AVG versus Norton

[Matt999]

   I have fixed ALOT of computers, to the point of starting my own business in this field, and have noticed that alot of the virus issues that show up, the computers are running Norton.  It seems a shame to pay for an inferior product, in my mind, when a much better one, you can get for free.

   http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

   In fact, a test was run, by yours truely, where a complete test was run on the infected computer running Norton.  The test result:  0 infected.
 Norton was completely removed and AVG was installed.  Once again, completed test was run.  The test result:  In this case, there were 2 viruses found.

   AVG, I have used myself for many years and have installed it on the computers I have cleaned, with no following complains of any issues.  Norton is also a memory hog with a noticeable reduction in overall speed.  With avg, this is not the case, at least to a great lesser degree.

   Just a note:  There is nothing in it for me to press for use of this program, being it is free to use and update.  Just a friendly mention to those running windows which are having issues with the Norton antivirus program or it's company.

[Manu]

Well I don't like Norton........ Its dam bulky..... And many times it just blocked my Internet Connection.

[CoastPC]

Yes, nortons is a memory hog!
Yes, it is pricey, although its coming down in price a lot.
Yes, I have run tests too. The difference between a  fully updated nortons machine verses a fully updated AVG machine is very small.
Most people (mainly new users, and some veterans), and I'm sure you noticed this too, have very little knowledge about viruses or spyware. The classic response I get is, " I haven't gone to any p#orn sites, why have I got a virus?"
  Nortons wins hands down IMO because they have up to date software, (yearly)
                    Always have new updates and definitions, ready to download,
                    Have a page of fixes (tools) for the common viruses and haw to remove them,
                    Always show the manual way to remove the stubborn bugs,
                    Even if something goes wrong with nortons install, that can happen with any program, Nortons has so much help and support, it can even take its own self off your machine, so you can start again if you need to.

  AVG is great, for the advanced user, one who knows where their going, knows the suspicious web-sites, downloads, e-mails etc, and how to avoid them.
  Nortons wins hands down for the new user, or the people who don't want the hassle. Nortons has and always will fully take care of your machine.
   BY the way, I use AVG, and recommend it to some, I recommend Nortons to the new users.

Chris

[Andy]

I prefer Norton since it works in the background without me noticing it.

AVG drives me crazy on my desktop PC where it spends about 20 minutes scanning every file when I switch it on. This consumes most of the cpu power resulting in jerky video playback. In fact I turned it off.

At the moment Norton (NAVAPSVC.EXE) is using 416K of memory on my machine.

[carpmad]

hi matt
i use avg aswell its what i started off using and will most likely carry on using
i recomend it to anyone i know that is new to pc`s or have had them a while i thought it was quite easy to use ?
ive also used nod32 in the past but it didnt pick up anything different from avg from what i noticed but it did seem a bit more complicated
im still undecided on what to use for linux though

[Matt999]

   The problem for the inexperienced user is that they are depending on a program to protect themselves with minimum hands on, or knowledge for operation, obviously. Since they all,  present a case for ease of use, one then can only judge by other factors being:

           Performance
           Reliability
           Cost

  Lets say, the program performance is close.  This all depends on your computers condition. Such as, cpu, amount of memory, amount of data on hard drive, which all affect your overall performance, and if you do not have a previous copy of Norton on your machine.(One has to use safe mode to get rid of it completely). But for all intensive purposes lets say performance is relatively close.
  Okay, reliability will be determined by the, updatability and computer time with no virus issues.  This most likely will boil down to a personal experience, but from what I have noticed, ...two items have come up:

       Problems with renewing license and/or getting updates
       Not detecting some viruses

Avg, there is not license to renew, being free.
Have not personally seen, in the last three years, any machines come in with virus complaints. Spose, I should say yet...
Almost daily, there seemed to be an update available.
If you did not check for updates and let the auto updater take care of it... yes, it would take some time to download all updates, causing slowed performance.
And oh, did I mention cost? It seems to me, that if both programs are relatively close in functionality, why would you pay for an equivalent program?  AVG does have a professional version that you do pay for. Not sure the difference between the two, just know that professional version does exist. May have to look into this...

Of course, this is all based on one's experience, and there is no reason to take my word for it. Best advice: Try it for yourself and report back here

Amendment here:  Of course, I am not saying that you can now go tromping through the bad sites with no fear, but for normal use, great.
 Also, when the icon is spinning around, like andy was saying, it is scanning the entire computer and I shut this off myself and scan when I want to which is about maybe once or twice a month.

