AVG vs Norton

A friend of mine is running WinXP Home edition. Her version of Norton is expiring in a couple of days - Please advise at your earliest convenience.
I suggested
AVG http://www.majorgeeks.com/AVG_AntiVirus_Free_Edition_d886.html.
However, she is afraid of it. What can you tell me/her that will give her the info she needs - AVG Free edition vs Norton $60/-. Because of this:
http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

WARNING WARNING WARNING!

by: andeyejah on 26-Apr-2008 04:25:56 PM

Pros: Do not upgrade to 8.o unless you want to pay 53.40 for it.That's euro by the way.If you like avg stick to the 7.5 version.You can get spyblaster 4.o for free if you need anti spyware.Better still just change to avast which is totally free.

Cons: Avg have joined the league of gentlemen who charge you through the nose for software you shouldn't really need.Think ill join my buddies and switch to a mac.

 

I agree with Mark Trent.
AVG served me well for a few years. Easy to use interface and very easy on the resources.
When I got a new PC, I also changed my AV to Avast. No particular reason other than I had enough power, not to worry about an app that used a bit more resources.

 

I dont' know from experience, but i've read (in pcmag, or summat) that norton isn't the resource hog like it used to be, and it rated it pretty high, including the entire internet security package...I'll have to look up that article again...basically, avg is free (including v8) and norton isn't

pcworld's reviews of all in one security suites:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140127/article.html#

keep in mind, the article is from dec. 07, but can help you out in deciding.

here's pcmag's review page for many antivirus programs

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,4796,00.asp

 

Thank you! I am passing your comments on to my friend. What scared her about AVG was reading that with it you may still have to pay for it to be fully operational. But I had never heard anything bad about AVG.

 

I took your advice and went to pc mag's review page and I am including below what I found regarding Norton: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2186661,00.asp
I really couldn't find any updated pros/cons for AVG. What do you recommend?

 

I've had both Norton and the free version of AVG. No comparison...AVG is my choice.

 

i will say this, even tho i posted those, I am an AVG user, have been for a while...I dont really have any cons for it, and have not noticed or needed any use for the pro version. The free version works just fine and does as advertised... Grisoft/AVG does not offer any support, but they do have a support forum that i've found very useful, and there's also this forum too.

 

It is my opinion that Norton is not only a resource hungry, invasive, bloated piece of software, but it is also highly ineffective (as is McAfee). I have reached this conclusion through years of working on PCs. I have seen dozens (maybe hundreds) of PCs running full installs of Norton, completely up-to-date, and these PCs were so slow and so full of malware as to be almost unusable. The first I'd do is remove Norton to free up enough resources to use the PC, then I work on removing the malware. There have been many cases where the PC user asks why their PC is so slow, I ask if they run Norton and if so, I tell them to uninstall it. 80% of the time this is one of the only 'tune-ups' required to speed up a PC dramatically (in addition to regular maintenance like cleaning temps and defrag). I recommend anything over Norton (and McAfee). Avira's AntiVir is my personal favorite, but AVG is really easy to use and understand for those that aren't real PC savvy.

 

Thanks to everyone. Ya'll have been a big help!

 

My 2 cents worth. I have used Norton, McAfee, AVG, + more. My system with Norton was so slowwwww...... Wouldn't touch Norton for free. Just my opinion. I would go with AVG. The pay version of AVG was at Best Buy the other day.

 

I appreciate you! I have passed on all the wonderful information ya'll have sent me. Words can't tell you how much you have helped me. Thank you.

 

Your information is very helpful. I have a question. I just ran an AVG v.8 scan of my entire computer. While the AVG manual is helpful, I have a question in regards to the icons displayed during a scan. The manual gives the definitions that I have listed below.
However, nowhere does it mention a blue icon with a red exclamation point. I have been unable, thus far, to determine what that means and there are several of those in my scan and the number of threats found is "0". This is very confusing. Any help you can give me would be highly appreciated.

green icon informs there was no infection detected during the scan

blue icon announces there was an infection detected during the
scan but the infected object was removed automatically

red icon warns there was an infection detected during the scan and
it could not be removed!

Thanks again.

 

If you could post a screen shot of the blue icon with the red exclamation point, it would be very helpful if we could see exactly what you're talking about. If a screenshot isn't possible, maybe you can just describe it accurately....

 

It is a light blue icon and as I look at on the screen, the red exclamation point is on the right of the icon. I couldn't find a way to post a screenshot of it. This gives an explanation that I am not 100% sure is correct. I did a little research and found this: http://forum.grisoft.cz/freeforum/read.php?4,94035,sv= :

Re: Understanding Virus Results
Date: March 12, 2007 08:27PM

After reviewing the Sticky post you referenced, I looked at the tool tips on the "Object Type" icons for this file in the Vault (which was the exclamation point on a blue field) and it indicates that "object's backup created in Virus Vault before healing". Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it would seem to me that this would mean the file was successfully healed and should still be residing in its original folder ... but it's not. It seems to have taken the same action as with those files with the exclamation point on a red field and just deleted the file from it's original folder & moved it to the Vault (that is both the files are only resident in the vault, not in their original folders - the only difference I can see is that one has an exclamation point on a blue field ["backup copied"] and the other on a red field ["moved object"]). I don't know what I am missing here, but it seems like the end result is the same so why are they apparently handled differently by AVG and what if anything should that mean to me?

Also, can you speak to the issue about the Word files where the "Result" indicates "Password-protected" and the "Status" indicates "Scanned". I don't understand why the files are being identified under "Virus Results" since no other information is provided as to any possible infection or any other action, either taken or suggested. Double-clicking the files to try and get more info just informs me that the file is Password-protected (as noted prevoiusly, I ran all 4 files through [virusscan.jotti.org] and they all came up 'OK'). Do I need to open the files and remove password protection in order to see the virus details? In this regard, I see where the Sticky post you referenced indicates: "Within the AVG Virus Vault you can explore the object" - but since the files are password-protected, I don't see any opportunity to "explore the object' within the Vault ... can you provide any guidance here?

 

:confused Sorry I didn't think to include this previously. Attached is a zipped .xls attachment showing the results of the scan. Each item listed had the blue icon with red exclamation point beside it. I am not sure how to handle this, so I left the scan screen open on my desktop. Thank you for your patience.