You're very welcome, Charlie.

Thanks for following up to let us know!

 

Charlie,

Good to hear!