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General discussion

Which antivirus utility protects your computer?

Jan 14, 2005 4:01AM PST

Which antivirus utility protects your computer?

AVG Anti-Virus (love or hate it?)
Kaspersky Anti-Virus (love or hate it?)
McAfee VirusScan (love or hate it?)
Norton AntiVirus (love or hate it?)
Panda Titanium Antivirus (love or hate it?)
Trend Micro PC-cillin (love or hate it?)
Other (what is it?)
I don't need no stinkin' antivirus app. (really, why not?)

Discussion is locked

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NAV ? AVG?
Sep 13, 2005 11:56AM PDT

I am a tech and have had to remove NAV from many of my customers machines - it is invasive, it often gets attacked by a virus, when brought down by a virus it is often is impossible to remove, and can not be reinstalled unless completely removed! For my customers who have home computers I load AVG, Ad-Aware, Mailwasher and Zone Alarm this means I dont make any cash profit by selling software but am more than compensated for by the +pr I get from happy clients. I no longer have to advertise my business they do it for me '' The proof of the pudding....'' incidently about 40% of my business is a rescue operation after a machine has suffered an attack!

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Screw Norton is right!
Nov 24, 2005 10:07PM PST

Norton used to be a guy who understood th Windows OS.There is even a four inch thick book out there he once wrote.Now the company is crap.He knows how to make money is all.I am through with Norton.

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norton
Jan 21, 2005 3:28AM PST

donot wait switch to avg for your own personal computer it is free to download i have try norton i switch to it when the mcafee fail to work on all the virsuc so i switch to norton it seem to work better for await but when you when to update it did not seem to work as good my uncle who work on 300 or more computer to keep them runnning had put avg on my machine and it works great it got them ones that norton missed and it have auto updates .he have it on most of his machines he is trying to get people to have on they machine but some tell him no donot put on my machine because it will slow it down i donot know how to use it .donot listen to anyone who tell you that avg will not work on xp that a lie that what is on my machine . they are coming out a avg 07 you get it for free just like number 6 it is differnt because it does have a better security blocking evne on a busness machine i would put it on it yes you have to pay for it but it is only 35 per year and you will get 24 hours support that you donot get with the free one

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Customer centre location, does it really matter?
Nov 24, 2005 8:21PM PST

If the program itself has got issues, people have tons of problem and company doesn't bother to look at the issues but just 'manages to bag the accolades' then how does it make difference if customer centre is located in India, Australia or right next door?

To give an example, sorry to be off the topic, recently I bought HP machine in Sweden and customer support is sitting in Dublin!! Local customer support can not answer my question to my satisfaction and the customer support in Dublin... Lets not talk about them. At the end of the day, I am left to manage by myself!!
Welcome to the real world of business.

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India tech
Nov 24, 2005 10:04PM PST

I don't like talking to someone in India who calls herself "Fatma".There is no credibility there for me and no empathy for my situation.I bought the software in the US and I paid in US dollars. We need jobs here and we have people who have been to computer schools and have taken classes and therefore have credibility.A tech rep who has to call her supervisor over to get me to level two does not make it.The same goes for ISP's.

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CA Norton problems subscribption based, then no support
Nov 24, 2005 9:30PM PST

The issues I had where when the Norton AV gave error messages a month before renewal, then advised me to remove and reinstall, when it wouldn't. Tech support was an auto-repy email that was no help, and I waited days without AV protection. Because the programm was removed, as they instructed, Norton required me to buy the full program, not just an upgrade. Evidently, their purchase department didn't have access to their current registerred users.

CA has the worst support of any company I've seen in over 20 years. I switched to AVG and am now happy. So did my wife.

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Norton/Panda/AVG/Now what?
Nov 24, 2005 9:54PM PST

I gave up Norton Systems Works because it is a resource hog and has too many features.I tried using it just from the disc after I upgraded to Norton Antivirus 2005.So far,no problems except I have to manually update it even though I have set it to auto update!
My second computer is using Panda Titanium.That has been a mess.It asks me to register for updates after I already have registered.The e-mail responses I get about this are just canned like; uninstall,download a fresh version,then remove it all again because some parts of the old program must still be on the computer. Then it wants a new activation number,which I don't have and they never sent.I have to call at a certain time of day, otherwise it costs me twenty dollars to speak to someone about a lousy situation!
I tried AVG long ago and I could never get it out of the computer, so I am not going back to that.

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NOD32 - a Killer app
Nov 25, 2005 6:43AM PST

Hello Dean,

Take a look at NOD32 http://www.nod32.com/products/nt.htm
It use to be free to try for 30 days. I just looked and it may cost $1 to try out.

It's the only anti-virus that didn't slow my machine down; and kept me up and running since I loaded it. At $39 it's the best piece of software on my machine today.

