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Norton user looking for a new Antivirus program

Discussion in 'Software Apps' started by Scythy, Jul 6, 2004.

  1. Scythy Newcomer, in training Posts: 42

    Long time Norton user looking for a different AV program. Not sure what to get. Recommendations are very good.

    I've tried that panda antivirus, which has a hard time uninstalling.... bleh.

    Anyway, thanks in advance!
  2. Rick TechSpot Staff Posts: 6,247   +38

  3. vassil3427 Newcomer, in training Posts: 822

    AVG is horrible, I had it installed for the longest time, it never found anything. I recently bought NAV 2004, it found 8 viruses on the first scan....
  4. Godataloss Newcomer, in training Posts: 501

    Never had a problem with AVG- been using it for over a year with no problems- has caught everything before infection.
  5. ak_in_charge Newcomer, in training Posts: 137

    I really like Kaspersky myself although I have nothing against Norton 2004 exept for the crappy spyware removal attempt.

    Then again Pandascan and Housecall from Tredmicro are two very good online virus scanners
  6. Scythy Newcomer, in training Posts: 42

    I'm trying Kaspersky right now and loving it :D

    BitDefender had some kinda conflicts, weird..
     
  7. Rick TechSpot Staff Posts: 6,247   +38

    Well, no virus scanner detects all viruses. So no matter what you use, you could find different viruses with different programs.

    Because I scan systems for viruses daily (A few dozen a month, usually), I can tell you that almost every single time AVG has said a system is clear, it is clear when I scan it with NAV 2004.

    But if I scan with NAV 2004 first, AVG almost always finds something NAV missed (and usually a large number of viruses / infected files). This is with latest updates for each program, of course.

    I've been able to repeat this over and over again at work. So I can say from experience that Norton is not as good as AVG when it comes to detecting viruses. And Kaspersky often finds things that even AVG misses.

    I like the NAV program though. It has a nice interface with plenty of options. A little bloated, but nice.
  8. BrownPaper Newcomer, in training Posts: 467

    I bought NAV 2003. It felt bloated. Updating NAV was a pain because I had to keep restarting the computer to install the next update.
  9. vassil3427 Newcomer, in training Posts: 822

    Well like I said, I ran AVG for a few months, and then purchased norton, ran a scan with AVG just before install. After installing norton it found 8 viruses AVG hadnt....
  10. josbd TechSpot Enthusiast Posts: 289

    I've experienced the reverse on numerous occasions: gone to sort someone's pc out, uninstalled NAV, installed AVG.... viruses found NAV hadn't. I think it's a great AV. It consistently scores well in tests against those you pay for. If I have a concern I tend to run either Panda or Trend online scanners.
  11. Mudshark Newcomer, in training Posts: 143

    Rick,
    Go here:
    http://www.free-av.com/
    get a free "Personal" version of AntiVir, it's much like AVG but I
    think it's a bit more "polished" and also FREE... can't beat that ;-)
    I use NAV Enterprise edition AVG and AntiVir..... they are all pretty
    good.
  12. alphnumeric Newcomer, in training Posts: 209

    I used AVG for quite a while, but not anymore. It would flag a file as a virus but wouldn't let you delete, quarantine, or heal it. I could then go to windows explorer right click the file and delete it. :confused: Did that several times. After installing the free version of Avast and doing a boot time scan it found a half dozen viruses that AVG missed.:eek: Avast also has built in real time protection for P2P clients, and instant messaging programs. Pop3 and exchange mail support too. The pro version, that I'm using now, also has script protection. IMHO Avast is a much better anti-virus product that AVG.:D
  13. LNCPapa TS Special Forces Posts: 3,946   +120

  14. will56 Newcomer, in training

    For free Avast seems to be really good. With about an 88% detection and removal rate, and just behind a few of the major players. I use NOD32 now which I like really well..
  15. tomrca Newcomer, in training Posts: 1,051

    i am very disalusioned with all of symantec products.
    iam going to try avg, zone alrarm and maybe kasperky too. although i am aware that none are the perfect one . But if install a couple or three to run alternately or as and when i wish, i am sure that i will find a good combination
    1 people like this.
  16. patio TechSpot Maniac Posts: 700

    I've been running AVG for 3 years now and never had a baddie infect my system...

    patio. :cool:
  17. Mudshark Newcomer, in training Posts: 143

    Here is something better:
    http://www.avast.com/i_kat_207.php?lang=ENG

    Its called avast! 4 Home Edition......... it's also free and very Pro.
    It has all the cool things like autoupdate.
    I've covverted three of mt PC's onto it and it's really great.
  18. Supra Newcomer, in training Posts: 236

    I recently switched from AVG to Kaspersky and when I did it found nearly 100 infections that AVG never said anything about. I only switched because I had started a new computer repair job and this was the AV software they use in-house and also sell, so I needed to get familiar with it. Since starting my job I have never hated Norton and Mcafee more. Norton is such a PITA to remove completely. I recently worked on a computer with the new Mcafee suite on it, The included spam blocker was using 130MB of RAM!!! When I researched it on google I found it to be a know problem and there is no fix so I just disabled the feature and told the customer they would have either a slow system or spam in their inbox, they chose the latter.
  19. mr hezloop Newcomer, in training Posts: 17

    i had NAV for about 3 years and always thought my computer ran slow because in needed updated anyway i built a new system and installed NAV and it was still slow until someone told me about NOD32.i got rid of NAV and my computer speeded up,what a difference....also my friends laptop brokedown which used NAV .so i got his harddrive and installed it into my pc.NOD32 found 416 virus's that NAV couldnt even find so that says alot...
  20. mischievous_neo Newcomer, in training

    nod 32 is the most stable and has the best detection rate....ive tried nortan 2002 and 2005 and nis 2004 all good but slows down the comp, avast.......good for free stuff......just use nod 32 with za pro