ME and Norton

My dentist asked the following questions and I would appreciate your imput before I commit myself. Thank You.

"I recently purchased Norton 2003 SystemWorks and 2003 Personal Firewall. I was about to install everything when a patient in told me to install the antivirus software only as the other programs will shut down my system because I am operating with Windows ME and ME does not like the other parts.

He also said that if I want to create a good firewall, I can purchase a router and plug that into my computer and because it has two less digits, hackers can't access my computer. Does this make sense?"

It should always say right on the outside of the box whether a particular software package is compatible with WinME. In the case of Norton System Works 2003, I went to Symantec.com (Norton's parent company on the net) and looked it up. The program is indeed compatible with Win98, WinME, Win2k, WinXP Home, and WinXP Pro.

The patient may have had trouble with System Works because the patient's PC did not meet the system requirements for the software, because they did not have up-to-date WinME drivers for all their devices, or had some other software conflict going on.
System Works is a major utility, so reading all the instructions and requirements is important.

Personally, I would not install the "Norton Utilities" part of this software suite. It is too bossy for my taste. I run the Utilities off the CD-ROM instead. Also, instead of the Roxio "GoBack" program included, I greatly prefer Norton's own separate program, "Norton Ghost 2003". If your dentist selects "custom" install, he should be able to pick and choose which features of the System Works suite to install and which not to.

As for the firewall on the router being enough protection, it is absolutely not. Router firewalls generally aren't very good. Also, they frequently need to be disabled by the user anyway, because they sometimes tend to create problems with Internet access. You really, really need to have a firewall right there on your individual PC.

I have Norton Antivirus 2002, Norton Ghost 2003, & Norton Personal Firewall 2002, all installed on my WinXP PC. They all work very well. I run Norton Utilities 2002 from the CD-ROM and that works well for me, also.

With WinME, it's always a good idea to use the System Restore utility to create a restore point before you make any major changes. Then, if it doesn't worrk out, you have a pretty good chance of putting the system back just the way it was.

Feel free to print this out and take it to your dentist :)

And tell him the initial consultation was free! :)