[TexasLady]

Way Way back I had Norton; then on the advice of my IT I switched to AVG.    I have used it ever since with no complaints... until recently that is.   

For a while I was getting a message that internal virus database was out of date.    I did all I knew to update it but every time I tried, it said there no updates available.   The virus vault was and is empty, and I have never had a virus, to my knowledge (it would show if I did) 

Of course, I'm very careful what emails, etc. I open and also what websites and programs I use.    At $100 an hour here, techs are too darn expensive for me to resort to in times of need.   

Can any of you explain to me what is going on with that 'internal virus database' message and how to resolve the problem if it arises again?   

[CoastPC]

Is AVG telling you 'internal virus database was out of date' or windows? Windows tell me AVG is out of date every so often.(when its not) A little red shield comes up in the task bar. I just go to update manager in AVG and let it do what it needs.

Chris

[Matt999]

 Awhile back, I had the same message. I can only guess that the problem was an update that was on configured properly causing the message. Or at that time, it would say something about the email end of it, where the button would be highlighted and a click on the email button solved the problem.  Not real sure what the problem was.  One thing though, the virus definitions are saved on to your computer, so you are current up to that point. An update, a day or so later had solved this issue.

[TexasLady]

Ok fellas, thanks!    I'm not sure if it was AVG or Windows but a message appeard at the bottom of all my emails stating it was out of date.   Anyhow, system is updated and scanned regularly, so I just won't worry about it, I guess.   

[Andy]

What do you people think about this approach? It seems great to me. I just never came across it before.

DeepFreeze your computer!

Link to the software: http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp

[Mikey]

What do you people think about this approach? It seems great to me. I just never came across it before.

DeepFreeze your computer!

Link to the software: http://www.faronics.com/html/deepfreeze.asp

Ive used DeepFreeze before.  It works VERY well.  If you want me to talk more about it feel free to tell me to babble.   My college actually uses it and then i got it for one of my home computers.

[Hope]

Mikey, babble away about this product. It looks interesting. With all the crap I have to remove from these computers here at work, and all the fixes i have to do, I am very interested in learning about this.

[Andy]

It seems ideal for use in an office environment where there is a standard computer setup that is all that is needed to get the job done. Also, if you buy/build a PC for a relative who only want's to learn about computers then this is a must. If anything goes wrong, you just advise them to reboot 

p.s. My son supports people that have problems using his games by advising them to "buy a new computer". He never gets in a support loop trying to fix their computers.

Yeah Mikey, babble away... I'm really interested in your home-user experience e.g. did you dare stop using anti-virus software for instance?

[Mikey]

Actually the concept of this product is rather simple and yes, having this product can eliminate the need for virus scanning software.  After installing this product, there is a simple enable and disable feature which is password protected.  When enabled, the product pretty much takes a picture of your hard drive.  They refer to it as freezing your hard drive in the current state that it is in.  Anything you download, install, or screw up on your computer can simply be brought back to it's origional state by simply restarting your computer.

For example:

You have just installed Windows XP and have gotten all the software you want on there and the system is EXACTLY the way you like it.  At this point you can as they put it, "Freeze your drive" by enabling deepfreeze.  Now with deepfreeze enabled, you somehow accidently delete some critical system files or you get some kind of virus.  All you have to do is restart your computer and the system gets restores itself to the state it was in when you froze it.

As a test I went in and created all kinds of icons on my desktop, deleted critical windows files used to operate, even deleted registry files.  Got so bad my computer wasnt even responding anymore and it was doing weird things.  Couldnt even shut the computer down.  I simply unpluged it, plugged it back in, turned it on, and vwela, it was restored to the state it was in when i froze it.  all the registry keys i deleted were there, all the icons i created were gone, all the critical system files i deleted were back.  Was as if i never screwed anything up.

You just want to make sure you create a new drive to save things to and refer to it as a thawed drive (not frozen by deepfreeze).  Because anything you save to your computer such as an essay, etc. will be gone when you restart.  However, if you want to upgrade microsoft office or add new software to your computer, all you have to do is type in your password, unfreeze your computer, perform the ugrades and security updates, then refreeze again.  Also this is not a long process.  Enabling and disabling deepfreeze takes a short time.  Also this program does not effect your system's boot time.  The computer restores itself to that freeze point every time you start your computer and I never noticed it take any longer than it use to without deepfreeze.

My college also uses this product so that whatever the kids install on the computers such as games, whatever, it will be gone by simply just restarting the PC.  Its nice because the kids at college can have complete access to the PC and install things for classes and stuff and then when they are finnished, all they have to do is restart the computer and the computer gets restored to the way my college wanted it.