Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Question from Margo: I bought a new laptop that included Norton for free for 6 months.
I’ve had the laptop for a while now and the 6 months will be up in a couple of weeks.
Will I be able to renew my current Norton software or will I have to buy and install a new copy? [Read more…]
Question from Dagan F.: Hi Rick. I’ve been using Norton 360 for years, but it has let a bunch of viruses slip through and get installed on my computer.
I read in one of your blog posts that you recommend Avast Free Antivirus, and I really want to ditch Norton and install Avast because my computer has lots of viruses on it.
Norton will remove a bunch of viruses every time I run it but they just keep coming right back.
The thing is I’m having a problem getting Norton 360 uninstalled so that I can install Avast. The Windows thingy that uninstalls programs got rid of some of the Norton files but some of them come right back when I reboot the computer.
How can I completely uninstall ALL the Norton files from my hard drive?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Avast has announced that the current version of Avast Antivirus (version 18.8) is the last version that can be installed on PCs running either Windows XP or Windows Vista.
That means if your PC is still running either XP or Vista you won’t be able to update to the next version of Avast when it gets released next year.
Question from Adam G.: I’ve been using Avast Antivirus for a few months, and for the most part I really like it. I know you use it too, so I thought you might be able to help me solve a problem I’m having with it.
I was just tipped off by one of my customers that Avast is placing what is essentially an ad promoting their software into the footer of my outgoing emails.
I actually don’t mind the ad in my personal emails since Avast allows me to use their software for free, but I don’t like them showing up in my business emails. How can I remove them?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]
Question from Lee: Rick, I have a problem that I just can’t figure out. I got an email from Gimp yesterday morning letting me know that there’s a new version available, but I can’t seem to download it.
Every time I click on the download link my Avast Anti-virus keeps blocking it. Do you think it would be ok to turn off Avast long enough to download and install the new version of the software?
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]