I use a corporate version Symantec Anti-Virus and Symantec Client Firewall programs, both use very little system resources and I have zero complaints overall. Although, I have tried the newer "Norton" Antivirus program on a Vista machine and was not impressed by its performance or resource hogging abilities...

 

Norton is a hog... I personally don't use their stuff anymore. Actually buying software is pretty unnecessary, I've been using all free software for a year now and have had better luck with it than I did with Norton's internet security suite or McAffee. Here is what I use, I highly recommend it:

Antivirus:
Avast 4.7 Home edition (free) (AVG is good too, I just prefer Avast)

Spyware (all free):
Spybot Search and Destroy (update it, scan, and immunize once a week or so, check the box for Internet Explorer protection, you don't need the System Settings protection)
Lavasoft Ad-Aware Personal (update and scan once a week or so)
Javacool Software Spyware Blaster (update it and then click "Enable all protection" every so often, this passively prevents a lot of crap from even getting on your pc rather than finding and removing it after it gets on there)
Javacool Software Spyware Guard (this program runs actively and protects your computer from spyware)

This seems like a lot but is really not bad at all to install these and the only ones that need regular attention is running the scans in Spybot and Ad-aware once in awhile. The others should be updated too but honestly I sometimes forget to scan and update for 1-2 months and my machine stays pretty clean. For the most part they just work in the background and are easily forgotten (spybot's immunize and the two Javacool programs). They are all free and use very little resources (one of my major complaints with Norton and McAffee). I also use Firefox for almost all my browsing and have the Adblock Plus extension installed as well as the Adblock Filterset.G updater extension which helps a little (and it's nice not to see ads everywhere).

I personally don't use an aftermarket firewall, the one built into XP service pack 2 isn't that bad and the one built into Vista is actually decent. Also most firewall software will slow down your computer and your connection a little, I've seen that from experience. Reason is the more intensive ones inspect every packet that goes in or out of the computer, this takes time and resources to do. If you're willing to make the trade-off two popular free firewalls are ZoneAlarm and Comodo Pro Firewall. Having tried both Comodo is more configurable and more powerful than ZoneAlarm but it's not really for beginners.

 

ok, my two sense worth. Norton is a massive resource hog, and mcafee is as good as not having an anti virus. The three to consider, in order of best on the market top three: Bitdefender, kaperskey, and Nod 32. The last one i use. Nice, far more accurate than the norton i got rid of two years ago. The not 32 updates virus definitions as much as once an hour. Firewalls. you need one. best two free are online armor, and comodo( which i also use). I leave my system running online for months at a time. Even not doing that, security is everthing, especially when running windows and using IE. Hope that helps you out. like i said, my two cents.

 

Thanks altair I used to run spybot on my old computer, and spyware blaster, but have not installed them on here yet. I downloaded everything you said, I just hope you gave me links to secure sites[>:] lol.


Question: Should I uninstall my Norton since I installed avast, or can I just wait until my trial period is over?

 

i would remove norton, the two can conflict each other and will eat even more system resources with both running

 

Bingo

 

Yup two virus programs will slow your computer down big time; however two or more anti-spyware programs won't have the same effect....

Dusty

 

you can use spybot, ad aware, or window defender from microsoft. the later is free and runs in the background.