Free V's Paid for Virus Protection

A

andrew_duerden

Is there any reason why a normal home user should choose a paid for
antivirus package such as Norton 2005 rather than choose a free
antivirus package such as AVG?

Does anyone know of a site where these products are compared with
regards to detection rates etc . . .

My current subscription to Norton Antivirus 2002 is up in may and I was
wondering whether to pay for an upgrade to 2005 or uninstall it and
download AVG.


Thanks
 
G

Guest

Is there any reason why a normal home user should choose a paid for
antivirus package such as Norton 2005 rather than choose a free
antivirus package such as AVG?

Does anyone know of a site where these products are compared with
regards to detection rates etc . . .

My current subscription to Norton Antivirus 2002 is up in may and I
was
wondering whether to pay for an upgrade to 2005 or uninstall it and
download AVG.
Click to expand...

http://www.av-comparatives.org/seiten/ergebnisse_2005_02.php

Note that the coverage shown for AVG is the Pro version, not the Free
version. I doubt the coverage is significantly different regarding
signature detection but other features in the Pro version will provide
additional coverage. So it is highly likely that the Free version of
AVG would show even worse results than the Pro version (which isn't very
high for coverage, either; try to stick with AV products that are above
95% coverage).
 
M

Melissa

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi Andrew,

My current subscription to Norton Antivirus 2002 is up in may and I
was wondering whether to pay for an upgrade to 2005 or uninstall it
and download AVG.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't pay for NAV or install AVG. Instead, I'd recommend paying
for NOD32! :)

I've been enjoying trouble free, resource transparent, fast and
accurate NOD32 for about four years now, and I'm very happy with it.
Before I decided to stick with NOD32, I tried and/or used many AVs,
with Kaspersky being my second choice to NOD32. Kaspersky was very
good, but it did slow things down a bit. I don't even notice NOD32
running in the background, even when I had a much slower computer.

I also run BOClean along with NOD32, just for a bit of extra Trojan
protection, and this doesn't slow down the system either.

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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O

optikl

Is there any reason why a normal home user should choose a paid for
antivirus package such as Norton 2005 rather than choose a free
antivirus package such as AVG?

Does anyone know of a site where these products are compared with
regards to detection rates etc . . .

My current subscription to Norton Antivirus 2002 is up in may and I was
wondering whether to pay for an upgrade to 2005 or uninstall it and
download AVG.


Thanks
Click to expand...
It all depends on just how much security your really need. If you're a
low risk user, it probably doesn't matter. If you don't fit that
profile, it probably doesn't matter which AV you choose.
 
A

andrew_duerden

I've been browsing review sites and noticed that NOD32 was rated best
in detecting 100% in a sample of infected files. The free programs
scored around 85%. It also stated that antivirus software wasnt the
best at detecting trojans so I think I'll invest in a dedicated trojan
finder (BOClean).

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
 
A

andrew_duerden

Just searched for NOD32 on Amazon and Dabs.com and cant find it! You'd
think if it was as good as it claims to be that it would be supplied by
large online retailers?
 
M

Melissa

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi Andrew,

Just searched for NOD32 on Amazon and Dabs.com and cant find it!
You'd think if it was as good as it claims to be that it would be
supplied by large online retailers?
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Did you ever consider an unlikely place such as this?...

http://www.nod32.com/

With online registration and downloadable software, you can often find
higher quality for a lower cost (or at least higher quality for
roughly the same cost). Did you ever wonder about all the money that
companies like Symantec and NAI (McAfee) spend to get their products
placed on store shelves and/or bundled into OEM OS distributions?
And what that might mean in terms of where they're spending their
resources? (selling their product versus improving their product?).
After all, when you pay for something, part of the price you pay goes
into whatever the companies spend on promotion above and beyond
whatever they spend on actual development of the product itself. In
many cases, I'd much rather spend my money on a product that is very
good yet isn't promoted so heavily than on one where the company has
decided that product placement is more important than product
development.

If you really want something like NOD32 on a CD, after you register
then download it, you can always burn the installation file onto CD.

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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VCjrmEEu/is=
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-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
 
A

andrew_duerden

I suppose you're right. Guess I'm just used to getting my software in
a box. Downloading cuts costs - and you dont have to wait 3 working
days for delivery.

Thanks again
 
M

Melissa

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

Hi Andrew,

Downloading cuts costs - and you dont have to wait 3 working days
for delivery.
Click to expand...

I also kind of like the idea that fewer trees are sacrificed just to
package a CD capable of holding 700 MB of data that in fact holds an
installation package of just a few MB. :) I'm always amazed at the
waste represented by the "fancy packaging" of software; just to
supposedly make us feel like we got "something extra" for our money.

- --
Melissa

PGP Public Keys: http://www.freewebs.com/kuviahunnihautik/

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aCw/rO3fU0Y=
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R

Ricardo Morte

I would say don't do AVG Free, or AVG at all....I had terribly results using
their products...get away from Norton tho for sure...

Ricardo
 
R

Ricardo Morte

I suppose you're right. Guess I'm just used to getting my software in
a box. Downloading cuts costs - and you dont have to wait 3 working
days for delivery.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

The only Box I go for has two legs attached to it....just my .02 :)

Ricardo
 

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