The definitive "Best Virus Scanner"

Another vote for Kaspersky.

NOD32 is fantastic as a standalone A/V App, I just like the warm fuzzy feeling I get from having an all-in-one security suite (that isn't Norton! :D)
 
Hxc said:
NOD32, but honestly guys, where are you getting these viruses from? I haven't had one in about 3 years now.
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Ya rly. I've not used any antivirus software in a long long time, just happen to know what's worth buying due to reading hw/sw forums such as this one.
 
OK, serious question about Norton.
I've used Norton Antivirus for many many years without a hitch and therefore after all the blurb on here about 'hungry on resources' I decided to conduct tests on my PC with and without Norton.
With Norton running I went through every real world test I could think of using my stopwatch which including working woth Photoshop, Corel Draw, converting AVI's to DVD's and dozens of other activities.
I then uninstalled Norton and made sure everything was gone by looking at my Task Manager which was now obviously lighter.
I went through all my real world tests again and didn't notice any gain in performance without Norton.
Obviously after running without Norton for 48 hours and not seeing the slightest drop in performance I put it back on.

So my question is - why do people keep harking on about the resource hungry Norton when it doesn't make a difference?

My system is a P4 3.6 with 2 gig DDR2 5300 and Raptor drive.
 
dmpoole said:
I've used Norton Antivirus for many many years without a hitch and therefore after all the blurb on here about 'hungry on resources'
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You only have to look in task manager to see all the Norton process's running(and the memory used) compaired to say Kaspersky or NOD32
 
masslac said:
The very fact that you used a stopwatch as a benchmarking tool totally negates you argument tbh.
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Not at all.
Thats a real world test and not having some benchmark program doing it for you.

bikes said:
You only have to look in task manager to see all the Norton process's running(and the memory used) compaired to say Kaspersky or NOD32
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Agreed but how and where does it slow my computer down?
I'm not interested in seeing a benchmark program telling me I've dropped 50 marks.
I want to see that it took Photoshop and extra 10 secs to render a picture etc.
 
dmpoole said:
OK, serious question about Norton.
I've used Norton Antivirus for many many years without a hitch and therefore after all the blurb on here about 'hungry on resources' I decided to conduct tests on my PC with and without Norton.
With Norton running I went through every real world test I could think of using my stopwatch which including working woth Photoshop, Corel Draw, converting AVI's to DVD's and dozens of other activities.
I then uninstalled Norton and made sure everything was gone by looking at my Task Manager which was now obviously lighter.
I went through all my real world tests again and didn't notice any gain in performance without Norton.
Obviously after running without Norton for 48 hours and not seeing the slightest drop in performance I put it back on.

So my question is - why do people keep harking on about the resource hungry Norton when it doesn't make a difference?

My system is a P4 3.6 with 2 gig DDR2 5300 and Raptor drive.
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It uses more resources than the competition, which on a PM with less than 1GB of RAM can destroy it. UYou have 2GB, which is a lot! The detection rates are not on par with the best. Do you think it got a reputation oout of thin air? That millions of IT profesisonals and gurus suddenly woke one day and said: "I know, i'll make up a story about Norotn for the fun of it"?
 
Richdog said:
Do you think it got a reputation oout of thin air? That millions of IT profesisonals and gurus suddenly woke one day and said: "I know, i'll make up a story about Norotn for the fun of it"?
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I wanted to know why it doesn't affect my system and you gave me the answer - I have 2 gig.

According to another bit of your statement my PC must be crawling with viruses since Norton is so crap.
 
I think it's a bit like the irrational hatred people have of Microsoft for OS's, SOE for MMORPG's and so on, it just spreads through the internet and people jump on it without any real reasons.
 
I tried a demo of both NOD32 and Kaspersky recently.

Thing I didn't like about Kaspersky was the extra hard disk accessing associated with heuristic detection. Probably why it has a good reputation for finding viruses though as it's continually scanning.

Also NOD32 seems fairly hard to source so been looking at £20+ while Kaspersky can be had for under £10 depending on offers.
 
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