A couple of computer questions...

[cowtime]

OK- the daughter got her new laptop- which came with Norton (ugh). What should she put on this thing to keep it safe and smoothly running? Tonight I only had time to download cc cleaner.

Question #2- She's putting together a powerpoint thing and hasn't been able to figure out how to save and use video from youtube to her presentation. How can she do that?

This one has been fun to help research- the subject is transexuals in film and music.

[Jayhawk]

I can answer number one - AVG by Grisoft. The free version of AVG has kept my computer virus free for 10 years and my wife's new computer for the 6 months she has had it.

Eric

[Innocent Bystander]

Anything but Norton. Yes, AVG is good.

Don't forget to include Donald "Duck". (Or is it "Donald" Duck?)

[fearfaoin]

Question #2- She's putting together a powerpoint thing and hasn't been able to figure out how to save and use video from youtube to her presentation. How can she do that?

There have been a few threads on this subject, but the search function
is currently giving a PHP error, so I'll just tell you about the site I use:
http://www.mediaconverter.org/

You copy in the URL for the youtube video, keep hitting "Next Step"
(selecting the video type to save, etc) and it converts the video and lets
you download the video file to your machine.

[Doug_Tipple]

What's wrong with Norton? It came with my computer, so I continued the service by buying the Norton Internet Security from Best Buy on sale, which I loaded on my desk computer and my wife's laptop. Since the one year service expired, rather than extend the service I purchased a new sealed box of Norton Antivirus, good for three computers, on ebay for the price shown on this auction.
ebay

My desk computer was running very slowly, and I was having unwanted sites popping up on my screen uninvited. After I loaded the above disk, my computer is running as fast as it ever did and without all of the intusions. It seemed to clean up my problems, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Norton seems to be popular computer security software. Again, what's the problem with it? Is the free AVG antivirus as good as what I purchased?

[Innocent Bystander]

What's wrong with Norton? It came with my computer, ...

It's true that some of us just plain mistrust bundled software.

But Norton has a bad record of causing problems with other software installed afterwards. In addition, most anti-virus systems will provide updates as soon as they are aware that a new virus has hit the cybersphere. Norton just provides an update once a week. That's six days of opportunity for each new virus.

It depends on what you mean by "better". Works well with other software, provides updates ad hoc - in those terms, yes, AVG is better than Norton. It may not be as well marketed, it doesn't have a niche with Microsoft, or as high a turnover. Hell, it may even have sloppy and redundant code for all I know. But it works.

[cowtime]

Thanks y'all. I now have Frank N Furter on my computer.

[fearfaoin]

Norton seems to be popular computer security software. Again, what's the problem with it? Is the free AVG antivirus as good as what I purchased?

It is popular, but this is largely because of marketing and because it used
to be really good software and is now riding its residual popularity. But there
have been many compatibility problems between Norton and a lot of other
software, such as Quickbook's update program. Some people reported
problems with their computers slowing down due to Norton, particularly at
startup time. If it's working for you, then there's no reason to change, really
(because once Norton's on your computer, it's nearly impossible to
completely remove).

[Jerry Freeman]

Norton slowed my computer to a crawl and crashed some programs. I've been happy with AVG free edition (automatically updated daily) for several years since.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[cowtime]

Norton slowed my computer to a crawl and crashed some programs. I've been happy with AVG free edition (automatically updated daily) for several years since.

Best wishes,
Jerry

I had the same experience with mine too and switched to AVG. I've got so much stuff on mine I am no longer sure what I need and what I don't.

So if she puts AVG on her laptop, what else should she add to cover all bases?

[BigDavy]

A good thing to have with AVG is Ad Aware Free

I also run Spybot

That should cover most bases.

David

[Craig Stuntz]

I also run Spybot

I wouldn't bother with Spybot.Its time has come and gone.

[Innocent Bystander]

The two(!) programs were totally misused and misunderstood in this review. "TeaTimer" is a different beast, meant as more of an overall system monitor than something targeted to prevent spyware (though it can help with that too). It's also not meant for the casual user; there's a reason why it's unchecked by default. I've found that, for what Spybot actually tries to do, it does quite well.

And they tested an outdated version, when up-to-date versions are available.