hey guys, well im building basically a new pc, just through upgrades, which i only just realisedhahaha.. anyways, since iam going XP Pro with a fresh HDD what is the better antivirus? detection, firewall capability, and lowest system use, i noticed on my last computern it started like lightening untill i installed NORTON 05 full version then i have to wait like 1 minute once windows starts before the computer will respond to anything in a timely fasion..

i have been topld norton is pretty ****.. by 1 person from a computer shop, and he recommended RISING ANTIVIRUS.. i really dont know what to do, i dont want to use norton anymore if it is going to rape my computer for minutes on startup, i have set it up properly too i think, no auto updates on startup, no scans on startup, it just seems to be a big program to open up...

so what do you all recommend? everyone has their own opinion i recognise that too.

Don't go for norton Big system resourse hog.

I would suggest trying freeware like AVG Free and Avast .

ClamWin is good

freeware... if it was any good wouldt they make ya pay for it? not being rude, just a logical question/comment. is there a reason its free?
im that willing to get rid of norton that i dont mind waiving my 12months left on subscription, its that bad..
whats a anti-virus ou hear people talk about all the time that is good? i only went norton coz i was new to the whole "protection" scene and got done over by propaganda.

Thanks for the replies guys... champions.

Yea, sure...I could have paid for AVG every year since I first installed it (six years ago)...I didn't, I took the free option. Have I ever had an infection? Nope.

AVG is less resource hungry than Norton or McAffee.

That's really the wonderful thing about the web... some of THE BEST apps you will see are free for the home user... some charge for the commercial licenses-- to help defray these costs.
Some use donations-- or a combination of methods-- to pay.
SpyBot-- Search & Destroy-- one of the best antispyware tools available -- is completely free.
They also have great forums--where Joe Computeruser can post suspicious new files-- he found on his computer-- this helps everyone keep up-to-date.

Are these guys making money-- probably...and good for them if they are !

They provide an invalauable service that makes the web a slightly safer place for us all, than it would be without them.