Any anti-virus programs faster then Norton?

I have NAV2004, actually Norton Internet Security 2004 in which NAV is a component of. I'm happy with it's operation and it's saved my butt a couple of times but it's slow. I'm not concerned with system scanning times as I schedule that to be done in the dead of night but many times when I go to open a file, particularly longer ones such as movie clips, I'll get quite a hesitation before the file will open and the little Norton box at the bottom of the screen will say Norton is waiting for a scan of the file I am trying to open. Any anti-virus programs that will scan on the fly faster then Norton? I wonder if the new 2006 version is an improvement.

I HATE anything NORTON puts it name on!!! Their wares come bundled on systems and it's typically a pain to delete and use something else - I HATE "FORCED USE" - oh yes, let's not get into operating system "wars" here...I typically run into too many software conflicts with their stuff.

I've used Computer Associate's Anti-Virus wares for years and AFAIK will not ever use anything else!

That's all I'll say - no arguments here.

geepondy,

www.f-prot.com is your ticket. It's a true no nonsense produkt. *Very* lean and fast, and updates several times a day if new dangerous vira is in the wild. And on top of that it's cheap.

Jan

"Any anti-virus programs faster then Norton?"

Yes, I suppose Any anti-virus program would be faster then Norton.

I have Norton Internet Securtiy 2005, and it is better than the 2004 addition in terms of scanning files on the fly. It is a big clunky program and I'm still kicking myself for installing it when I knew there were more streamlined products.

My major peeve with Norton isn't the speed however, it's the complete lack of customer service unless you pay. On top of that the documentation and knowledge base have been of little help to me in the past. I would go with another anti-virus, but Norton gets it's claws so deep into the computer that I'm affraid to uninstall and encounter a problem which would cost me a fortune just to talk with somebody over at Norton.

I believe that once you buy a product, you've paid to play. Unfortunatly, if you have Norton and encounter a problem you may have pay agian and again just to resolve it. Not a good business model in my opinion.

I've been very happy with the free Avast

me too. Haven't had any unexplained items on my CC bill so it means it is working...:laughing:

scuba said:

I've been very happy with the free Avast

Click to expand...

Computer Associates Etrust is also a good, low overhead anti-virus.

Sincerely,

Shaman

My favorite - Trend Micro (Company)
Look for their Pc-Cllin software, very nice vs Norton, better detection, waaay less overhead.

Im not sure that it is faster, but I have been extremely happy with AVG Free Edition. http://free.grisoft.com/

I use this plus MS antispyware, and I have never had any problems.


Chris

I have indeed heard good things about AVAST and AVG and they're both free.

Computer Associates offers a 1 year free subscription to theirs here.

Not sure about anything else, But I really don't like norton.
My computer came with the internet security thing with anti virus and stuff. I was able to delete that once it expired, So I got antivirus for free from my schools website. But now I can't delete it. It always freezes when I try to automatically get rid of it. I went to their site and looked around and found instructions to manaully delete it. But for some reason after I did that it messed up my computer and I had to go back to a resore point from a day before.

Now I am able to block it from ever starting up, but I can't get rid of it.

Sigman said:

I have indeed heard good things about AVAST and AVG and they're both free.

Click to expand...

I used to be with AVG wich is a very good antivirus but I found that it really took forever to get the updates, depending on the time of day. I since switched to Avast and couldn't be happier. Both are great though.

I think you want ABN (anything but Norton).

I've used McAfee for 7 years and I haven't tossed it out yet. I guess it's okay. I only use the anti-virus though. I don't use the other McAfee stuff like firewall, etc.

One caution when choosing a faster AV. This article points to an exploit that takes advantage of a short cut that some AV programs use.

Virus Scanners Made Moot by New Exploit

Reading posts regarding the question, I have the impression that NOD32 and Dr Webb are both much faster.
Go here and ask the question. There are a lot of savy folks there in the area of such stuff.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32

FWIW I use Bit Defender 9.0. but it is not fast, and takes about 35 - 40 minutes to do a complete system scan.

Here is a comparison of AV, but may not address speed.
http://www.virusbtn.com/index
Jerry

I have Norton Anitvirus 2005, and time isn't an issue. It runs in the backround, while I'm online. Ran this evening, while I was logged on here, PayPal, and Ebay, at the same time. Just see the hard drive LED lightup more than usual. Well, the fan also speeds up.

oldgrandpajack

Gosh, interesting site. They rate "The Shield Pro" number one and I never even heard of the program.

JerryM said:

Reading posts regarding the question, I have the impression that NOD32 and Dr Webb are both much faster.
Go here and ask the question. There are a lot of savy folks there in the area of such stuff.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32

FWIW I use Bit Defender 9.0. but it is not fast, and takes about 35 - 40 minutes to do a complete system scan.

Here is a comparison of AV, but may not address speed.
http://www.virusbtn.com/index
Jerry

Click to expand...

I never have either. However, that was a link another site. The address I wanted to give is http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Go there and on the left side is a window that has Comparatives. Click on that and look at the 2005 August report. That is a very interesting report. As it turns out KAV has the best detection rate.
Take a look and read the results.

That probably is the best site as they do not take advertising.

Jerry

I guess I must be in the minority with oldgrandpajack as I have never had problems with all the many versions of NAV I've used over the years. I am not particularly fond of the "embedding" that the program does into the system, although I can understand that desire when trying to inoculate against all kinds of threats.

Perhaps I'll give the Kapersky KAV product a try - I've heard good things about it, although the av-comparatives data indicates that it is only a hair better than NAV. The surprising thing to me was how poorly AVG and Avast fared in the latest testing.

John

There is a NAV removal tool on their website that does a lot better job than hunting & picking through all the nooks & crannies of your hard drive.

I've got it somewhere, if someone needs it - I'm sure we can find the latest version? Just wanted folks to know that it is available...they admit to their "embedding"...