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Lance E

Lance E

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
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What is currently a good AV program/version? I have been told several times that the CA Anti-Trust stuff is worth a look, any opinions about it?

I need a 10 user license and have (up till now) always been stuck on Symantec products but the last version is plain pooh using waaay too much memory for my liking and requiring constant attention - I doubt it's getting better as the trend has been to make it a little worse each time.
 
Interesting...I just received an email from Symantec informing me that my Norton AV had expired. And I only bought it in MARCH!!!!!

Time for a change - although the email does boast that the new 2008 version takes up 70% less space. Right.

So how does one go about this? Download and install the AVG version and then delete any remaining traces of Norton?
 
Be VERY sure to remove Norton first (via control panel -> add/remove programs) and then reboot the pc in the normal way. After that point, you'll be able to install a new product. Failure to remove first and reboot, will often result in a disaster. Norton can be almost as bad as a virus, if not removed properly :(

AVG PROFESSIONAL MALWARE EDITION is the one I have been using these days, and it hasn't let me down yet. The price is right, too.

AVG anti malware can be bought online at www.grisoft.com with a 12 or 24 month license. Most shops have at least a couple pc's at the front counter(s), a CMC in the back, maybe even a public use printsearch or artaissance pc for customers. (or a pc at home that needs protection) It's cheaper to buy the licenses in bulk:

A 1 computer, 24 month license is $44.95 ($22.48 yearly)
A 2 computer, 24 month license is $81.95 ($20.49 yearly, per pc)
A 3 computer, 24 month license is $101.95 ($17.00 yearly, per pc)
A 5 computer, 24 month license is $146.95 ($14.70 yearly, per pc)

Note: all pc's on the license contract will expire on the same date.

AVAST is another great product, with similar pricing.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_professional.html

Both products have free (for residential use only) versions, and full (pro version) trial periods. The pro version has more options, and scans can be scheduled to run once per week instead of every day.

Good luck
Mike

PS: Don't forget to participate in this year's Frame Shop Technology survey, which asks about this very topic. It's in the main forum.
 
You can download a routine from the Symantec web site to remove Norton from your system. It's called the "Norton Removal Tool". It removes most of the traces of all Symantec products from your system, but I don't think you can ever rid your system of that stuff.

I used to be an avid Nortan fanatic...not any more. It's caused me so many problems I swore never to spend another cent on anything Symantec (Norton). AVG is about the best I've found.

(Oh...by the way, Roxio Easy CD Creator can really cause some tramatic problems if it's uninstalled without the downloaded routine from their website too.)
 
Well everybody's rooting for underdog AVG, so I'll take a contrarian view.

At least Norton is rather dummy-friendly in that it doesn't expect any arcane knowledge of it's users, no pop-ups asking hyper-geeky questions about how to handle some particular situation, no configuration dialogs that read like Greek, it makes all the decisions for you and is darned clever about it.

A lot of the things that can occasionally make Norton a PITA are also what makes it exceedingly effective against the very sophisticated kinds of attacks that can come from the good ol' Internet. For instance, if it was easy for normal users to uninstall, it would be a piece o' cake for a clever hacker. Anybody who's every tried to rid their system of Norton knows it's almost impossible...but hey, it's almost impossible for the bad guys as well, that's the whole idea!

Here's a somewhat less than favorable revue of AVG. Pretty good, but no cigar.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,15202-page,1-c,antivirus/description.html
 
We switched from Panda to AVG this year. So far we are very happy with it.
 
I leave this stuff strictly to the experts. last time my 'puter went into the shop they removed Norton and installed C.A. and that was a lot cheaper than Norton, Runs a full-system scan in a fraction of the time and, so far, (touch wood) no nasties have found there way onto my system.
 
Mar,

Did you go to the renew page for Norton - it may show that your subscription has the original time to run. Then just exit without renewing - a minor nuisance that I have run across before.
 
I have set my Mother's PC up with AVG, she basically never knows what it's up to but it keeps ticking along ok. I don't like the fact that I can't close off the control panel in it though, is this available on the Pro version?
 
What I want is to stop staff in my stores from fidlling with it - for the sake of all the variety of issues that consumers throw at us I have to allow administrator level access to the stores which means I need to be able to control each level of security individually with restricted access, thats more what I mean sorry. Does anyone know?
 
I think AVG has controls that prevent user intervention, but I'm not positive. It's not on by default if so. If I remember I may take a look on Monday and let you know.

Panda's WebAdmin Antivirus does allow complete prevention of user intervention, down to not even knowing it's there if you want.
 
Ok, due to issues with Norton possibly slowing down one of our computers, we are considering replacing it. We have Norton Systemworks plus Norton Firewall on that computer.

What does the AVG Malware Pro include?

Is it user friendly or do you need to be a geek to understand it?

Also, what would be a good substitute for the computer clean up functions we have in Systemworks now (cleansweep, speed disk, etc.)?

I want to maximize the operating speed on this computer but I don't want to compromise it security or maintenencewise.

Thanks.
 
