µTorrent - Torrent Downloading Software Review and a cool Secret! - Tech Tuesday

Hey all! Welcome to my blog on this nice Tuesday evening! :) I had been busy and scheduled posts for the weekend and Monday on Thursday only. I hope you understand. Sunday-Monday I had my first Interviews. It went well and I got selected! :) CHEERS! :D



Getting back to the post, today I would like to talk about my favourite BitTorrent client, µTorrent. It is light and looks cool apart from being quite user friendly and easy to use. Let's have a little review and about it and then I'll tell you about the secret game of Tetris hidden inside the µTorrent! :D

What are torrents?

A torrent file is a computer file that contains metadata about files and folders to be distributed, and usually also a list of the network locations of trackers, which are computers that help participants in the system find each other and form efficient distribution groups called swarms. A torrent file does not contain the content to be distributed; it only contains information about those files, such as their names, sizes, folder structure, and cryptographic hash values for verifying file integrity. Depending on context, a torrent may be the torrent file or the referenced content. Torrent files are normally named with the extension .torrent, as in MyFile.torrent.

What is µTorrent

µTorrent is a free-of-charge, ad-supported, closed source BitTorrent client owned by BitTorrent, Inc. It is the most widely used BitTorrent client outside China (where Xunlei is more popular.)The "µ"(Greek letter "mu") in its name comes from the SI prefix "micro-", referring to the program's small memory footprint: the program was designed to use minimal computer resources while offering functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients such as Vuze or BitComet. The program has received consistently good reviews for its feature set, performance, stability, and support for older hardware and versions of Windows.

The program has been in active development since its first release in 2005. Although originally developed by Ludvig Strigeus, since December 7, 2006, the code is owned and maintained by BitTorrent, Inc. The code has also been employed by BitTorrent, Inc. as the basis for version 6.0 and above of the BitTorrent client, a re-branded version of µTorrent.

µTorrent is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and Android. A µTorrent Server is also available for Linux. All versions are written in C++.

Why µTorrent is the best?

Features present in µTorrent include:

1. Streaming of video torrents
2. Teredo tunneling / IPv6 support
3. Micro Transport Protocol (µTP) preliminary support as of 1.8.2 with full-support added in 2.0
4. UPnP support for all versions of Windows, without needing Windows XP's UPnP framework
5. Protocol encryption (PE)
6. Peer exchange (PEX) with other BitTorrent clients:
   
   • libtorrent and clients based on it like Deluge have full µTorrent PEX support
   • Transmission and clients based on libTransmission have full µTorrent PEX support
   • KTorrent has full µTorrent PEX support as of 2.1 RC1
   • Vuze, formerly Azureus, has full support as of version 3.0.4.3
7. RSS ("broadcatching")
8. "Trackerless" BitTorrent support using DHT, compatible with the original BitTorrent client and BitComet
9. User configurable intelligent disk caching system
10. Full proxy server support
11. HTTPS tracker support
12. Configurable bandwidth scheduler
13. Localized for 66 languages.
14. Initial seeding of torrents
15. Customizable search bar & user interface design.
16. Configuration settings and temporary files are stored in a single directory, allowing portable use
17. WebUI: A plugin currently in beta testing that allows µTorrent running on one computer to be controlled from another computer, either across the internet or on a LAN, using a Web browser
18. A new web user interface, codenamed Falcon, is in development. It supports encrypted sessions and the ability of going through firewalls without port forwarding, while being more complete and easier to start using than its predecessor.
19. Embedded Tracker: a simple tracker designed for seeding torrents, lacking a web interface or list of hosted torrents. It is not designed for secure or large-scale application.
20. Quick-resumes interrupted transfers
21. Versions of µTorrent up to 1.8.5 build 17091 can use as little as 14 MB of RAM running on a 486 processor on Windows 95. Unicode support for Windows 95/98/ME, avoiding use of the Microsoft Layer for Unicode which is several times larger than µTorrent. As of March, 2011, newer versions required at least Windows XP or newer. Currently µTorrent requires at least Windows XP

Thus being light and loaded I guess there's no better option. You'll try to get rid off it thinking it checks too much at times, but well you'll switch back to it once you'll try a few other clients. Mark my words, it is the best, at least for now! :)

What they say?

