# Comcast switches from McAfee to Norton, free for customers



## ekim68 (Jul 8, 2003)

http://www.neowin.net/news/comcast-switches-from-mcafee-to-norton-free-for-customers


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

Symantec sucks though. My school rents out laptops, and they're all loaded with Symantec. This ironically blocks Wi-Fi access, even the processors complain about them. Which is why the number of rentals dropped, as more and more students and bringing their own laptops from home to campus.

Maybe they fixed something, but the version of Symantec loaded on those laptops block Wi-Fi. The weird thing was, the Dells were ok Wi-Fi wise with Symantec, but all the other brands they had for rent, all had Wi-Fi blocked from it.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

From one bloated AV product to an even more bloated one! Some improvement.


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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

Out of the frying pan into the Fire!

Free is better

http://download.cnet.com/Avira-Anti...l-10322935&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=11012914

http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You forgot Microsoft Security Essentials, they don't get any respect, the Rodney Dangerfield of AV products.


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

JohnWill said:


> You forgot Microsoft Security Essentials, they don't get any respect, the Rodney Dangerfield of AV products.


If Windows had good security in the first place, you wouldn't need anti-virus protection 

All joking aside though, what I really like about Windows 7 is they finally included anti-virus in with the OS. And it's not that bad either, cleaned a virus up I had a couple of days ago :up:


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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

JohnWill said:


> You forgot Microsoft Security Essentials, they don't get any respect, the Rodney Dangerfield of AV products.


I didn't forget, I don't trust MS, might just be another bit of spyware from them. 

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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

> what I really like about Windows 7 is they finally included anti-virus in with the OS.


???? included?? I must have installed the cheap version. ;-)

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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

Mumbodog said:


> ???? included?? I must have installed the cheap version. ;-)
> 
> .


I'm not sure if all versions include it, I have Ultimate.
That's also something I hate about Windows, so many different versions for the SAME version...

Starter
Home Basic
Home Premium
Professional
Enterprise
Ultimate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

No AV was "included" with any version of Windows 7. You can get Microsoft Security Essentials for free from Microsoft, and it's actually an excellent package.

I have Windows 7 Ultimate running on three systems, and none of them had an AV after the installation.


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

> No AV was "included" with any version of Windows 7


There is, it's called Windows Defender.


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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

Windows Defender is not AV software, not sure what it does ; -) , I always disable it, worthless imho.

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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

Like I said above, it found and removed a virus I had. In my opinion, if it can do that, then it IS anti-virus.


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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

Removing it after it is on your system is not really anti anything, defender is the first thing that gets disabled during a Real infection, it is worthless. 

Nothing personal, its just my opinion.

.


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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

See here is one, Defender is not running, 99.9% chance malware has done this

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-vista/897868-window-defender-not-working.html


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

Ok, I conceded that Defender is not AV. But I'm not 100% wrong as it does have the ability to remove viruses already on your system.

The ironic thing is the only virus I ever got, was that 1 time I used IE8 to go online and download FF. Just goes to show even with the new "advancements" to IE, it's still a virus trap!


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## Mumbodog (Oct 3, 2007)

> But I'm not 100% wrong as it does have the ability to remove viruses already on your system.


No you are 99% right, but Defender cannot remove the really nasty ones that disable Defender in the first place, its feel good software that Microsoft includes for free, but in reality is not a very good defense these days.

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## TechGuy (Feb 12, 1999)

Just for clarification...

Windows Defender is for spyware/malware (like SpyBot, Malware Bytes, etc).

Microsoft Security Essentials is an antivirus product (like AVG, Norton, McAfee, etc) and removes viruses. 

Very interesting that Comcast is making the switch. I wonder how many of their customers who current use McAfee will end up installing Norton as well... ending up with two bloated antivirus products on their system instead of just one!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Mike, MSE also has a spyware removal component.

[WEBQUOTE="http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/"]Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.[/WEBQUOTE]


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## TechGuy (Feb 12, 1999)

You're quite right -- I didn't mean to be so exclusive with the antivirus products. Most modern antivirus products (including most versions of Norton and McAfee) claim to guard against spyware as well as viruses.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Windows Defender was phased out, presumably because it was redundant.


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## TechGuy (Feb 12, 1999)

Windows Defender has not been phased out yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to that. It's still very much supported at this point and I haven't heard any official plans to contrary.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

I've been running Norton Internet Security 2009/2010 for nearly a year on all my systems including a low-powered netbook, and it seems far more stable and less resource-intensive than the AVG and Zone Alarm combo I've used in the past. It received great reviews, so I decided to give it a try, and I intend to renew it.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

When I click on Windows Defender in my Control Panel, it has been deactivated by Microsoft Security Essentials.

I'm assuming they intend MSE to replace Defender.


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## TechGuy (Feb 12, 1999)

That is true -- MSE does take over the work of Defender, just as many antiviruses disable Windows Firewall. That doesn't mean the product has been discontinued.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You're right, I went to the site and found they still have the Windows Defender page up and a download is available.

Personally, I like MSE much better, it doesn't bug me unless there's a problem, and I have yet to see an annoyance popup from it. The only alert was when I purposely unpacked an infected ZIP, just to see if it worked. It jumped right on it, just like it should.  It updates in the background, and seems to have a lot less overhead than AVG Free did, which was my previous AV.


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## TechGuy (Feb 12, 1999)

I agree -- I've switched a couple of my computers from AVG to MSE and have been very happy with the performance. It's almost surprising that Microsoft released such a useful (and free!) product... I'm surprised the other AV manufacturers allow it. Imagine if Security Essentials came preinstalled on future versions of Windows the same way Windows Defender does now. Consumer antivirus products would disappear the same way Netscape did when IE started to be bundled with Windows.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, all those 3rd party AV/spyware scanners have disappeared from my computers!  As amazing as it would seem, I find nothing to dislike about MSE.


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