Why should I purchase NOD32?

[Slovak]

I have been thinking about purchasing a liscense for NOD32, but am a little scared because every day there are numerous complaints in here about this not working right, or not detecting this or that. What's up with that?

[JimIT]

-{ Quote: "I have been thinking about purchasing a liscense for NOD32, but am a little scared because every day there are numerous complaints in here about this not working right, or not detecting this or that. What's up with that?" }-

Why not download the free trial and make up your mind for yourself?

;)

Good luck!

[Mele20]

I'd much rather get an av that had a very active support board than one that didn't! No av is perfect and we are just trying to make NOD32 even better than it already is. :)

Jim IT's idea is excellent...download the trial and decide for yourself. One should ALWAYS trial an av before buying...it might not get along with your setup...aside from any other considerations. So, download and take it for a ride.

[Slovak]

I have already done that, just worried that what if something happens after I purchase it, like the not so nice IMON problems that so many users have? WHat if I decide to upgrade from win2k to winXP pro? will it get hosed up?

[Stan999]

-{ Quote: "I have already done that, just worried that what if something happens after I purchase it, like the not so nice IMON problems that so many users have? WHat if I decide to upgrade from win2k to winXP pro? will it get hosed up?" }-

Any AV may or may not have problems with any specific platform. I assume the trial ran ok for you? I run NOD32 with IMON on a P4 WinXP Pro machine with no problems, YMMV. You are asking folks to make a decision for you that you should make for yourself.

[rumpstah]

-{ Quote: "Any AV may or may not have problems with any specific platform. I assume the trial ran ok for you? I run NOD32 with IMON on a P4 WinXP Pro machine with no problems, YMMV. You are asking folks to make a decision for you that you should make for yourself." }-

I agree with Stan. I have 5000 workstations with NOD32 installed from Windows 95 to Windows XP and none of them have issues (2000 in a network environment with 100s of applications). You may find that issues with IMON will be with people that have specific Winsock applications (maybe more than 1) that are causing the conflict. Tweaking network settings can be a cross-your-fingers task on any system with WinX.

If it works well for you, then the choice is yours. ;)

[stevlo]

Check this link out.I was surfing the net and came across this info on how majority of antivirus vendors did on detecting viruses.Click on the antivirus company name that you use in red,and it will tell you how many passes it went through to detect viruses,and how many times it failed to catch them.You will be very surprised on who were the overall top winners at detecting viruses.

<a href="http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?table" target="_blank">And the winner is</a>

[stevlo]

sorry for all those repeat posts.the one with the right link was removed.here is the link again.






http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?table

[arrowsmithmidwest]

i wouldn't buy anything else than NOD, other than picking up pretty much every virus, i find other AV's slow down the computer heaps.

And reason for all this discussion in these msg boards is just people trying to improve or find resolutions for NOD which would be on a very small scale compared to how many users actually use NOD, if u know what i mean.

for eg. i am a computer technician, i see computers coming every day with NOD, all doing their jobs, the ones that stuff up is either not updated, hardware problems, or their computer's software is corrupt.

people that bring their computers in with other AV's, about 75% of the time we scan with NOD and they have viruses which their AV's did not pick up.

and lastly NOD is quite simply and easy to use.
thanks ;D

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "i wouldn't buy anything else than NOD, other than picking up pretty much every virus, i find other AV's slow down the computer heaps.

And reason for all this discussion in these msg boards is just people trying to improve or find resolutions for NOD which would be on a very small scale compared to how many users actually use NOD, if u know what i mean.

for eg. i am a computer technician, i see computers coming every day with NOD, all doing their jobs, the ones that stuff up is either not updated, hardware problems, or their computer's software is corrupt.

people that bring their computers in with other AV's, about 75% of the time we scan with NOD and they have viruses which their AV's did not pick up.

and lastly NOD is quite simply and easy to use.
thanks ;D" }-

Agreed ;D Same situation here, it is a pleasure working with Nod32 ;D

Cheers ;D

[Slovak]

Thanks for all the positive input guys.

[Kentish]

Dont forget that the ones that shout the loudest are the ones with problems. Most work flawlessly and have no reason to post. Mine for instance has never been trouble. It is a standalone home pc, for me and my family. If you want I will post my thanks to Eset for Nod, but that would only take up valuable forum space.

[sig]

Go to any product support forum and you will see people posting who have problems with or questions about the product, such is the nature of product support forums.