I tried all the big names, and a few of the lesser neames, and nothing got the job done. Also, when you go with "freeware" you get what you pay for...

-Gerald in San Francisco, CA

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I agree! NOD32 is superior
Nov 26, 2005 12:33AM PST

Started listening to Leo Laporte ''The Tech Guy'', and these guys have been doing it for along time and have experience to back up their claim. NOD 32 is pretty much invisable to your computers' daily tasks and doesn't slow down the processes! Norton was a good program at one time, now it is too bloated with extras.
Check out what Leo says @ http://www.leoville.com/
Very informative, and on top of many areas of anything that has a chip in it!

Randy in Hummelstown, PA

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NOD is the one
Nov 27, 2005 9:50AM PST

I agree with the others who said that it doesn't bog down their systems like Norton did. It's very unobtrusive and it also does a great job of blocking virus.

patti

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NOD is THE BEST!
Dec 3, 2005 2:53AM PST

I have used just about all AV's out there (AVG free-allowed virus infection; Kaspersky-hopelessly hung my computer till I was able to delete it; Panda Titanium-online scan then purchased, found things on my system, but couldn't fix them; etc, etc... Then I tried NOD32, and would never use any other. Runs unobtrusively in the background, with multiple modules monitoring for various avenues of attack. Have great tech support if you ever need it, with quick response and competant help. I am confident my system is secure as is possible these days.

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Disappointment.
Nov 26, 2005 7:41AM PST

I believe you will still meet the same disappointment when you need the support.

In all company, they always had a USP, but always kill by after sales service.

I been a long time customer of Norton and switch to McAfee. I notice that their support never come in time. Since I don't get the support, I don't see why I can't use AVG. Anyway free version do not has support too.

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blame it on india
Dec 27, 2005 10:14AM PST

is your problem with norton or long distance calls to india. chill out dude

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Problem is with both
Oct 5, 2006 11:44AM PDT

Well when you have a problem and the person on the other end of the line has a hard accent and you cant understand him, I would say my problem is with both. All of credit card companies, hospitals and Dell themselves are finally starting to get the hint too, that when a American calls a AMERICAN company they want to understand them. Its not effective and works against the totaly reason they have support in India in the first place. Which is to save money. However, when the end user has to call back again and again till they get someone they can understand, its a waste of time and money. Especially for older people.

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F-Prot
Jan 18, 2005 8:42AM PST

I am amazed no one has mentioned using F-Prot.
I've been using it for years. I like the service I get from them. I've had some speedy replies to probelm files on my computer and I've had darned few virus problems.
As a yard stick I did install Norten and McAfee and went news group surfing. F-Prot cleaned and avoided better than either of the other two.
Check it out.

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F Prot?
Jan 18, 2005 11:09PM PST

Never heard of this program. I usually go with something thst CNET has reviewed.

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F-Secure
Jan 20, 2005 12:22AM PST

F-Protect is the firewall associated w/ this program, I got it distributed free w/ Charter Pipeline. It worked great but was a huge resource hog. Ended up removing it and installing AVG which is the best I have used thus far.

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F-Prot for me to.
Nov 25, 2005 10:51AM PST

Hullo Mouser,

Like Morchellor above I use F-Prot also,its very fast and reliable.Cnet put me onto it to begin with and while they might not have tested it F-Prot always rates high with the Testing sites such as VB100 and the others.

I use both Windows DOS (for 95 98 98se and ME) version and Linux version of F-Prot,same update file so only one download.Both free for perso use but small charge if for Win XP or pro use.

F-Prot,a decent Firewall (Sygate or ZoneAlarm),and AdAware good to keep this machine clean.

Best Wishes Chris

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SYMANTEC NORTON ANTIVIRUS
Jan 18, 2005 9:36AM PST

I had a problem installing norton internet security and I call norton support and they stay with me on the phone for hours until we got it right,my hat goes off to SYMANTEC NORTON suppot team, excellent work.

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Norton support
Jan 18, 2005 11:05PM PST

I got almost instant support through e-mail to Norton after having some problems. Write them online instead of the phones. You can also understand it better in writing. Everyne is using Indian people from credit cards to services. I think it sucks.

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US dollars-foreign tech reps
Nov 24, 2005 10:15PM PST

We pay for the programs in the US with our hard earned US dollars.Then we have to talk to some ******* who does not speak our language and has not taken any computer classes if we have a problem!This is not acceptable.
Do you see an opportunity there?

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HOW MUCH DID IT COST YOU?
Nov 25, 2005 1:44PM PST

for all those hours, I'm curious... how much did they charge the ol' credit card?

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AV protection?
Jan 18, 2005 1:36PM PST

I have been using the free version of AVG for some time. After a major system crash I was forced to reload all my software and guess what; Symantec would not let me update. About a month later, still without an update from Symantec, I found AVG. I finally got some action from Symantec by sending them an e-mail pointing out the virus-free notice at the bottom of the page--from AVG.

