"Good" is a subjective word so I'll just reference my experience with 
both. I currently use AVG but had used Norton AV for years.

AVG is free. Norton AV had been essentially free for several years for 
me by buying new retail products containing Norton AV each year and 
using all the various rebates.

In actual use Norton AV uses more computer resources than AVG. Though 
with ample resources available, the effects were minimal if any.

Norton AV issued definition updates on average every 4 or 5 days. AVG 
issues definition updates almost every day and sometimes more than once 
a day.

Norton AV ran full time as does AVG. Even so, during weekly scans Norton 
would occasionally find an infection that got past its full time 
protection whereas AVG has yet to find an infection that made it past 
its full time protection.

I've used all the various tools that Norton has for the home user and, 
other than 2003 Ghost, I've migrated over to other programs. Although 
Norton comes in a package which makes it easier to install, there are 
other free programs that together provide the same functions.

If you decide to uninstall Norton, go to their site and download their 
uninstall program(s) to do a nearly complete job. Norton permeates a 
computer so much, it takes a complete search of the file system and 
registry to totally eliminate all its tentacles. Other than Zone alarm, 
I have not found any other program that is that "bad" at completely 
uninstalling itself.

There are other free firewall programs that can be used with AVG since 
AVG does not have a firewall. Until recently Zone Alarm was the favorite 
by far, but it is gradually falling out of favor due to bloat and 
competition. For myself, I prefer a router with firewall for incoming 
protection. There are a few free outgoing firewalls with varying 
opinions on each. You might want to research archives of this forum and 
other resources to find one to try.

I hope this helps.

Tom Mayer

F. D. Morris wrote:
> I am currently using Norton Internet Security. I have heard that AVG is just as good as Norton and is free. Can anyone give me information on how good AVG is versus Norton. And, is the free version good enough to protect me on the internet? Also, do I have to have a firewall separate from the AVG software?
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