As to what AV you should go with, that's up to you. :)

[stevlo]

I aint no expert,but from the virus detection track record from the virus bulletin tests,it lookslike nod32 had one of the best,or if not the best virus detection from the passes and fails.I have been using it for a very short time,and for the first time after i tried a few heavy waits outthere and it is excellent.I had aproblem with the config a few weeks ago and i contacted nod32 via email,and the service was excellent.So until something much better comes out,ill stick to nod32. ;D

[DougWeller]

-{ Quote: "I aint no expert,but from the virus detection track record from the virus bulletin tests,it lookslike nod32 had one of the best,or if not the best virus detection from the passes and fails.I have been using it for a very short time,and for the first time after i tried a few heavy waits outthere and it is excellent.I had aproblem with the config a few weeks ago and i contacted nod32 via email,and the service was excellent.So until something much better comes out,ill stick to nod32. ;D" }-

Would that this were true. I've got 2 Nod32 licences, and those are probably my last.

Take a look at <URL:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=5248 >

Doug

[Paul Wilders]

-{ Quote: "Would that this were true. I've got 2 Nod32 licences, and those are probably my last.

Take a look at <URL:
http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=5248 >

Doug" }-

No offense intended - and as ever the choice is yours ;) - but as for kobra's tests: no test bed available, no environment - the list goes on. All in al well-intended, but at the most an amateur test - as many are floating around. Testing is a serious business - better left to competent testers ;).

regards.

paul

[steve1955]

Hi
Who decides who are and who aren't the competent testers?It seems to me if an AV misses something that others catch in the same "test conditions" there is a weakness in that AV no matter who tests it!
Kobra seems to have tested the products using "proper viruses/trojans etc" the products that miss these in any test could just as easily miss them on a users PC:-or are we only to allow our pc's to come in contact with malware in conditions stipulated by the AV vendors?(so the conditons are a controlled situation! they are not in the REAL world:- users use their PCs in all sorts of ways and we should be confident that our chosen security products protect us as and when needed!)

[bsilva]

I agree and disagree. That is not the case all the time. I've had anti-viruses give me false positives and if the other anti-viruses not catch it. The one with that determines that file is not is correct.

[Arin]

dear steve1955, Paul is right no doubt. its very simple to answer your question, there is no stipulation. nobody is forcing you to buy your AV. its your choice, i just can't stress enough. if you think your system is under threat from malwares which are not covered by NOD32 then get a dedicated software for that type of threat or get an AV that covers you totally. its all upto you. the reasons why i use NOD32 are:

1. Excellent heuristics.

2. Stable on any platform.

3. Light on resources.

4. Highly *Temper-Proof* ( not that it can't be tempered with ).

5. Small update files ( even the full update ).

now if there is anyone who uses Net for legitimate purposes and who carries some common sense, there is adequate protection from NOD32. but if you are adventurous then its a good idea to back it up with an AT and Spyware removal tools. simple and easy and if you don't like it then of course go for another AV which gives you some peace of mind.

regarding that AV test, Kobra is one heck of an individual. i do applaud the effort he puts into it. but the data was too fuzzy. also i totally disagree with his PoV regarding ITW detection. VB shouldn't be considered like that and as i wrote earlier in another post, if you think VB is inefficient then bashing won't help at all. JUST MAIL YOUR SAMPLES TO YOUR NEAREST VB REPORTERS. here (http://www.wildlist.org/R_email.htm) you can find the relevant informations.

[Sandish]

-{ Quote: "Hi
Who decides who are and who aren't the competent testers?" }-
You decide - but come on - if someone comes out with a test and declares the Wildlist to be bullsh*t - is it possible that there is something wrong? Someone that isn´t even able to recognize a heuristic detection? Well, you decide....

-{ Quote: "It seems to me if an AV misses something that others catch in the same "test conditions" there is a weakness in that AV no matter who tests it!
Kobra seems to have tested the products using "proper viruses/trojans etc" the products that miss these in any test could just as easily miss them on a users PC:-or are we only to allow our pc's to come in contact with malware in conditions stipulated by the AV vendors?(so the conditons are a controlled situation! they are not in the REAL world:- " }-

Uhmm, now that´s a problem. I have seen about 1500 different viruses/worms/trojans the last 4 months. Just stuff that was found on infected machines, not the stuff you get on the various VX-sites. About 15 % of this files were damaged in some way. Many of them simply wont run - still many AV´s gave an alert on it. If an AV finds a file that is damaged and is able to detect it and another AV isn´t - does it make the first AV a better product? I also had to clean many infected machines. I thought there must be some product to catch them all - just to make my job easier. There is KAV - and it comes with a real outstanding detection rate, but it doesn´t find them all. There are the multiple engine products - great, still it doesn´t find them all. Then there are different AT products - well, guess what...
;)

-{ Quote: "users use their PCs in all sorts of ways and we should be confident that our chosen security products protect us as and when needed!)" }-

Right - but try to see it this way: I have an airbag in my car and i hope it works - still i try to drive as safe as possible. Most users seem to think a virusscanner is the ultimate airbag. Imho: if an AV alerts the user there are many different things that went already wrong. Same with the airbag - if i ever see it in action, i already made one or more mistakes. And i can´t blame the airbag for it.

