[NemesisAdrasta]

Hello, I know you have probably had this discussion many many times before but I cant locate a thread which gives me much help. The search facility wont accept AVG as a valid keyword.

I have looked on the internet to try and find a solution to this query, and the general consensus for the (judging by the type of writing they used) general public's point of view was AVG. However the general opinion upon professionals was Norton but that was way back in 2002, and I know A LOT can change in that time. I have also noted that a lot of people seem to have problems with Norton unlike AVG but there could be other reasons as to why Norton is better even with these problems or there could be problems with AVG that I haven't heard about.

Anyway, I swear by AVG and my boyfriend keeps getting loads of viruses on his computer. He runs Norton on his. His computer actually belongs to his mum, and she is reluctant to switch Anti Virus software. So I was wondering as professional geeks which anti-virus software out of the two do you recommend? If possible could you give a plus or minus point as to why you favour one over the other, as this would help seeing which software is best for our needs.


Thank you in advance (even helpful URLs would be much appriciated)

~Nemesis~

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I'm not one of the professionals, but I'm AVG all the way and here is why:

I've had AVG for three years without a virus. I use the free version while my grandfather uses the bought one. He was hardcore Norton until 6mos ago.

My boyfriend used Mcafee. His machine was slower than molasses! We did a lot of tests suggested on this great site and found that with Mcafee off, his machine speed was 10X faster at least. He's avg free now with fewer problems and no noticable slow down.

I was Norton for years and think they've lost touch with their roots. I can't prove it, but I really believe Microsoft works against Norton and Symantic is invasive as H&ll! So if you do take Norton off, before you put AVG on I'd recommend getting some good help on cleaning it out of your system. I manually edited the registry through REGEDIT to remove all that I could. The techs here have a few great programs that will tell you which keys to remove to completely get rid of it. Be careful if you aren't familiar with editing a registry! You can really mess up the system! been there done that.

On a side note, I've learned over the years that just because a company is big doesn't make them the best and forums will give you better insight to the truth of a product than the big magazines.
Zan

[Zan]

I'm not one of the professionals, but I'm AVG all the way and here is why:

I've had AVG for three years without a virus. I use the free version while my grandfather uses the bought one. He was hardcore Norton until 6mos ago.

My boyfriend used Mcafee. His machine was slower than molasses! We did a lot of tests suggested on this great site and found that with Mcafee off, his machine speed was 10X faster at least. He's avg free now with fewer problems and no noticable slow down.

I was Norton for years and think they've lost touch with their roots. I can't prove it, but I really believe Microsoft works against Norton and Symantic is invasive as H&ll! So if you do take Norton off, before you put AVG on I'd recommend getting some good help on cleaning it out of your system. I manually edited the registry through REGEDIT to remove all that I could. The techs here have a few great programs that will tell you which keys to remove to completely get rid of it. Be careful if you aren't familiar with editing a registry! You can really mess up the system! been there done that.

On a side note, I've learned over the years that just because a company is big doesn't make them the best and forums will give you better insight to the truth of a product than the big magazines.
Zan

[Neil Jones]

AVG is free. Updates wise, you're at the back of the queue and can go for days on end before you manage to get definitions that you can use to look out for the latest viruses. Plus it keeps moaning at you if it can't update.

Norton is paid-software. Updates wise, you're level with everybody else and it does make an effort to keep up to date, but you can usually guarantee to get the latest updates on demand.

Norton gets bigger and slower every year for reasons that have just never really become clear. But it scans the files quite throughly. AVG runs faster and by default only scans certain file-types.

AVG is happy on a system that is low on memory; Norton just kills it untl you add more memory.

Norton you get technical support. AVG you don't, though plenty of third-party support (ie, unofficial) floating around.

Whichever one you go for, don't install both at the same time, as then you're REALLY asking for trouble.

[Zan]

I've never had a problem getting my updates or definitions. As for support, I haven't found many 'free' programs out there that do offer it, but AVG is cheaper than Norton if you are going to buy for the tech support and system settings you don't get with the free version.

[ZEUS_GB]

Anything is better than Symantec's inferior product. Norton is awful as one of my work colleagues found out recently when several trojans got straight through it. I'm more of an Avast person myself but AVG will do the job.

[Thef0rce]

I don't trust AVG and norton isn't the greatest in terms of resource usage either. So I'd actually recommend NOD32. I've never had much trust in completely free antivirus.

[NemesisAdrasta]

Thank you for your replys, I think I'll let my boyfriends mum have a look at this site and make up her mind.

[Kat]

Norton is a horrible resource hog, and I've even seen it be the cause of system crashes more times than I can count.

I personally use eTrust now. You can get a free one year trial by going HERE YOu can download it free for a year, or pay $$19.95, which gives you two full years. I get updates nearly every day, and have not had a single problem with it at all.

[warriorscot]

Yeah Norton is really quite bad, Avast is my favourite all the better because its free.

[hawthorn]

And if you were to pay for AVG would that improve downloads etc? It really is confusing, I would be temted to change to AVG. I have Norton System Works and I like Cleansweep because it removes programmes that Add & Remove doesnt. If i went to AVG is cleansweep sold seperately or is there even a free programme remover/uninstaller?

K

[Dragon]

out of the two I recommend AVG. I personally use it (free version) it updates daily, it scans daily. it doesn't lock up your computer if it doesn't like something your doing. I dumped Norton for three reasonA.) it locked me out of my computer completely
B.) it's a resource hog
C.) why pay when I get a better one, IMHO, with AVG for free.

And if you were to pay for AVG would that improve downloads etc? It really is confusing, I would be temted to change to AVG. I have Norton System Works and I like Cleansweep because it removes programmes that Add & Remove doesnt. If i went to AVG is cleansweep sold seperately or is there even a free programme remover/uninstaller?

paying for AVG doesn't improve downloads. All it does is open up the doors for Live support via Phone. You can get free support from AVG Forums regardless of which version you use.

As for cleansweep, what does it do that you can't do manually from IE or FF? remove program files, you can do that with add/remove programs in the control panel for Windows, and you don't have to worry about removing critical updates unless you choose to with it. Those are usually hidden in Win 2k and XP, unless you check the box to show the updates. Also why take up Disk space with backups of removed programs, cookies, cache etc..? To me Cleansweep is just another way to bog your system resources down.

If you want cleansweep you you need to keep Norton as that is not available, according to the Symantec website, as a stand alone product.

Edited by Dragon, 21 February 2006 - 11:28 AM.

[hawthorn]

As for cleansweep, what does it do that you can't do manually from IE or FF? remove program files, you can do that with add/remove programs in the control panel for Windows, and you don't have to worry about removing critical updates unless you choose to with it. Those are usually hidden in Win 2k and XP, unless you check the box to show the updates. Also why take up Disk space with backups of removed programs, cookies, cache etc..? To me Cleansweep is just another way to bog your system resources down.

Yes but I've often tried to remove a programme and it wasnt listed in add/remove. Yet ive never failed to remove something with Cleansweep. Yes I notice it makes backups and often wished i could stop it. But I do find that add/remove only lists about 60% of stuff that I install or download.

K

[Dragon]

add/remove in windows only lists programs that use the Windows installer/uninstaller system. that is why they show up there. Also if they have an uninstaller it is usually located in the file directory where the program is installed to.

any program that doesn' thave an uninstaller, I personally would be leary of. those are tricks that Hijackers and backdoor trojans like to use.