In two days I had my updates. Still didn't get to talk to anyone and no one contacted me. I am stuborn about getting what I pay for, however, when my subscription was up I loaded AVG and haven't looked back.

AVG has caught every virus that has tried to get into my machine. Not most but all. I can't say that about Norton AV. AVG is well worth the few minutes it takes to DL, install, and update.

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AV Protection
Jan 18, 2005 4:48PM PST

I'm with you this one Johnpow.I had exactly the same experience. System works NAV crashed. It would not reload claiming I had a memory resident virus. Ran the online NAV scan and everthing was fine. Downloaded AVG and scanned disk - all clear again. Emailed Symantic on 27 December but their promised reply has never come. In the meantime I have decided AVG co-exists with my other software better than NAV. Plus I like the public spirited approach of companies like AVG and Lava Soft. I'm just a little annoyed at Symantic's failure to respond given that I still have 6 months NAV subscription time to run.

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Norton Antivirus, Yuck!
Jan 18, 2005 5:14PM PST

I dropped Norton Antivirus etc. last year after finding out that it was allowing viruses and trojans into my system without my knowledge. Yes I updated at every opportunity but without discovering hidden demons on my machine.
I contacted Norton and was advised to remove Norton and re-install it. Phew! What a palaver that was. I eventually felt that the effort was not worth it and looked for a better product. I have been more than happy with McAfee.

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Vote with your feet
Jan 19, 2005 1:46AM PST

Hey there raybay

Good response. There are a number of options out there as you illustrate above. I've had good experience with several, but it seems that success breeds complacency. The big boys have gotten fat and slow, although they are certainly adequate in their own way. They've gotten a little greedy, out of touch and hard to deal with. I'm not renewing McAfee on one PC, have ditched Norton on another and will probably abandon McAfee on the third household PC.

Lately I've been recommending a suite of free tools, including AVG, the free version of Zone Alarm, Ad Aware and SpyBot. The most frequent comment has been that the system is now faster. No significant start up problems have occurred, although some don't immediately understand the learning mode in ZA and may freak out over all the informational messages if you set them to be displayed.

I was perfectly happy paying annual renewal fees until Norton and McAfee both made my life a little too complicated. I have voted with my feet and apparently others are more than happy in following the same path.

Norton and McAfee should spend some time on this forum.

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McAfee made my life too complicated
Nov 24, 2005 10:12PM PST

My first PC had McAfee.Fine,then update time came around.Go with the flow and renew.Then,the problems started.Tech is useless,so a switch to Norton.Ok for a while,problems started and a need for more memory because Norton is such a resource hog.Then, problems.Tech is useless and will cost me money to talk with someone.A switch to Panda.Even more problems,right out of the gate.Do you see a pattern?

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I couldn't agree more!!!
Jan 19, 2005 2:17AM PST

For years I used Norton Internet Security. Then there were problems and I found that Symantic had stopped supporting my 2-year old product. So I downloaded an update. It wouldn't install despite my following endless directions on their "help site". So I got a CD version and tried again. No go... I have now switched to McAfee and all is well. Of course, I am holding my breath! Seems OK but who knows...

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CA EZ-antivirus arrogance
Jan 21, 2005 9:16AM PST

I like to run at least 2 anti-virus programs as a cross-check. But when I was installing a new version of the CA program, it found that I had F-PROT installed (tho not running real-time) and refused to continue its installation until I'd un-installed F-PROT. I really don't appreciate that kind of arrogance, so I've deleted the CA anti-virus program even though I'm paid up 'til March, and have replaced it with PC-cillin, whose Turbo Scan feature refuses to work and no remedy has been forthcoming from Trend Micro after several exchanges of emails. In my experience of trying to get assistance from anti-virus program vendors, the folks at F-PROT are the only ones who seem willing to pitch in and provide meaningful help to the customer.

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Hardware Firewall.....
Jan 24, 2005 11:44PM PST

A SonicWall w/Symantec Internet Security does the trick for me. Maybe a little overkill as the SonicWall is a stateful packet inspection firewall meaning that it opens every single packet and inspects it as it comes through, and then my Norton firewall scans outgoing traffic. It also protects on all 7 layers of the OSI model (the 7 different layers your computer uses to communicate). In the 1+ years I have been running this setup I have had 0 spyware problems, 0 adware problems, and 0 viruses, and I consider myself a power user. I think a good quality stateful packet inspecting firewall makes all the difference in the world. Another example of this was when I temporarily hooked back up my Linksys router to do some X-Box work and my software firewall went nuts the second I wasn?t behind the SonicWall any longer. It was getting pounded by 10 tons of stuff. GET A HARDWARE FIREWALL?.. Ok, I?m done preaching.