Torrent is an efficient BitTorrent client for Windows. Most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients are present in uTorrent, including bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading, and Mainline DHT. Additionally, uTorrent supports the protocol encryption joint specification and peer exchange. Unlike many torrent clients, it does not hog valuable system resources--typically using less than 6MB of memory, allowing you to use the computer as if it weren't there at all.

The Secret Game of Tetris

Now the cool thing, rather COOOOOOOOOL thing! :D Click on Help>>About



Press 't'



Play the game! :D The score is in the titlebar of the game window :)



CLICK HERE to download for free! :)

I hope you found the content useful and interesting. Enjoy your evening hope to see you all soon again! :)

Friday the 13th - Fromrum Friday

Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing great. Welcome to my blog on this nice Friday! :)



So since you know today is Friday the 13th, quite hyped and much feared, I thought to post today about this belief/superstition. I won't call it a superstition because it is so many people's belief that I won't like to hurt anyone. This phobia is called as friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named in English and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen") attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning "fear").

In Spanish-speaking countries, instead of Friday, Tuesday the 13th (martes trece) is considered a day of bad luck. The Greeks also consider Tuesday (and especially the 13th) an unlucky day. Tuesday is considered dominated by the influence of Ares, the god of war. A connection can be seen in the etymology of the name in some European languages (Mardi in French or martes in Spanish). The fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade occurred on Tuesday, April 13, 1204 and the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans happened on Tuesday, May 29, 1453, events that strengthen the superstition about Tuesday. In addition, in Greek the name of the day is Triti (Τρίτη) meaning literally the third (day of the week), adding weight to the superstition, since bad luck is said to "come in threes".

In Italian popular culture, Friday the 17th (and not the 13th) is considered a day of bad luck. In fact, in Italy, 13 is generally considered a lucky number. However, due to Anglo-Saxon influence, young people consider Friday the 13th unlucky as well.

I have collected an excerpt from some good articles about this day. You can check the original articles by clicking the read more button. The current format of this post will now be adopted fro future Fromrum Fridays featuring such decorated divs separating different articles. I will try to share best articles I read during the week on Fridays in this layout. I hope you all enjoy!

Friday the 13th

Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, twelve signs of the Zodiac, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table results in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects.
• Friday is also the day when Jesus Christ was crucified, making it through folklore and adding to its unpopularity.
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth, in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.
• Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V's coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.

...Read More

Friday the 13th: Science says it really could be unlucky for some

Genuine paraskevidekatriaphobics, triskaidekaphobics or friggatriskaidekaphobics are perhaps rare these days, possibly because of the spelling challenges, but one of the most popular, or unpopular, superstitions endures in a time we like to think of as more logical and rational than were the intellectually darker eras in which they were created.

And while they've been walking around ladders and dodging black cats, the superstitious may have stumbled on some truth to the matter.

Scientists, those logical and rational types, have put this date's expectations of doom and gloom into a statistical...Read More

Friday 13th travellers take chance on flight 666 to HEL

Would you board flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th? For superstitious travellers, that might be tempting fate. But Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki apparently were not too bothered. Friday's flight was almost full.

"It has been quite a joke among the pilots," said Juha-Pekka Keidasto, who will fly the Airbus A320 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. "I'm not a superstitious man. It's only a coincidence for me."

The daily flight AY666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki falls on Friday the 13th twice in 2013. Friday the 13th is considered bad luck in many countries and the number 666 also has strong negative biblical associations.

Some airlines, such as Scandinavian Airlines, take such fears seriously and do not have a row 13 on board. However, the negative connotations are a relatively new phenomenon...Read More

Why Does Friday the 13th Scare Us So Much?

"If nobody bothered to teach us about these negative taboo superstitions like Friday the 13th, we might in fact all be better off," said Stuart Vyse, a professor of psychology at Connecticut College in New London.

