How come Norton Internet Security never finds any viruses on my pc. Yet Spyware Doctor does?

Question

Spyware Doctor always finds loads of infections and threats and deals with them quickly. Should I get rid of Norton and just use Spyware?

Answer 1

Norton Internet Security Suite does not detect much Spyware. All types of spyware could be on a system that only uses Norton Suites. Norton is the worst internet security out on the market today. There are free security solutions that far exceed Norton in functionality and doing the proper job.

Norton does not detect Malicious Cookies, which are Cookies that do more than normal Cookies. Malicious Cookies are spyware, and report on browsing activities of the user. My Panda gets rid of these all of the day long. Somehow when a Malicious Cookies are deleted, the sender is alerted and sends another. That is why Panda is continually blocking and deleting Malicious Cookies from the same vendor all day long.

Spyware Doctor focuses solely on spyware, and as such should get rid of Malicious Cookies. However, any Internet Security Suite worth anything will get rid of this type of malware without any need to install multiple solutions. I use only Panda and never get infected. Panda gets rid of everything sent our way. I also use a good hardware firewall, which sits between my computer network and the router. It is great and really helps with security.

The real issue with Norton and McAfee, (McAfee is far superior to Norton, though it is still a pain because it is forced on us too) are forced on users by the system manufacturers putting one or the other on our systems when they install the OS as a "trial" subscription.

You see, these types of software embed deeply within the OS causing it to be extremely difficult to fully remove. If it isn't fully removed, and then another firewall or anti-virus (you can install as many anti-spyware solutions you wish) compatibility issues arise which can cause simple system oddities, to fatal crashes. Special Removal Tools are required to truly clean this software off of a system.

If you wish to remove Norton, and lets say install the really good Comodo Firewall, and Anti-Virus (two separate installations) you need to go to the Support area of Norton's website, and do a search for the Uninstall Tool. Be thankful you can still access the Norton Uninstall Tool at the website, as McAfee now forces users to contact and request a link to this tool.

Even with these tools you still can find to your dismay that your Windows Security Center is reporting that a Norton product is installed and ON. If that happens run the tool again. Keep running it each time the Security Center reports that it is present on your system. I recently had to do this again with an older system we gave to my mother-in-law, and she uses dialup and so I had to download the tool onto my system, copy onto a thumb drive, carry it to her home, and run it off the thumb drive. A real pain in the behind.

Norton and McAfee both name files in their applications with a naming schematic that bares no resemblance to their name. This makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to manually remove these applications. I had a case where McAfee refused to give me the tool, or to tell me what these names were for manual removal unless I paid them for technical support. I get 24/7 free technical support from Panda.

So, both McAfee and Norton get you coming or going. If you pay for a subscription you give up money, if you want to fully remove their garbage, you pay them money too, if you don't have the level of experience to use their tools to remove it and manually remove the remainder.

I do not mean to alarm you, but this is the truth. I am not making any of this up. None of these vendors tell consumers how difficult it is to remove this stuff that we have no choice but to be placed on any system that is prebuilt and the OS is preinstalled. This is why my husband and I now build our own systems. We do not want our machines ruined before we even open the box and boot for the first time. My first action on any prebuilt system is to go to the security vendors website for the tool and remove their unwanted trash.

If you ever get to choose which one is installed onto a new system you are buying insist on McAfee because at least it is a decent application and does a far better job than Norton ever could.

Good luck and much success in discovering and learning how to deal with your security products. Please have a nice day.

Answer 2

It should not keep finding infections. Once found and treated, the should not occure again. Install a good Firewall.

Answer 3

Because no single product can detect all Windows malware. Other operating systems (such as Mac OS X and Linux) aren't plagued with malware like Windows is.

Answer 4

My (uneducated) view is that it is a marketing ploy.  Spyware Doctor detects 'threats'.  Whether you get a lot of these or a few depends on how you define a threat.  Maybe Spyware Doctor sets the bar lower.

Answer 5

Because Norton is rubbish  here is one that is not rubbish and its called spybot search &destroy  you download this and its free it is very very good  you can not go wrong  

Answer 6

get rid of it its rubbish

Answer 7

Read and see the difference between a Virus and Spywares.

Spyware is a computer software,

that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.

While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's behavior, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habit, sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, redirecting Web browser activity.

A computer virus is a computer program

that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The term "virus" is also commonly used, albeit erroneously, to refer to many different types of malware and adware programs. The original virus may modify the copies, or the copies may modify themselves, as occurs in a metamorphic virus. A virus can only spread from one computer to another when its host is taken to the uninfected computer, for instance by a user sending it over a network or the Internet, or by carrying it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, or USB drive. Meanwhile viruses can spread to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.

Answer 8

Because Norton is c**p, full stop.

Even if the software were free, I still wouldnt recommend it to anyone.

Answer 9

Yes to your last sentance.

Answer 10

because its rubbish and seems to act like a virus itself if you check your computer you will find symantic attachments everywhere and these are nortons files. and causes no end of problems if you try to uninstall norton. I would never buy a product that has norton installed.

Answer 11

they are designed to find different things, and scan to different levels. norton will see somethings as not a threat, like cookies etc but spyware doctor will reomve them because they can be a privacy issue

Answer 12

£ost seems to be the only person so far to know what they're talking about.

There is a huge difference between spyware and antivirus software.

Pay attention to the post by £ost - it's the only accurate one as at this post.

While the text book definition for a threat is the same between spyware and antivirus, the two differ in functionality and infection methods. This is specifically why Norton will pick somethings up, and won't pick other things up. Any decently secured system will have one antivirus program and two anti-spyware program, along with a firewall somewhere in the mix.

Spyware and malware are both detected by programs designed to detect these specific problems, while antivirus software is designed to stop/prevent/cure viruses.

The reason 2 anti-spywares are useful is very simply because the signature updates can vary between the different programs. It does not mean one is worse than the other.

Don't confuse a virus with spyware, these are two different things.

Answer 13

Because norton is highly rated as garbage, it dose f ck all

Answer 14

Like some of the others have answered, Norton is absolute rubbish. There are much better antivirus programmes which you don't have to pay for, like AVG Free Edition 8.0, Avast and Antivir. If you're using Spyware Doctor you can download one of these antivirus programmes and run it quite safely alongside of it.