Washington Post: Anti-Virus Programs Aren't One-Stop Stoppers

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By Rob Pegoraro
April 17, 2008

Many Windows users worry about viruses. Some also worry about the software that's supposed to protect their computers from viruses.

That second fear comes in two flavors: that a security program will unintentionally sabotage your machine and that it will get more complicated every year.

Once, not too many years ago, you could feel safe with just an anti-virus program.

But over the past few years, security-software developers have kept adding new defenses for new dangers: worms, spyware, spam, phishing and so on. More recently, by adding tools to back up your data, they've built all-in-one suites that claim to do everything to defend a Windows machine.

The idea is to end your computing anxieties with a single installation. But after testing three of these bundles -- Symantec's Norton 360 Version 2.0, McAfee's Total Protection and Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare -- I wonder whether attaining that goal is possible.

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