I have tried many different anti viruses including Norton, Mcafee, AVG, Avast!, Panda and NOD32. I'll give you my review on them all.
McAfee first. Every Autumn you can depend on a number of certainties in life. Leaves will fall. Christmas stuff will start to appear in shops and on the TV. Electronic Arts will bring out the year's crop of sports games. And Symantec and McAfee will release the year's crop of protection suites.
So it's out with 2006 and in with McAfee's latest Internet Security Suite. The main difference with the 2007 version is that the box is now black instead of bright red. Alright, so we're exaggerating, there are some differences in the program as well, but as is often the case with these annual upgrades, the core components remain the same.
For anyone unfamiliar with the suite, those core elements are the virus protection, personal firewall, anti-spam (and anti-phishing e-mail scams) and privacy modules (which protect your identity online and also offer parental controls for surfing). The virus definitions are updated automatically every couple of days; we've used the McAfee definitions for over a year now and have found them thorough and reliable.
We've found the firewall to be similarly reliable as well. A typical month will see it block hundreds of unsolicited connections by possible trojans and other assorted nastiness. All these basic protective modules haven't changed, excepting the fact that the spyware detection routines have been beefed up for 2007.
The major new addition for this incarnation of Internet Security Suite is the data backup system, which facilitates the archiving and backing up of files. You can set the archiving process to happen automatically at specified intervals, and back up to a network or USB drive, or burn to a CD. These backups are compressed and encrypted, and you can select the folders and/or types of files you want covered.
Systemguard protection has also been added to 2007. This monitors your system and will detect any changes made, looking out specifically for things like Active X installations or modifications made to your startup registry keys which might be spyware-related. It's a useful little extra.
A bonus addition - so the back of the box tells us anyway - is the McAfee site advisor, a plug-in which provides safety ratings for Web sites and search engine results to back up the standard Internet Security Suite parental controls.
Finally, the interface has been given a minor overhaul and is slightly more streamlined than the 2006 version. For some reason, however, McAfee has removed the links from the taskbar icon which allow you to turn off the virus and firewall protection quickly. That's a minor annoyance when you need to temporarily switch them off to install a program.
Another unwelcome and slightly more serious change we came across was the fact that Internet Explorer took a second longer to open after we'd installed the program. Presumably this is caused by some monitoring feature, but Internet Security Suite 2006 didn't suffer from this problem. Okay, it's not a huge delay, but it's slightly annoying.
For current McAfee subscribers, the question is: are the added features worth the upgrade fee? And the answer is probably "No." There's nothing too pressing to upgrade for here, unless you would benefit from the new automatic archiving and backup module. The beefed up Systemguard and spyware protection certainly won't hurt, either, and families will benefit from the site advisor when it comes to making surfing safer.
Internet Security Suite 2007 comes thoroughly recommended for first-time buyers, though; it's an excellent suite with a full range of protection, privacy and PC maintenance features.
AVG second
While AVG's Control Center is a bit awkward, you'll have little need to use it after the initial configuration. It can automatically block password-protected ZIP attachments and other specific attachments types, to help balk e-mail-delivered malware. And if a nasty Trojan leaves your system unbootable, you'll be glad AVG prompted you to create rescue diskettes.
Creates rescue diskettes for emergency recovery. Integrates with Outlook, Eudora, TheBat!; can manually configure other email clients. Can add virus-free notification to mail. Can delete all or specified attachments.
Control Center configuration screen is awkward. Least successful of the three against spyware. Scheduling limited to daily full scan and daily update.
Avast! Next
AVAST 4 Home Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The scanner installed just under 40MB and 6 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, taking a slightly bigger toll than other free antivirus scanners, but still well suited for older PCs or those with limited system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Scan on bootup helps thwart resuscitators
Removes some adware and spyware
Cons
WinAmp-style interface may not appeal to all users
Panda Review
Panda Software's Platinum Internet Security 2005 offers a full range of protection: Antivirus, AntiSpyware, Spam, and firewall. Daily updates combined with their TruPrevent technology help ensure even new threats don't go unnoticed. But all this protection won't tax your system - in our tests Panda had virtually no impact on system performance. At $50, which includes a year of updates and support, Platinum Internet Security is also one of the least expensive suites we've reviewed.
