# System upgrade to keep using Norton



## davidcoxell (Jun 12, 2008)

Apologies for stupid question. This is age related - both me and my Mac...

My Norton Antivirus subscription expires at the end of the month, and I got the first reminder today when I powered up. 

I'm using OS X v 10.5.8 which Norton say they no longer support. They want me to upgrade to 10.7, 10.8 or 10.9. 

Because I don't have a RENEW button on my Norton home page, I have always had to do this with them over the phone. They tried to process the order and then realised they don't support my version of OS X.

Can anybody help with advice about which version will work on my machine and where to get it? Your advice would be much appreciated.


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## davidcoxell (Jun 12, 2008)

I'm now looking at Avast. Will this work with my version of OS X??


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

As long as you have at least 128 MB of RAM and 750MB of disk space left.
https://www.avast.com/free-mac-security


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## davidcoxell (Jun 12, 2008)

Tried Avast, but couldn't download as system requirement is 10.6.8.

Tried to find this online but the system requirement is 10.6.7.

I'll try and upgrade to this first...


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Avast says any OSX. Windows users can still download old versions of Avast that are completely usable with old OSs. The same is not true for Mac.


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## davidcoxell (Jun 12, 2008)

Thanks for your help Corday. 

Spoke to a friend earlier - an inveterate Mac user like myself. He didn't think any antivirus protection was necessary as "Macs don't need it." I was too stressed to try and explain that they do.

Between now and the end f the month I'll try and find something. Not having antivirus feels like walking down the street with no trousers on!!


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## davidcoxell (Jun 12, 2008)

I guess come September 29 Norton Antivirus will just stop working. 

This being the case I will need to get rid. Trouble is I've heard that it's a bit of a bugger to uninstall?


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Use this link rather than the usual program removal: https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20080427024142EN_EndUserProfile_en_us


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Apple Macintosh is dragging us kicking and screaming into the future. Most programs now a days are not supported in older versions of the Mac OS. If you have at least 2GB of RAM and an Intel Mac from 2008 or later, you can upgrade your OS to* 10.6.8*, Snow Leopard, at that point your can Update your OS to the most recent OS *Yosemite 10.10.5* for free.
BTW, there are very few Mac viruses, most Macs do not need an Anti-Virus program, as long as you keep your OS update.


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## davidcoxell (Jun 12, 2008)

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM

....apparently...



Thanks for your help chaps.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You easily can update your OS. You just need a Snow Leopard disc,* 10.6.8* and then you can Update to Yosemite for free.


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## MartyF81 (Jan 23, 2013)

davidcoxell said:


> Thanks for your help Corday.
> 
> Spoke to a friend earlier - an inveterate Mac user like myself. He didn't think any antivirus protection was necessary as "Macs don't need it." I was too stressed to try and explain that they do.
> 
> Between now and the end f the month I'll try and find something. Not having antivirus feels like walking down the street with no trousers on!!


I don't use Anti-virus on Mac. It really is not needed for most people. I have been using Mac's full time for 5 years now... and have never had Anti-Virus installed, nor have I had a virus infect my machines. You really have to basically "Allow" something to be installed that is malicious by clicking "ok" and/or entering a password.

Norton, for the most part, simply protects you from being a passthrough for Windows viruses to infect other Windows Machines.

Apple patches for known malicious software very quickly... so really the issue here is that you are running an old OS that is not supported. I would be more concerned up upgrading to the latest version of Mac OS-X that your machine is capable of running than worrying about installing Anti-Virus.

If you have an Apple Store near your... Make an Appointment.... most of the time if you are kind and polite... they will happily upgrade your OS for you in the store, for free.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

I've never seen Apple do anything for free.


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

MBam makes a Mac version.


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## philmiami (Jun 20, 2014)

Anti-virus is always good but unless you go on the dark Web thru TOR a lot, not really all that necessary 
Is more malware that is the threat 
There are many free products that can go back to 10.6.8 as I have 3 iMacs (2011,2010 and a 2006 white 17 inch for kid), as well as 2 mac minis, Apple TV,Macbook Pro, Macbook (2006 white), and iPhone 6+, 6 and 5, iPad Air 2 and iPad 3
I use one on the 2006 iMac that can not upgrade past 10.6.8, the others all run 10.10.5
Tried Norton but ran system into the ground 
Make sure you uninstall it all the way the Norton then just try the Avast
If you can not upgrade to 10.6.8 because you don't have the disc you can always download it thru a .torrent file using a file like Transmission or Vuze.
If your not that technically inclined all to well, then use Transmission 
You'll need a good broadband connection too


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

Best to stay away from Torrents.


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## philmiami (Jun 20, 2014)

I just state that people can do whatever people want to do
it's called a free society
the right to make your own choice as to what is right and wrong by your standards
if you want to download OS X 10.6.8 from a torrent do so
It is NOT supported in the least bit by Apple
Do whatever feels ok to yourself
that's all
BUT
I will adamantly say to NEVER use Micro$oft Winblow$ OS or Android
BOTH are INSECURE, have a ratio of like 1000:1 in malware and/or viruses
OS X is based of UNIX, as is Linux, Oracle,etc (enterprise level server systems)
and it is still the most secure platform in use
so OS X by definition is way more secure than Winblow$
and iOS is based off the same underlying platform...UNIX
So it is more secure also
the old saying, you get what you pay for
That's why Apple is more expensive
Engineering (hardware wise) is better than any other and since Apple is a hardware company that also makes the operating system, it is better engineered as well
to sum it up.....
It just works :whistling:


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

This forum is not a _Free Society_. The rules mention that you cannot talk about Torrents as the Forum believes this is associated with Pirated software. *Mac OSX 10.6.8* is not legally free.


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