People who harbor a Friday the 13th superstition might have triskaidekaphobia, or fear of the number 13, and often pass on their belief to their children, he noted. Popular culture's obsession with the fear-think the Friday the 13th horror films and even this story-helps keep it alive, added Vyse, the author of Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition.

Although superstitions can be arbitrary-a fear of ladders or black cats, for example-"once they are in the culture...Read More

Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

The sixth day of the week and the number 13 both have foreboding reputations said to date from ancient times. It seems their inevitable conjunction from one to three times a year (there will be two such occurrences in 2013, exactly 13 weeks apart) portends more misfortune than some credulous minds can bear. According to some sources it's the most widespread superstition in the United States today. Some people refuse to go to work on Friday the 13th; some won't eat in restaurants; many wouldn't think of setting a wedding on the date....Read More

And by the way, if you noticed, I shared 6 pics on this post! SPOOOOOKY!!! O_O :O

Stay calm, and do good things. Whatever is bound to happen will happen, so don't give others a reason to associate a bad happening with your wrong karma! Be good and everything will be good! :) For now, I take a leave. Good Night! See you all soon again! :)

Power of MakeUp - Random Wednesday

Hey all my dear readers! :D I hope you all are doing great! ^_^



I was surfing the Internet and I got a message from a good friend of mine. I was sent a few pics which showed some models with and without makeup before their shoots. To my amazement, I saw that by how large a degree can makeup transform the people's look. Combine it with photoshop and the things would be unbelievable!

So I am sharing all those pics I was sent. They are really surprising, at least I was surprised on seeing them, maybe you find them normal :O

































Amazing, isn't it? I totally recalled an English Literature chapter I studied when I was a school student. That was named "Pancakes" and was about a make-up brand named Pancake. Although this has nothing to do with that I know, but well, I recalled it! LOL! :D

By the way, I have a fellow blogger named Bobby who is a great photographer, so I'd ask him if it's really the case that makeup has such drastic changes haha! :D

Though you guys enjoy reading my blog as always, and all comments and suggestions are welcomed. Once again I would like to draw your attention to fact that any pics that I own I tage them with my blog's URL. So I don't any pics in this post either, got them from Google search. So if anyone has issues with me using them here, please let me know, I'll remove them. Let's settle any problems peacefully, right?! :) Good day friends! :D Ser you all soon! :D

Important Terms related to Information Security - Random Wednesday

Hey all! :) How are you all doing? I hope everyone's great! :)



Welcome here at this Random Wednesday. I thought to share with you all some terms that I think everyone should know. These are related to security, hacking, and similar stuff. So have fun skimming thorugh these! :) I am using Wikipedia as the source to deliver this information, some added tweaks from my own side. Though I know all these terms, I don't want to be wrong anywhere, so using Wikipedia, else the list of terms are from my own knowledge! :D

CERT

CERT stands for Computer Emergency Response Team. CERT is now a registered service mark of Carnegie Mellon University that is licensed to other teams around the world. Some teams took on the more generic name of CSIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Team) to point out the task of handling computer security incidents instead of other tech support work. Because CERT is a registered trademark owned by Carnegie Mellon University, it should not be used interchangeably with CSIRT.

It is recommended that every country has their own CERT, like my country India has CERT-IN.

Information Security

Information security (sometimes shortened to InfoSec) is the practice of defending information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. It is a general term that can be used regardless of the form the data may take (electronic, physical, etc.)

Cryptography

Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties (called adversaries). More generally, it is about constructing and analyzing protocols that overcome the influence of adversaries and which are related to various aspects in information security such as data confidentiality, data integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation. Modern cryptography intersects the disciplines of mathematics, computer science, and electrical engineering. Applications of cryptography include ATM cards, computer passwords, and electronic commerce.

Computer Security

Computer security (Also known as IT Security) is information security as applied to computers and networks.

The field covers all the processes and mechanisms by which computer-based equipment, information and services are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. Computer security also includes protection from unplanned events and natural disasters.

