I will back up most of what's been said here. I found Norton to be a little ineffective and a resource hog.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR IT ....NOD32 or Kapersky. Otherwise ...
Free AV ….
AVG >
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
Avast >
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
Antivir >
http://www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html
**Comodo >
http://www.antivirus.comodo.com/ [AV in beta only as at 13.5.07]
AntidoteLite >
http://www.vintage-solutions.com/Eng...per/index.html
Clamwin >
http://www.clamwin.com/
Free F/W …..
Zone Alarm >
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...=en&lid=nav_za
Sygate >
http://www.simtel.net/product.downlo...s.php?id=53687
Sunbelt Firewall (formerly Kerio) >
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Home...onal-Firewall/
**Comodo >
http://www.comodo.com/products/free_products.html
Jetico >
http://www.jetico.com/index.htm#/jpfirewall.htm
m0n0wall >
http://m0n0.ch/wall/
(I’ve heard good things about monowall but it takes some setting up, I believe)
Smoothwall >
http://www.smoothwall.org/
Tiny Personal >
http://www.webmasterfree.com/tpfw.html
Outpost >
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outp...e/download.php
**********
All that said there is NO "silver bullet". NOTHING will protect you from everything bad.
You need a layered approach ... good antivirus and good firewall PLUS a bunch of other anti-malware products.
These three articles give you the idea ....
http://www.castlecops.com/t7736-So_h...rst_place.html
http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Pro...Hijackers.html
http://www.techsupportforum.com/secu...do-i-need.html
There is a little duplication/crossover but all these tutorials are well worth reading. They are very informative in an "easy to read" style.
Good luck everyone. Stay safe.
OJ