Need Good Antivirus & Firewall for My PC !

Zer0Cool

Fully Optimized
Messages
1,599
Hello all

Today I was convinced by certain people in this forum that I can improve my computer performance and improve my antivirus detection by removing my “Norton Corp Antivirus” and installing a new one like NOD32, Kaspersky or CA

I was doing some research, trying to figure out which one is the most optimum antivirus program for me and it's kind of hard to say. All of them seem to be good, what would u suggest? Also I was concerned about having the “Auto Protect” function that my Norton has, I was told that all AV have it, but I just wanted to double check it.

And also right now I have Symantec firewall, how good is it? Should I just leave it or remove it? And somehow I don't think that Zone Alarm is better :D

Thank you

Also would u say removing Norton from the comp in safe mode would be a good idea? coz i know that sometimes norton's files will not be removed completely from ur system.
 
I'd say remove everything norton. There's a tool you can use here: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039
Yes, all antiviruses have autoprotect, all it does is protect your PC by scanning stuff all the time and constantly looking for viruses before they hit your PC in folders and whatnot. I've tried NOD32, Kaspersky and CA. I'll tell you a bit about each from my experience.

NOD32: By far the best, the resource usage is close to nothing and the detection is awesome. It also has rootkit detection now which is a nice addition. I'm running it under vista and don't notice any slowdown whatsoever. The interface takes a little bit getting used to but there are several online tutorials that tell you exactly how to set it up the RIGHT way and make it extra secure.

Kaspersky: The detection rate is good but the program is a bit overpriced. It also takes a LONG time to scan your PC and it has a lot of false positives. If you think vista security is bad, Kaspersky is far worse. It's also a little bit bloated and makes your svchost processes go up. I don't recommend it.

CA: Probably the worst of the three. Never have I seen an AV product that had so many update issues. At least once a week the servers would be down and I couldn't update. Also the detection is horrible. The resource usage is low but not as low as NOD32. Save your money and don't buy CA, they're just plain awful in my experience.

For a great free firewall I recommend either Zone Alarm or Comodo. Look N' Stop is also a good firewall but you have to pay for it.

These are just my opinions, some will probably disagree. I've tried those products before and I'm just sharing my opinions.
 
I use Avast Pro on my notebook and AVG free on my desktop, they both work well, I prefer Avast Pro over Home (free version) though, but Home still works fine.
 
I'd say remove everything norton. There's a tool you can use here: http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039
Yes, all antiviruses have autoprotect, all it does is protect your PC by scanning stuff all the time and constantly looking for viruses before they hit your PC in folders and whatnot. I've tried NOD32, Kaspersky and CA. I'll tell you a bit about each from my experience.

NOD32: By far the best, the resource usage is close to nothing and the detection is awesome. It also has rootkit detection now which is a nice addition. I'm running it under vista and don't notice any slowdown whatsoever. The interface takes a little bit getting used to but there are several online tutorials that tell you exactly how to set it up the RIGHT way and make it extra secure.

Kaspersky: The detection rate is good but the program is a bit overpriced. It also takes a LONG time to scan your PC and it has a lot of false positives. If you think vista security is bad, Kaspersky is far worse. It's also a little bit bloated and makes your svchost processes go up. I don't recommend it.

CA: Probably the worst of the three. Never have I seen an AV product that had so many update issues. At least once a week the servers would be down and I couldn't update. Also the detection is horrible. The resource usage is low but not as low as NOD32. Save your money and don't buy CA, they're just plain awful in my experience.

For a great free firewall I recommend either Zone Alarm or Comodo. Look N' Stop is also a good firewall but you have to pay for it.

These are just my opinions, some will probably disagree. I've tried those products before and I'm just sharing my opinions.


GREAT post m8 Thank you. This deffenatelly had cleared up most of my consurnce.

+rep for you

I use Avast Pro on my notebook and AVG free on my desktop, they both work well, I prefer Avast Pro over Home (free version) though, but Home still works fine.

I hear that Avast was also a good one, but i think i have my mind set on NOD32, Unless someone can convince me that its better then the NOD32. Thanks for the post.
 
I'd go for the free ones.
Either AVG or Avira AntiVir, both are just simply awesome.
Never had any problems while using either one of those, so I'll give those two a big + for that.

Before you buy anything give those two a try, you will probably end up saving money.

As for the firewall, I use sygate personal firewall since I've had a lot of problems with zone alarm.
 
well if you have a router your firewall necessity is not very needed, the windows firewall that comes with the will be fine enough. now as for an anti-virus/anti-spyware program, go with NOD32. very clean, simple, and doesn't hog memory or cpu usage.
 
NOD32 for best AV I really don't understand why people don't like Norton, I think Norton 2005 Internet security is the best one i have ever had, 2006 and the latest one is crap but 2005 has by far the best ad blocker yet.
 
NOD32 for best AV I really don't understand why people don't like Norton, I think Norton 2005 Internet security is the best one i have ever had, 2006 and the latest one is crap but 2005 has by far the best ad blocker yet.

I don't like it because when I used it (2006 edition) it only updated twice a week, it slowed down my PC and it didn't detect stuff that was obviously there. I got some bad adware because of it too, I thought it was supposed to block that stuff but apparently not. I also got some bad virusees that it failed to block.After it screwed up my registry and made my PC act weird, I decided to uninstall it and used AVG. When I used AVG it found a bunch of trojans and viruses on there that Norton had missed. AVG is a free program, while norton you have to pay for and AVG picked up more stuff? makes no sense. I decided to get rid of AVG because I wanted something more comprehensive so I now use NOD32 which is the best program I've ever used. I've experimented with just about every other product out there and NOD32 still proves to be the best by far.
 
The whole which av is best is like a religious war amongst computer people.

The only way to say which is best is to test them scientifically.

On the following page, there's a av comparative
http://www.dublinpcservices.ie/useful_software_links.html
I'll also say that it's true Norton does use a lot of resources,
and I always replace even paid subs with either NOD32 or Free AVG75
 
Ive tried Norton 2006 and yes it does slow your computer down even worse is the new 360, AVG free is fine but you don't get a decent ad blocker thats why i still use NORTON 2005, I haven't found an ad blocker to match it yet,Mcafee is a complete waste of space although there Antispyware program in the security suit 2006 was very good, Avast is another free AV but its a bit simple for me personally
 
Back
Top Bottom