Incident Management

Incident management (IcM) is a term describing the activities of an organization to identify, analyze, and correct hazards to prevent a future re-occurrence. These incidents within a structured organization are normally dealt with by a either an Incident Response Team (IRT), or an Incident Management Team (IMT). These are often designated before hand, or during the event and are placed in control of the organization whilst the incident is dealt with, to restore normal functions.

Vulnerability

In computer security, a vulnerability is a weakness which allows an attacker to reduce a system's information assurance.
Vulnerability is the intersection of three elements: a system susceptibility or flaw, attacker access to the flaw, and attacker capability to exploit the flaw. To exploit a vulnerability, an attacker must have at least one applicable tool or technique that can connect to a system weakness. In this frame, vulnerability is also known as the attack surface.

Vulnerability management is the cyclical practice of identifying, classifying, remediating, and mitigating vulnerabilities" This practice generally refers to software vulnerabilities in computing systems. A security risk may be classified as a vulnerability.

Security Bug

A security bug or security defect is a software bug that benefits someone other than intended beneficiaries in the intended ways.

Security bugs introduce security vulnerabilities by compromising one or more of:

• Authentication of users and other entities
• Authorization of access rights and privileges
• Data confidentiality
• Data integrity

Security bugs need not be identified, surfaced nor exploited to qualify as such.

Zero Day

A zero-day (or zero-hour or day zero) attack or threat is an attack that exploits a previously unknown vulnerability in a computer application, meaning that the attack occurs on "day zero" of awareness of the vulnerability. This means that the developers have had zero days to address and patch the vulnerability. Zero-day exploits (actual software that uses a security hole to carry out an attack) are used or shared by attackers before the developer of the target software knows about the vulnerability.

For example, a Virus named Stuxnet is said to have exploited around 20 Zero Days in one attack on Iranian Nuclear Facility!

Eavesdropping

Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary. This is commonly thought to be unethical and there is an old adage that "eavesdroppers seldom hear anything good of themselves...eavesdroppers always try to listen to matters that concern them."

Exploit

An exploit (from the verb to exploit, in the meaning of using something to one’s own advantage) is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or sequence of commands that takes advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability in order to cause unintended or unanticipated behaviour to occur on computer software, hardware, or something electronic (usually computerised). Such behavior frequently includes such things as gaining control of a computer system or allowing privilege escalation or a denial-of-service attack.

Denial of Service(DoS)

In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, motives for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally consists of efforts to temporarily or indefinitely interrupt or suspend services of a host connected to the Internet.

Perpetrators of DoS attacks typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile web servers such as banks, credit card payment gateways, and even root nameservers. This technique has now seen extensive use in certain games, used by server owners, or disgruntled competitors on games such as Minecraft. Increasingly, DoS attacks have also been used as a form of resistance. DoS they say is a tool for registering dissent. Richard Stallman has stated that DoS is a form of 'Internet Street Protests’. The term is generally used relating to computer networks, but is not limited to this field; for example, it is also used in reference to CPU resource management.

Trojan Horse

Thinking about the Troy one? No this one is the friendly backdoor virus. A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is a non-self-replicating type of malware which gains privileged access to the operating system while appearing to perform a desirable function but instead drops a malicious payload, often including a backdoor allowing unauthorized access to the target's computer. These backdoors tend to be invisible to average users. Trojans do not attempt to inject themselves into other files like a computer virus. Trojan horses may steal information, or harm their host computer systems. Trojans may use drive-by downloads or install via online games or internet-driven applications in order to reach target computers. The term is derived from the Trojan Horse story in Greek mythology because Trojan horses employ a form of “social engineering,” presenting themselves as harmless, useful gifts, in order to persuade victims to install them on their computers.

Computing Virus

A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly, but erroneously, used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have a reproductive ability.

Malware includes computer viruses, computer worms, ransomware, trojan horses, keyloggers, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, malicious BHOs and other malicious software. The majority of active malware threats are usually trojans or worms rather than viruses. Malware such as trojan horses and worms is sometimes confused with viruses, which are technically different: a worm can exploit security vulnerabilities to spread itself automatically to other computers through networks, while a trojan horse is a program that appears harmless but hides malicious functions. Worms and trojan horses, like viruses, may harm a computer system's data or performance. Some viruses and other malware have symptoms noticeable to the computer user, but many are surreptitious or simply do nothing to call attention to themselves. Some viruses do nothing beyond reproducing themselves.

