Norton and Malwarebytes

[Rillington]

A few days ago Norton 360 stopped working and it ended up being because Malwarebytes was also on my machine, despite it being the free version which only runs when i tell it to, meaning that there is no clash.

The reason I have both is because as I understand it, Norton scans for viruses, adware and spyware whereas Malwarebytes scans for malware. In other words, each looks for different things. However I took some independent advice which said that Norton 360 now also looks for malware.

Therefore I was wondering whether I need Malwarebytes in addition to Norton and if both programmes now do look for the same malware.

And also, if I was to turn on Malwarebytes would Malwarebytes also look for viruses and spyware which would mean that I could potentially get rid of Norton?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[daveeb]

Normally the free Malwarebytes is "on demand" only so there are no conflicts at all (or at least there shouldn't be). Perhaps it has given you a trial of the paid version which runs actively and so may be clashing with Norton.


Malwarebytes premium would (in my opinion) be a better option than Norton. Personally I use Avast free (which is OK but a bit prone to scare tactics to get you to upgrade), Malwarebytes free and Win patrol (also free) which monitors changes to the registry etc.

[alanbjames]

In all my years in the IT Business I refuse to use any Norton Product.

[SnoopZ]

Originally Posted by alanbjames

In all my years in the IT Business I refuse to use any Norton Product.

Norton is said to be ok now, but Avast is another story I wouldn't install that crap on a PC these days.

[Jaymoss]

Yeah you have to keep up with the times Alan old bean. Bit Defender and Norton come up tops of a lot of tests and in some even Mcafee do ok

At present I am just running bog standard M$ Defender with a fortnightly online scan with ESET. A lot of the avs do cloud scanning now so are as pretty much as upto date as can be and I am careful enough

[SnoopZ]

I reactived the free 6 month Bitdefender trial, no point changing from that for me as it does the job even though I can get Malware bytes premium free via my bank.

[Jaymoss]

Malwarebytes as an AV does not do well. I have a lifetime key for it but only use it for malware. That and RKill have saved a number of machines in the past

Eset for me.

Norton, McAfee etc will never get near a PC I run.

Windows defender is really all you need, plus you could run the free MalwareBytes now and then.

[Rillington]

Originally Posted by daveeb

Normally the free Malwarebytes is "on demand" only so there are no conflicts at all (or at least there shouldn't be). Perhaps it has given you a trial of the paid version which runs actively and so may be clashing with Norton.


Malwarebytes premium would (in my opinion) be a better option than Norton. Personally I use Avast free (which is OK but a bit prone to scare tactics to get you to upgrade), Malwarebytes free and Win patrol (also free) which monitors changes to the registry etc.

That's the point - there are no conflicts because I only run Malwarebytes when i feel the need to do a malware scan, and also I do it offline so reduce the likelihood of any conflict.

---------- Post added at 14:08 ---------- Previous post was at 14:06 ----------

Originally Posted by Paul

Norton, McAfee etc will never get near a PC I run.

Windows defender is really all you need, plus you could run the free MalwareBytes now and then.

I use a Mac so Windows Defender isn't an option.

I consider Norton to be the less worse than McAfee. I don't fully trust it as there always seem to be issues with it of one form or another.

Originally Posted by Rillington

I use a Mac so Windows Defender isn't an option.

Mac Defender ?

[Mr K]

I had Avast once. Nothing but trouble with false positives and slowing the pc down.
Just use the Windows AV now with the free Malwarebytes, light touch and does the job.

[Rillington]

from what people can gather, does Norton now also scan for malware?

[Jaymoss]

yes

[Rillington]

thank you for the reply jaymoss.

In your view, are Norton's malware scans are as comprehensive as Malwarebytes and should I continue ti use both programems to scan for malware?