AVG vs Norton

[rurbaniak]

Alright, I'm looking for some people who are using AVG in the business environment. I have a client (6 computers) who is considering using AVG Pro over Norton.

I have used Norton Corporate Edition and am very happy with it. I also use the free version of AVG at home, and am also happy with that. So, what are the Pro's and Con's of using AVG over Norton?

Network Setup: 1 Server, 5 Workstations. The server has the only internet connection, which is a dial-up.

Thanks for your input.

[meatwad]

Pro's: They're both popular.

Cons: They both suck.

Just my two cents from personal experience.

[rurbaniak]

Originally posted by rurbaniak
Alright, I'm looking for some people who are using AVG in the business environment. I have a client (6 computers) who is considering using AVG Pro over Norton.

I have used Norton Corporate Edition and am very happy with it. I also use the free version of AVG at home, and am also happy with that. So, what are the Pro's and Con's of using AVG over Norton?

Network Setup: 1 Server, 5 Workstations. The server has the only internet connection, which is a dial-up.

Thanks for your input.

Wow, that is some great technical advice there meatwad.

[meatwad]

I do my best.

I just have had really bad experience with Norton's. In all honesty, I don't know a lot about AVG since about 6 months ago when I last worked with it. I've found that Fsecure is really THE AV to go with. Nod32 is good for home users, but Fsecure is the way to go for a business or small network. Kaspersky's used to be really good too, but I haven't used that one in a while.

[rurbaniak]

Alright, thanks meatwad!

[confus-ed]

Originally posted by rurbaniak
Alright, I'm looking for some people who are using AVG in the business environment. I have a client (6 computers) who is considering using AVG Pro over Norton.

I suspect you may be looking a long time ... both suck ! & that's my 'great technical advice' .... AVG is iffy to say the least for virus pattern updates (though the free edition is good, but only cos its free!) and Norton is a resource hog which messes with far too many things for my liking and causes many problems ... though it will stop virus attacks - usually by making sure your pc never works!

Sophos is my 100% recommend if you are paying .... I have an ongoing project testing anti-vrus s/w and this keeps winning & winning & .... you get the picture....

[meatwad]

Hey Confus-Ed. Nice to see someone on this board finally agree with me about Norton Khan the resource conquerer. I'm curious to know how your research comes out. Our tests have shown Fsecure to be really good as you can see from my previous post. I'll have to check out Sophos again.

[ilovetheusers]

I have NAV2003 and can tell you it is one hella resource hog for my older machine. I put it on a k6-2 366 w/ 140mb of ram running 98se and it seems to have halved the system speed though I have no actual stats the things just slow as poop now (not that it was a blazing speed deamon before). It runs fine on my Tbird 1.2ghz with512mb of ram and didn't seem to make a dent. I have not seen any weird problems come from it at all but I placed it on systems that were fresh installs and updated it immediatly. As for getting into things, well -that is what it is supposed to do. Viruses come from everywhere now and you have to monitor every inlet to stop them.

As for AVG , well I have used the free version for a long time but found it very "Flakey", especially in the last few months. It would shot down for no reason, would stop updating and since it's free you get that level of support (none). It also missed a lot of things, but again - it was free and even if it's crappy - you can't knock that.

I have not used Fsecure but I do know someone who is very happy with it and they do have one ofthe best resources concerning viruses and how to combat them. It was the only thing to catch nimda (we run Mcafee and a few use Norton)when that first came out.

[Tr!une]

I have several Norton 2002 on Win2k installs and it absolutely kills the performance. So I am looking for alternatives. Thought about AVG, like the free product, but not sure it is reputable enough for a broader install for the company. I will have to look at FSecure and Sophos.

Thanks

[techguy13]

I have been using Inoculate IT from Computer Associates since the free addition. It is effective with good signature support and does it job without taking over the PC. Computer Associates has a corporate addition as well with very competitive licensing. They gave my company credit for existing copies of Norton and McAfee.

[cookin chef]

I'm staying away from Nav 2003. Heard too many issues with it. I'll stick with Nav 2002. Tried AVG, it was okay, but it would sometimes shut itself down for no reason as well. Kept thinking some virus like Klez got through and disabled it. But no, that wasn't the case.

I liked Innoculate too, but they discontinued the free version back in May.

[buksida]

Have been using both for a while now. Only use NAV2002/corporate at work (4 servers and 45 machines) and it works fine as long as its updated often. all machines are high spec also so i dont really notice the resource munching. at home i've got AVG and i'm happy with it so far (only let bugbear through as the definitions were not new enough).

Mcafee is a pile of poo (IMO), will look into sophos also.

[Rô©kHøµñÐ]

I use norton corporate at home & work.

In the work enviorment it is much superior to 2003 the av server downloads all the updates and pushes it to the client computers, perfect when the server is the only comp with an internet connection, and the virus def files are only 150k perfect for dial-up.

Another plus is that it doesnt require update, reboot update reboot and another update like 2003.

[confus-ed]

Originally posted by confus-ed
....Sophos is my 100% recommend if you are paying .... I have an ongoing project testing anti-vrus s/w and this keeps winning & winning & .... you get the picture....

Okay I take it back ... whilst sophos is very good, I have a new contender for the crown .... BlackIce this is a very cool personal firewall ... tells you where attacks are comng from, what type etc etc, still testing but looks good so far .....

[Mope]

First of all, the criticsm of avg seems to be based upon lack of support (while acknowledging that this should be expected in regards to their free product). Besides the fact that I haven't had any stability problems using their newest version (along with rapid virus update files) such criticism won't apply to your scenario -- you'll be paying (or you should be in a business setting). If you are happy with the free program you'll likely be happy with the professional one (that is the point of giving it away to home users right?). Support your company and their support will only become better (similar to buying goods at locally owned shops).

I have searched everywhere to find the definative answer to the best av program and all I have found is they all do the job well as long as you stay updated.

See the post I just made regarding avg's email scanner plugin. I just got it and it seems to do well. Check out the links and such.

For the record, I have only had one virus *ever* and it was due to my own stupidity. I had just reinstalled my os [and hadn't installed my av yet] and was checking my email through my college work account. They had a major breakout and I stupidly kept trying to make the attachment run .

*edits in brackets