Computer Worm

A computer worm is a standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers. Often, it uses a computer network to spread itself, relying on security failures on the target computer to access it. Unlike a computer virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms almost always cause at least some harm to the network, even if only by consuming bandwidth, whereas viruses almost always corrupt or modify files on a targeted computer.

Morris Worm is the first Worm created. It was created by Robert Tappan Morris.

Payload

Payload in computing (sometimes referred to as the actual or body data) is the cargo of a data transmission. It is the part of the transmitted data which is the fundamental purpose of the transmission, to the exclusion of information sent with it (such as headers or metadata, sometimes referred to as overhead data) solely to facilitate delivery.

In the analysis of malicious software such as worms, viruses and Trojans, it refers to the software's harmful results. Examples of payloads include data destruction, messages with insulting text or spurious e-mail messages sent to a large number of people.

In computer security, payload refers to the part of a computer virus which performs a malicious action.

Rootkit

A rootkit is a stealthy type of software, often malicious, designed to hide the existence of certain processes or programs from normal methods of detection and enable continued privileged access to a computer. The term rootkit is a concatenation of "root" (the traditional name of the privileged account on Unix operating systems) and the word "kit" (which refers to the software components that implement the tool). The term "rootkit" has negative connotations through its association with malware.

Rootkit installation can be automated, or an attacker can install it once they've obtained root or Administrator access. Obtaining this access is a result of direct attack on a system (i.e. exploiting a known vulnerability, password (either by cracking, privilege escalation, or social engineering). Once installed, it becomes possible to hide the intrusion as well as to maintain privileged access. The key is the root/Administrator access. Full control over a system means that existing software can be modified, including software that might otherwise be used to detect or circumvent it.

Rootkit detection is difficult because a rootkit may be able to subvert the software that is intended to find it. Detection methods include using an alternative and trusted operating system, behavioral-based methods, signature scanning, difference scanning, and memory dump analysis. Removal can be complicated or practically impossible, especially in cases where the rootkit resides in the kernel; reinstallation of the operating system may be the only available solution to the problem. When dealing with firmware rootkits, removal may require hardware replacement, or specialized equipment.

Keylogger

Keystroke logging, often referred to as keylogging, is the action of recording (or logging) the keys struck on a keyboard, typically in a covert manner so that the person using the keyboard is unaware that their actions are being monitored. It also has very legitimate uses in studies of human-computer interaction. There are numerous keylogging methods, ranging from hardware and software-based approaches to acoustic analysis. Thus Keylogger is the software or hardware(or both) used for Keylogging.

Spyware

Spyware is a software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge and that may send such information to another entity without the consumer's consent, or that asserts control over a computer without the consumer's knowledge.

"Spyware" is mostly classified into four types: system monitors, trojans, adware, and tracking cookies. Spyware is mostly used for the purposes such as; tracking and storing internet users' movements on the web; serving up pop-up ads to internet users.

Whenever spyware is used for malicious purposes, its presence is typically hidden from the user and can be difficult to detect. Some spyware, such as keyloggers, may be installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer intentionally in order to monitor users.

While the term spyware suggests software that monitors a user's computing, the functions of spyware can extend beyond simple monitoring. Spyware can collect almost any type of data, including personal information like Internet surfing habits, user logins, and bank or credit account information. Spyware can also interfere with user control of a computer by installing additional software or redirecting Web browsers. Some spyware can change computer settings, which can result in slow Internet connection speeds, un-authorized changes in browser settings, or changes to software settings.

Please get me rid of Norton!! - No Offences ;) [Removal Guide and Alternatives] - Fromrum Friday

Hey all my dear readers! How are you? Hope you are enjoying your Friday and planning big for the weekend! :D For me studies are on the cards with final theory exams starting from Monday. Wassup with you all?