Manufacturer's Site
Pros
Excellent spyware detection and removal
TruPrevent technology stops most new viruses
New virus signatures provided at least daily
Specific protection to help prevent digital fraud
Cons
24/7 tech support via Internet and email only
All-in-one suite lacks flexibility of a la carte solutions
Norton now
Reviewed by: Robert Vamosi
Reviewed on 9/26/06 Updated on: 3/20/07 Release date: 9/26/06
(Editor's note: On March 20, 2007, we raised the overall rating for this product based on new antispyware testing results.) Norton AntiVirus is back. With the release of Norton AntiVirus 2007, Symantec has both slimmed down the product and deepened its defenses by rewriting much of the code, making the 2007 version a valuable upgrade for existing users and worth a second look from new users and previously dissatisfied Norton AntiVirus customers. While you won't find flashy new features, such as wireless protection or full-featured firewalls, Norton AntiVirus 2007 does offer some of the best tools to protect your PC from today's active malware, including antispyware, and elements of a personal firewall. What is missing from Norton AntiVirus 2007 is tighter system performance and a more thorough online technical-support selection. Although Norton Antivirus has improved, this year we gaive our Editors' Choice to Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6.0
Setup
Currently, you may order and download Norton AntiVirus 2007, but packaged editions won't hit retail stores until after October 1, 2006. Norton AntiVirus costs $39.99 for a single license. Because of a product agreement between Symantec and Yahoo, some of our installations of Norton AntiVirus 2007 included the installation of Yahoo Toolbar. To proceed without installing the toolbar, remember to uncheck the Yahoo Toolbar option when prompted.
Our Norton AntiVirus 2007 installation was fast, but not without incident. We were able to install Norton AntiVirus 2007 and activate it within 10 minutes (we skipped the prescan for viruses). But part of the installation process asked us to create a Norton user account. With other antivirus products, setting up an account was optional, not required. The Norton account, according to the dialog box, would allow us to download the latest versions of Norton products, as well as reinstall (if necessary), and it is required--you cannot continue installation without a Norton account. In an attempt to learn more, however, we clicked the Privacy Policy link, which took us to the generic Symantec home page--with no privacy policy in view. Instead, we had to read it here. Upon accepting Symantec's privacy policy, we continued our installation.
Norton AntiVirus 2007 occupies 180MB of hard drive space yet runs only a handful of processes when active. By comparison, McAfee VirusScan Plus occupies only 75MB but spawns several processes that, when active, could drain system resources on older PCs.
Should you ever decide to remove Norton AntiVirus 2007, you'll need to use the Microsoft Windows Add/Remove Programs console. Note that by removing Norton AntiVirus prematurely you may lose some or all of your remaining subscriptions with Symantec. After a reboot, we were happy to find no traces of Symantec files or folders; however, we needed to delete a few residual Symantec references from the System Registry, something that only advanced users should do on their own. Still, this uninstall process is much improved from previous versions', and it's far better than McAfee's uninstall process, although it's not ideal.
Interface
As noted, the Norton AntiVirus 2007 interface has been redesigned and simplified. Instead of having different desktop windows, Norton Protection Center and Norton AntiVirus open as different tabs within one window. The new Norton Protection Center includes several useful information links. For example, click "Learn more about transaction security," and you'll actually arrive on a landing page that defines phishing, pharming, and crimeware, with more links to full articles on these subjects, and Norton moved the Buy Now product-listing button to a small upper corner of the screen. By contrast, McAfee's Security Center sends you to its online store.
We also like that Norton AntiVirus 2007 displays your system's green-yellow-red security status in a new sidebar, independent of which tab you might be on. Like McAfee, Norton offers a single Fix Now button. But unlike McAfee's Fix button, Norton accesses another screen where you must select what to fix and so on. For people who want to tweak what's wrong, that'll be fine; but most home users will simply want whatever's wrong fixed and might be annoyed with the extra step.
The Windows Update status is one area where we appreciated having the option to reconfigure our settings. We like to have Microsoft notify us of any new updates so that we can download and install them at our leisure; the default setting within Norton is that the updates be downloaded and installed immediately. By going to General Settings - Options, however, we were able to tell Norton to accept our preference and mark our system as secure.
We also found the redesigned virus-scan results page cumbersome. After identifying and removing what's considered malware by Symantec, there are times when you'll have to choose how to handle additional items, which you do with a drop-down menu offering Fix, Ignore, and Exclude. While some may appreciate the granularity here, most home users will simply want to fix the problems en masse and move on.
Features
Unlike McAfee, which redesigned only its interface, Norton redesigned its interface and rewrote much of its underlying code. Thus, its antivirus and antispyware scans occur simultaneously, and perhaps in response to past reader comments, Norton AntiVirus 2007 can now throttle its scanning engines so that either the full system scan or the Quick Scans will run in the background, giving priority to applications such as Microsoft Word. Here, McAfee could learn something from Norton.
Deeper under the hood, although not advertised, Norton AntiVirus 2007 absorbs much of Symantec's discontinued Norton Personal Firewall product. But you'll have to look hard to find it: the firewall settings are rebranded as Internet Worm protection under the Virus and Spyware Protection Options page. Here you can enable or disable signature files and inbound and outbound firewall rules, as well as automatically stop all communication with the Internet--useful if there's a pernicious worm on the loose.
And Norton AntiVirus 2007 incorporates some enterprise technology in defending your PC against rootkit threats. Norton AntiVirus 2007 uses Symantec Veritas VxMS enterprise technology to compare files within the directory to files on the volume level. This quickly ferrets out suspicious or known malware and rootkits operating on your system.
What's noticeably missing from Norton AntiVirus 2007 is antiphishing technology. McAfee VirusScan Plus, for example, includes the McAfee SiteAdvisor toolbars for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. For similar protection from Norton, you'll have to buy Norton Internet Security or wait until later this year for Symantec's new Norton Confidential (currently in beta).
