[fowlermj]

My computer was recently infected with a trojan that presented itself as an antivirus program, listing problems it found, etc. I forget the name now, but it was not caught, prevented, removed or anything else by my paid TrendMicro pc-cillin software (very, very annoying...). Their site was pretty useless as well, since following their prescribed method of removal did not actually remove the problem.

So I called a local computer tech help business and they sent someone out. While I was out, my girlfriend showed him to my computer and explained the problem. He scoffed at TrendMicro and their products and told her that it was a terrible program. He proceeded to turn off the application and download AVG (similar program, free) because it was "far superior."

Well, superior it may be, but it is consistently at the top of my resource list for using the most memory. Everything is slower - even opening msconfig takes about 15 seconds where it was instant before. This is not an old machine, and the performance degredation has been 100% concurrent with this new "superior" software.

#1: Super annoying that a tech guy disabled a program I pay for and dismissed it as a stupid program

#2 (and the real issue): Has anyone ever run into this slowdown with AVG?

#3: Thoughts on AVG vs TrenMicro?

I've never had a problem with TM before and I've used their security suite for the last 4 or 5 years. This trojan slipping through has been really annoying and the fact that they don't have any tool to remove it is less than impressive... On my other computer (which became infected the next day) I used a tool from Symantec to get rid of it, which worked fine (in case anyone else encounters this).

Should I dump AVG if I even suspect it of being the slowdown culprit, or is it truly superior to TM (which never caused a resource problem, ever)?

Sorry for including a bit of a rant. I'm really annoyed by this particular tech.

-M

Edited by fowlermj, 16 September 2008 - 10:41 AM.

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I hope the computer guy unintalled Trend rather than just disabled it. If not, you now have two antivirus programs on the computer which is not good. If that is the case, uninstall AVG and complain back at the computer shop as that sort of remedy is just being sloppy.

Trend Micro is good for what it is - you've paid for it so you may as well use it. No anti-virus scanner picks everything up. Never run more than one anti-virus program at a time.

[Neil Jones]

I hope the computer guy unintalled Trend rather than just disabled it. If not, you now have two antivirus programs on the computer which is not good. If that is the case, uninstall AVG and complain back at the computer shop as that sort of remedy is just being sloppy.

Trend Micro is good for what it is - you've paid for it so you may as well use it. No anti-virus scanner picks everything up. Never run more than one anti-virus program at a time.

[fowlermj]

I'll have to check later today at home to see if he left TM on or not. It's going to be yet another irritation if I have to download and reinstall TM all over again. I've never tried that and don't know exactly how that will work out...

Anyway what you're saying is pretty much what I always thought was the case- that no single program can catch it all. So the fact that AVG can remove/prevent this one particular trojan doesn't mean that it'll stop the next one any better than TM (or at all). Which is why I find it annoying and presumptuous to remove something I pay for and replace it with something that's really very similar (with similar shortcomings) and with the added detractor of having no support (so I hear). Wouldn't it just have been easier to resolve the problem at hand and let me go about my business with the program I've been using forever? Clearly Symantec (and who knows how many others) have developed a tool to combat this particular problem. That could have been used alone and there would be no need to uninstall a PAID piece of software.

Thanks for your input,

-M

[Neil Jones]

Any program that can find every piece of malware out there with a 100% detection and clean-up rate will find its owners laughing all the way to the bank.

Paid products are generally better in their detection rates and like everything else in this life, you get what you pay for. AVG Free is a great value product in the fact its free but it's only anti-virus and therefore on that fact alone, since viruses only account for about a third of what you can pick up out there, its lacking in that department.

Unfortunately in the PC repair section there are cowboys and fly-by-night operators with common sense that goes out the window as soon as you wave some money at them. If in doubt about a company find out how long they've been there, get word of mouth from previous customers, etc. The biggest names don't guarantee the biggest results. In the UK a company called PC World rules the roost, sells the most stuff, advertises on TV endlessly but despite all that, often comes bottom for after-sales and technical support with people going elsewhere after the first visit.