If you've got this, remove it and reinstall it NOW - before it blows on you. I spent over six (6) hours last night gutting my machine.

There is a known issue with 2003 - and probably 2004 as well - that causes a Norton subroutine known as REGFILTER.EXE to run wild and eat up your CPU use. The computer runs very slowly, and none of the Norton programs will start. REGFILTER is part of Norton Personal Firewall. It's more likely to happen if you have Norton Antivirus 2004 running under System Works 2003...which they say is fine.

I beg to differ!

My suggestion - buy a McAfee Internet Securities Suite V7.0 for $39.95 at K-Mart and ditch Norton. They're simply not what they used to be.

Based on my experience with Norton, I have to agree with you. I tried the Norton Antivirus route several years ago, and had so many problems with it using up CPU resources, taking forever to run scans, crashing my browser when I tried to update, etc., that I finally wrote it off as a learning experience

and said "bye-bye" to it.

There is one exception to my bad experiences with anything Norton, though. Norton Ghost is, in my humble opinion, simply the best program available for disk imaging. At least they got one thing right. :-\

As far as good antivirus programs go, I can certainly recommend either Kaspersky's AVP or Grisoft's AVG (I use their paid version, although the free version is more than adequate, since it uses the same virus definitions). There is also a free AV program by the name of Avast, but I've never used it, so don't have an opinion. It gets good reviews, though, so is probably okay.

I use "Kerio Personal Firewall" + "AVG 7" at 0$ (that is _zero_) for all my security needs.

They both merge in with Windows speldidly -- also into Outlook if anyone is using that for email.

I've been using them for such a long time and I've never had a problem with either viruses, trojans or internet hijackings(or infections that way).

PS. I have tried Avast, but it didn't quite strike my fancy. The best free AV solution i've tried as of yet is AVG 6 and 7. The interface might not look super-modern but it does the job.

That is quite interesting as my problem was exactly the reverse- it was the McAfee which caused the problem- totally caused all my E Mail programs to shut down, and the only way out of it was to install Norton! I have it in place for about our months and so far seems OK.

Quillman UK

AVG is a very good product and they do have a free edition.

I agree about Norton Ghost. It is also a very good product for windows, and really is about the only good thing Symantic is putting out currently or has for some time.

There are alot of different products out there but so few actually work well, are not invasive, and easily uninstall if you don't like them.

tal

My system went down a few weeks ago. I finally got some of it reinstalled, but I cannot get my Works Suites or McAfee Security Suite to install.

For the past few weeks, I have lacked the interest to fool with the thing. However, I miss having Word.

I had an idea about what caused the system to fail, but I no longer remember what it was. I don't think I got a worm, but I don't really know. The failure happened after one of the many updates from Microsoft. However, I suspected something from Norton caused the problem. That was the virus protection that I had used.

It was the first failure I have had with this computer during at least 2 1/2 to three years. I suspect that some control that lets me install programs is blocked by a command (somewhere).

Blaise (imported) wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2004 5:09 pm My system went down a few weeks ago. I finally got some of it reinstalled, but I cannot get my Works Suites or McAfee Security Suite to install.

For the past few weeks, I have lacked the interest to fool with the thing. However, I miss having Word.

I had an idea about what caused the system to fail, but I no longer remember what it was. I don't think I got a worm, but I don't really know. The failure happened after one of the many updates from Microsoft. However, I suspected something from Norton caused the problem. That was the virus protection that I had used.

It was the first failure I have had with this computer during at least 2 1/2 to three years. I suspect that some control that lets me install programs is blocked by a command (somewhere).

I had a similar problem after I downloaded and installed Windows Service Pack 2. I run Norton Systems Works 2002, and SP2 doesn't seem to play well with it, or some other 3rd party software. I spent several days tweeking the firewall settings and editing my registry before things got back to normal.

Blaise (imported) wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2004 5:09 pm The failure happened after one of the many updates from Microsoft. However, I suspected something from Norton caused the problem. That was the virus protection that I

I'll bet it was microsoft's service pack 2 that messed you up. AFter it downloaded for days and days across my modem - it sverwed up my computer so I went and uninstalled it. (I have XP and I restored the old system)

Order the Service Pack from Microsoft on CD and them do a custom installation. Better yer - Go ask Best Buy's geek Squad to install it for you.

I've never had a problem with SP2. But then again my XP Pro comes with SP2, I didn't download it I just reinstalled to a new XP with SP2 already in it.

Dave (imported) wrote: Sat Dec 04, 2004 7:42 am I'll bet it was microsoft's service pack 2 that messed you up. AFter it downloaded for days and days across my modem - it sverwed up my computer so I went and uninstalled it. (I have XP and I restored the old system)

Order the Service Pack from Microsoft on CD and them do a custom installation. Better yer - Go ask Best Buy's geek Squad to install it for you.

I think you are on target. I did reinstall my old XP but somehow lost the ability to reinstall Word Suite. Thanks.