So I have used Norton in my past and I never liked it. It's security is not a big problem, the performance issues are. The articles on Internet suggest that Symantec products are hot favourites of hackers and malware designers to play with! Phew, that sounds bad, really bad. Norton ain't that bad a security product, but it degrades the computer performance by a big factor, a really considerable one.

Last week I downloaded and installed a trial copy of the latest version on Norton 360 just to see if it has improved. The boot time of my PC sky-rocketed and it increased at least by a factor of 10(I mean 10 times more time was required to start the computer). If it were undoubted security, the trade-off could have been said to be worth it, but it is just a good one, not the best one. When I had BitDefender on my PC, neither the performance, nor the security was marred. I would say Bit Defender provides Class A security with 100% performance benefits! :) But anyways, our concern here is Norton.

So many problems still Norton is the most popular Antivirus solution? The main reason is that people get it pre-installed on their PC when they buy a new one, else the product is so well marketed, it catches the attention easily. Norton is not the worst product, but if you wish to leave it behind without re-installing the Operating System, it used to give a hard time to anyone. Though a few years back, Symantec itself started to ease the removal process by making the Norton Uninstall a better tool and moreover, for those who still had problems, use a simple Norton Removal Tool(Available here).

I read a couple of posts on the Internet, and used them as a guide to remove Norton from my PC, though I had no problems in removing it, still to show you all how to proceed, I have compiled this small guide with screenshots from my PC during the removal process. A few screens in the beginning would show both Windows XP and Vista, later since it is the screenshots of the tool only, so I have used just one OS example to proceed.

So shall we start? Oh yeah! :)

Norton Removal Guide(Works well with Norton Antivirus, Internet Security, 360, etc.)

PLEASE DOWNLOAD NORTON REMOVAL TOOL FIRST! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NOW(DIRECTLY FROM SYMANTEC'S WEBSITE, FREE OF COST). Click any pic to zoom.

Step 1.

Go to Start Menu and Open Control Panel.

Step 2.

Open Add/Remove Programs(WinXP) or Uninstall a Program(Vista/7)

Step 3.

Find Norton Product you wish to uninstall, and click Change/Remove(XP) or Remove(Vista/7).

Step 4.

Go through the Uninstall Wizard. It is necessary to try the simple uninstall at first. If it fails, you must use Norton Removal Tool, else you should use the removal tool for making sure that you have got rid of it 100%. The following pics will guide you through the Uninstall Process.

Step 5.

Run the Norton Removal Tool to remove any remaining bits of Norton. In case the uninstall wizard was successful, do this for surety that you are free of Norton, and if it was unsuccessful, use this removal tool to get rid off Norton. If you have not yet downloaded the removal tool(I have already shared it's link thrice in this post), CLICK HERE NOW TO DOWNLOAD IT. Don't worry, it is safe and 100% free and legal to use. It is supplied by Symantec itself :) The following pics will guide you through the process :)

So you are done removing Norton? Time to move to a new Antivirus. Now there are several Free Alternatives available, of which I suggest using Microsoft Security Essentials, or Avast, or else AVG Antivirus. In case you want a paid antivirus, then I suggest going for Bit Defender or Kaspersky. No other seems worth it if Norton couldn't keep you secure.

In order of Preference, I suggest you guys:

1. Bit Defender - Paid; but the best Antivirus available in the market as yet
2. Microsoft Security Essentials - Free; But needs you to own a Genuine Copy of Windows ( which I know most of you don't use! :P ); The best free alternative
3. Kaspersky - The second best paid Antivirus. If you are using it and don't wish to buy BitDefender, don't worry, Kaspersky is a good antivirus :)
4. Avast - The most popular free antivirus solution available. Almost everyone has used it once in their life, LOL!
5. AVG - The most popular alternative to Avast(hahaha!); Free and easy to use, as effective as Avast. But sometimes gives problem by slowing down the Internet

I hope this guide helped you all who are still irritated by Norton's presence in their system. According to most of the forums, etc. I have read and gone through in this regard, I will say this is the complete guide :) I may be wrong, and if you guys have any suggestions or additions, please let me know so I can update here and help others too. Good Day! :)

A few links to buy Antivirus and security products online :)