I had Norton for a long time, until my computer got a nasty bug Norton didn't block. I downloaded the free AVG and ran it. At the end of the scan it came up with something like 100 items Norton never detected. The heck with Symantec.
 
Paul N said:
Anne:

I was a fan of AVG, till last week.

The new version (came out last week) is a system hog! It slowed down my browsing (on a very fast machine / connection at home) a lot. http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Home-Home-Office/Anti-Spyware/
Click to expand...

Paul, I am so glad to see you say that. I downloaded the new version here at work and didn't think anything of it. I noticed since my computer moves like molasses and the scans are taking 4-5 hours. I honestly thought I had some sort of virus due to the slowness. I downloaded on my laptop at home which is speedy and has very little on it. I mainly use it for internet. Now it is sluggish and even tempermental about getting on line. Plus, it gave me the option to use Yahoo as my search engine and I declined. It still downloaded Yahoo on both of them and when I type into Google it also types into Yahoo. Guess I'll choose something else and delete AVG.
 
avg 8 is running just as fast as 7.5 for me here. (2 vista machines, 4 xp machines)

Norton is VERY VERY slow. :(

Mike
 
bill t. said:
Well everybody's rooting for underdog AVG, so I'll take a contrarian view.

At least Norton is rather dummy-friendly in that it doesn't expect any arcane knowledge of it's users, no pop-ups asking hyper-geeky questions about how to handle some particular situation, no configuration dialogs that read like Greek, it makes all the decisions for you and is darned clever about it.

A lot of the things that can occasionally make Norton a PITA are also what makes it exceedingly effective against the very sophisticated kinds of attacks that can come from the good ol' Internet. For instance, if it was easy for normal users to uninstall, it would be a piece o' cake for a clever hacker. Anybody who's every tried to rid their system of Norton knows it's almost impossible...but hey, it's almost impossible for the bad guys as well, that's the whole idea!

Here's a somewhat less than favorable revue of AVG. Pretty good, but no cigar.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,15202-page,1-c,antivirus/description.html
Click to expand...
Whew...just paid for another year of Norton last week! Came with the computer,just needed to re-up...Workin great so far...Course I still love my Vista on here, so there I am....L.:thumbsup:
 
Removed Norton a few weeks ago from a new computer it was dreadful and had to install AVG free as I could not find the key for my 7.5 AVG (I have a multi licence version) yesterday found the key for 7.5 and installed it I speed is fine I cannot detect any difference…between free and the multi licence version….

We are running AVG on 4 systems now two notebooks and to desktops…..

BTW you can set AVG to do the scan at a time that it will not interfere with your normal usage of your system…………..I have mine set to run at 3.00am in the morning…………everything is ready at the start of the day…..
 
Well, the only thing I have is both my machines seemed to be okay before I downloaded AVG. The old AVG was fine. Maybe I'll uninstall and reinstall. I know it said I would have to uninstall the older version, maybe that didn't happen.
 
Emibub said:
Well, the only thing I have is both my machines seemed to be okay before I downloaded AVG. The old AVG was fine. Maybe I'll uninstall and reinstall. I know it said I would have to uninstall the older version, maybe that didn't happen.
Click to expand...

Kathy I suspect that is what is wrong, I had forgot to remove the free version before I installed the 7.5 it was very slooooooooooooow……….removed both and reinstalled and everything was fine….

BTW I have to confess that I have a fondness for AVG seeing as they are a European company…..
 
I just got done uninstalling a program that was making one of the computers run slow. I don't want to hear the swearing if put something else on that does the same thing.

Isn't automatically redirecting you to a place you want to go (in this case Yahoo) exactly the kind of thing a malware program is suppose prevent.
 
Dermot: said:
BTW you can set AVG to do the scan at a time that it will not interfere with your normal usage of your system…………..I have mine set to run at 3.00am in the morning…………everything is ready at the start of the day…..
Click to expand...

I have all of ours set to run at 3am every Friday morning. If that part of it is slower, I wouldnt notice - because i'm sleeping when it runs! :) I see that now it scans all the old emails. (sent, inbox, outbox, deleted, etc) This is the most time consuming part for me, because I have about 100,000 saved.

Mike
 
Yeah Dermot, I used to have AVG set for 7am and it was done by 10 which is when I open. But, since the update it has been taking sometimes til noon. So, I set the schedule back to 4am which has helped but it is still slow.
 
MIke,
Do you know anything about AVG version 8 and whether or not there will be a free version or only a fee for use subscription? I got an announcement that the present version will no longer be supported after May 31, 2008?
 
Yes avg 8 residential FREE is out there. I am currently using it on my new Vista machine, installed this weekend at home. I don't want to buy the full version until i'm sure it's stable with Vista.

http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download?prd=afe

Mike
 
Possibly, the best thing to do if anyone wants to stay with AVG is: (in this order!!):

  • Install Windows update as per Dermot's link above
  • Remove the older version
  • Install AVG new version 8 (there is still a free version)
  • Let it do a full system scan
  • Modify the daily scan time so it scans when you're not using the PC.
  • Set it up so it automatically updates the virus update files.
I am planning to do the same next few days as I always liked AVG. And hopefully the slowness issue will be resolved.
 
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