Performance
Norton AntiVirus 2007 improves on last year's CNET Labs' performance test scores, although Norton turns in a mixed bag of results overall. On our iTunes test, Norton AntiVirus 2007 lost ground compared with last year, taking 208 seconds as opposed to 184 seconds last year. On our Sorensen Squeeze test, Norton AntiVirus 2007 improved, taking 317 seconds compared to 326 seconds last year. Norton showed the most improvement with individual file scans; it took only 117 seconds and 320 seconds last year. But in terms of boot speed, Norton lost ground, taking 4 seconds longer--66 seconds as opposed to last year's 62 seconds. To find out how we test, see CNET Labs' How we test: software: antivirus page.
We refer to test results from two leading independent antivirus testing organizations to determine how well a product will protect your PC. In the latest test results from AV-Comparatives.org, Norton AntiVirus 2006 earned an Advanced + (highest) rating, catching 98 percent of all malware tested, and from CheckVir.com, Norton AntiVirus 2006 was one of eight products to earn its Standard (highest) rating.
For antispyware protection, Norton Antivirus is one of the better antispyware apps we've tested. In exclusive testing by CNET Labs, Norton Antivirus 2007's active shields identified and blocked six out of eight spyware samples we attempted to install. For scanning and removing existing spyware samples, Norton Antivirus 2007 caught six out of eight. As for the removal itself, Norton Antivirus 2007 removed spyware residue in six out of eight cases.
Support
Symantec has redesigned and enhanced its technical support for Norton AntiVirus 2007. However, the 32-page manual, which is available online, is surprisingly light, almost useless when it comes to critical information; the index is only two pages and doesn't cover antispyware settings, for example. The updated automated online technical support service works with only Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher. Fortunately, the FAQ knowledge base still works in both IE and Firefox. If you still can't find an answer, Symantec offers live technical-support options. In our tests, free online chat required about 15 minutes of wait time, free e-mail averaged about 72 hours for a response, and a live conversation over the phone required a $9.95 charge and a 30-minute wait. But to use any of these options, we were required to first fill in our name, address, e-mail, and telephone number (apparently, having the required Norton account doesn't help you access these services).
Conclusion
By rewriting much of its code and focusing upon virus and spyware prevention, Symantec makes Norton AntiVirus 2007 one of the premier antivirus products on the market. If we gave an award for "Most improved antivirus product," it would go to Symantec
NOD32 nOW
ESET Nod32 Reviewer's Comments
ESET's Nod32 has an excellent virus detection rate earning the VB100% in all eight of its most recent Windows test. This software has a number of practical features to help you monitor your computer's security including outbreak notices and history/report logging.
The software uses some technical terms in the interface and other areas of the product. Novices will find the higher-ranking products easier to use.
Ease of Use:
We found the Control Center layout and modules a little bit confusing. The terminology is very technical; however, a techie would love the customization abilities and scanning power of Nod32.
Effectiveness:
The most important function of antivirus software is to detect and block viruses, and Nod32 does an excellent job. This software received the VB100% award in June 2005, was certified by ICSA in 2005 and passed the level 1 & 2 Checkmark from West Coast Labs.
Updates:
NOD32 claims that they detected and blocked big-gun viruses like CIH, Melissa, LoveLetter long before the competition. The team in the ESET virus lab is extremely fast and good at analyzing viruses and releasing blocks and fixes. Nod32 updates virus definitions “As Needed.”
Feature Set:
Nod32 is designed for more advanced users with plenty of customization features. Nevertheless we wouldn't discourage the average home user from using this product-it just may take some time to learn everything.
Nod32 has two different ways to run the program. You can run a simple Nod32 scan or you can spend more time using the control center. Within the control center you can have access to tons of customiztion feature and differnet types of scans-DMON, IMON, EMON and more. Here is an overview of the different scans:
AMON - the resident (running in operating memory at all times) or "on-access" antivirus monitor. This program is the most crucial antivirus defense tool.
NOD32 (also referred to as the "on-demand" scanner) - this is the scanner executed manually by the user, or automatically by the scheduler.
IMON - this scanner provides the first line of defense by monitoring Internet traffic (SMTP, ftp, http and other Winsock protocols).
EMON - the Nod32 Mail Scanner provides protection from email-borne viruses.
DMON - scans Microsoft office documents and files directly downloaded from Internet Explorerer.
Ease of Installation:
The installation process allows you to do a typical installation, some customization or an advanced install that gives you control over all the default functions. We didn't have any problems with the installation process.
Help/Support:
The program offers helpful documentation in the form of manuals and FAQs. The email support is excellent and they responded to our email within 30 minutes. However, the manufacturer doesn't have any type of phone support.
Summary:
Nod32 is a first-rate antivirus program that offers several levels of superior protection. However, the product is somewhat hard to understand because of the technical jargon and wouldn't be our first choice for the average home user.
I myself use Norton and find it rules over the Anti virus kindom