Halo:
I used NSW back in Win 98 & ME days but have stopped using Symantec ( Norton ) products completely.
I have never used NSW 2005 on anything, but I have ran both Norton Personal Firewall 2005 and Norton AntiVirus 2005 .
The Firewall passes Gibson Research's shieldsup tests with flying colors. The Antivirus is bloatware , and caused my PC to slow down . The firewall & AntiVirus works fast for afew days then my PC just started running slower and slower. . My brother uses NSW 2005 , and likes it , but he has told me he never, never runs the otimizer !( He dosen't play AcesHigh anymore so system resorces are not an issue for his pc . ) One other thing I have read on various websites is that Norton AntiVirus 2005 works in background , even when you turn it to off ! . Seems to me like Norton and McAfee both have gotton away from main stream effective stand alone products that can be controlled and configured for a gamesr PC, and are now being bundeled with all kinds of crapware that they claim fixes everything, but in fact dosen't , and works, half-assed, at best .
At present I use the Win XP tools to keep my pc clean and defraged. I use Zone Alarm Pro firewall I use InterMute SpySubtract and AVG Pro AntiVirus . I also use Panda's free online AntiVirus scan once in a while . My PC is also behind a Linksys modem . I connect to the Internet on a T 1.5 ( speed ) wireless ISP . Also every where I read reviews of Symantec products , they get bad reports , and I also read that their phone support "Flat-Sucks" ...... ( a far - cry from what Norton was afew years ago , when Peter Norton was CEO. ) ......
Here are two good places to look for tips and software info ...
http://leoville.tv/radio/pmwiki.php/Main/Tips http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1621759,00.asp I wish you the best of luck !! and I hope this helps alittle.
CHECKERS