Talkgraphics and Norton Antivirus

[FrankSA]

Everytime I enter Talkgraphics all Internet communication slows down. A couple of days ago I disabled the Norton Antivirus Auto Protect, and I was back up in speed. Am I the only one having this problem? I don't like the idea of being not protected when surfing the net using ADSL. (I do sit behind a firewall, but that dos'nt protect me from HTTP access).

Which Antivirus program could be a good alternative? I'd like to be protected all time.

Only for the fun of IT.

[FrankSA]

Everytime I enter Talkgraphics all Internet communication slows down. A couple of days ago I disabled the Norton Antivirus Auto Protect, and I was back up in speed. Am I the only one having this problem? I don't like the idea of being not protected when surfing the net using ADSL. (I do sit behind a firewall, but that dos'nt protect me from HTTP access).

Which Antivirus program could be a good alternative? I'd like to be protected all time.

Only for the fun of IT.

[traceyp]

Hi Downunder

I use Norton Antivirus and I have no problems with this site or any web site. You don't say what version you've got but some little while ago I did something that sloooowwed everything down, even when I wasn't on the web (I had version 5 at that time but have recently moved up to version 2002). What I did was select to scan ALL FILES at all times whenever they are accessed. Everything started going really SLLOOOOWW.

On realising what was happening I unchecked All Files and reselected Program files (I think thats what it was, there are only two options). If you think this may be what has happened try selecting All Files, you may also have to check other settings in the Options dialogue since checking All Files MAY have automatically made other selections as well (not sure about this or what they are but will find out and come back to post another message).

If you can, I would stick with Norton Antivirus but of course the decision is yours. Before paying out more hard-earned cash on another program though which after all may not be any better, give my suggestion a look. Be interested in what you find.

Tracey

[FrankSA]

and I'm only scanning program files and documents (as recommended in the Options tab).

When NA Auto Protect is active it takes 20-30 sec. to open a topic in Talkgraphics. As soon as I Disable Auto Protect it only takes 1-2 seconds. I'm on 256K ADSL.

Any other suggestions?

Only for the fun of IT.

[traceyp]

I've now had a look at what else could possibly be wrong and I've also had a word with a very close friend who uses NAV Version 5 and who had a similar problem even though only Program Files were selected for checking.

If you go to Options and go to the Auto Protect page, I believe there should be a group of three check boxes (in Version 5 they were towards the top left of the dialogue) which specifiy WHEN a file should be scanned (Scan a file when) , i.e. (a) Run; (b) Open, Copied or Moved; (c) Created or Downloaded. My friend really had a problem here since it seems that whether you have Program Files selected or not, if all these options are checked it will slow things down as though All Files were selected under What to Scan!

I should stress that these options are as they appear in the options for Version 5 and I have no idea how things appears in NAV2001; they don't seem to be available under NAV2002. Nevertheless, could be at least worth a look.

Let me know what happens although if that is appearing OK I'm a little at a loss as to what else it could be.

Incidentally, when did this start happening. Have you been able to connect OK and the problem has suddenly appeared or is it a problem you've always had. If its something that has just started happening and you've been able to connect OK in the past, try thinking what you may have done (literally ANYTHING, whatever it may have been in connection with) to your PC recently such as installed updated drivers or installed new software or hardware and associated drivers.

Let me know what you come up with.

Tracey

[This message was edited by TraceyP on November 01, 2001 at 07:55.]

[Bob C.]

Downunder:

I have Norton SystemWorks 4.0 with all the default setting picked in the anti-virus section.

It works very well and is much better(transparent and effective) than other anti-virus products I have used in the past.

Bob C.

[FrankSA]

I have disabled 'scan on run or opened' in the Autoprotect settings, and everything is back to normal, but I don't like having this option disabled.

All problems started after installing NAV2001 on a Win98SR2 machine with 320 MB RAM and more than 3 GB free HD space on the disk hosting windows.

Only for the fun of IT.

[traceyp]

Hi Downunder

So you're back up to speed now but not happy with the level of protection you've got. At least you've got protection from the most common source of virus infection.

Let me ask you a question. Do you receive files from anywhere else other than the internet?

If you don't, then you should be perfectly safe providing you've done a scan of your system and cleared out any viruses (if any are found). Once your system has been satisfactorily scanned and been found to be clear there should be nothing to worry about. After all, if you don't receive files from external sources other than the internet, the only person to infect your system is you. I, and several others I know, have worked on that basis for years and it works. Of the three viruses I have picked up in 10 years of computing, only one was from a floppy disk and that came as a result of university work I was doing so of course I had full protection selected (I had NAV for DOS at that time anyway). The other two were in email attachments. Since that project finished and I don't get files from anywhere other than the internet now, I don't bother with Autoprotect scanning at any time other when I'm on the internet or picking up email. Essentially I don't think you have anything to worry about if this is your situation.

If you DO get files from other sources as well as the internet then you should scan them before using them anyway. With many businesses it is standard practice to do so.

Overall, I don't really think you have anything to worry about. Hope this helps but please think about what I've said. Must go now.

Tracey