[Technodrome]

-{ Quote: "Hi
Who decides who are and who aren't the competent testers?It seems to me if an AV misses something that others catch in the same "test conditions" there is a weakness in that AV no matter who tests it!
Kobra seems to have tested the products using "proper viruses/trojans etc" the products that miss these in any test could just as easily miss them on a users PC:-or are we only to allow our pc's to come in contact with malware in conditions stipulated by the AV vendors?(so the conditons are a controlled situation! they are not in the REAL world:- users use their PCs in all sorts of ways and we should be confident that our chosen security products protect us as and when needed!)" }-

WOW!
Thanks to Kobra’s test 25 million Sophos users are just about to ditch SOPHOS AV. What a tragedy...

Headline News:

Graham vs Kobra ;D ;D ;D


tECHNODROME

[steve1955]

I use and like nod but EVERY TIME a review is highlighted that doesn't sing the virtues of it or even(heresy)questions its abilities the test or the tester is labelled as "amateur" or tests "unscientific"(or words to that effect!) it just seems to me that we end up behaving like the proverbial ostrich:-burying our heads in the sand and ignoring possible problems!

[Arin]

no no steve1955, please don't think this way. sometimes its true NOD32 lovers do tend to be protective but there are some things that can be proved. so don't take it like this. there is another thread going on which is discussing the NOD32 wishlist. you might visit it and see for yourself how we are trying to improvise NOD32.

[steve1955]

Hi
I would say the term "protective" is ever so slightly underestimating the response most negative posts receive.The thing most of these ardent fans seem to forget is "NOD is only a tool " and should stop taking criticism of it so personally

[Arin]

yes right you are dear steve1955. NOD32 is only a tool but ask any geek and he/she will tell you how precious 1s and 0s can be. but here is a thought, if something is not worth *Protecting*, should we waste our time criticising it? of course if someone wants to be heard thats another thing.

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "...try to see it this way: I have an airbag in my car and i hope it works - still i try to drive as safe as possible. Most users seem to think a virusscanner is the ultimate airbag. Imho: if an AV alerts the user there are many different things that went already wrong. Same with the airbag - if i ever see it in action, i already made one or more mistakes. And i can´t blame the airbag for it." }-

Well said Sandish, very interesting point ;D

Cheers ;D

[Paul Wilders]

-{ Quote: "Hi
Who decides who are and who aren't the competent testers?It seems to me if an AV misses something that others catch in the same "test conditions" there is a weakness in that AV no matter who tests it!" }-

There are common rules: providing the test bed used, how the test has been perfomed, Operating System(s) etc. None of these have been revealed.

-{ Quote: " Kobra seems to have tested the products using "proper viruses/trojans etc"" }-

seems is an essential wording here. In fact, since there's no test bed info revealed, there's no proof in any way, is there? ;). No log files either - nothing at all of the sort. Statements without any factual back up. Whatever AV involved: just another amateur test.

-{ Quote: "the products that miss these in any test could just as easily miss them on a users PC:-or are we only to allow our pc's to come in contact with malware in conditions stipulated by the AV vendors?(so the conditons are a controlled situation! they are not in the REAL world:- users use their PCs in all sorts of ways and we should be confident that our chosen security products protect us as and when needed!)" }-

No offense intended - but your statement is build on a presumption - no more, no less. "miss these" - which ones exactly? No one knows...

It baffles me people don't ask relevant questions in this context. As said: testing is a serious business - up to now, this particular "test" is words only. Who's next? ;)

regards,

paul

[Dazed_and_Confused]

-{ Quote: "... it just seems to me that we end up behaving like the proverbial ostrich:-burying our heads in the sand and ignoring possible problems!" }-
It does seem like that at times, I agree. :-\

-{ Quote: "No offense intended - but your statement is build on a presumption - no more, no less. "miss these" - which ones exactly? No one knows..." }-
Paul makes a good point. I believe the testbed included worms, trojans, as well as viruses, didn't it? So it seems possible that some of what was missed by NOD32 were NOT viruses. I think it's common knowledge around here (at least from posts I've read) that NOD32 is not that good at detecting Trojans and Worms, but concentrates on Viruses.

Kobra does seem to make a good point about ITW viruses. NOD32 seems to hang their hats on 100% ITW results. Has anyone seen what might be considered a professional (as opposed to amateur) test that shows NOD32 doing a good job at detecting non-ITW viruses?

[Mele20]

-{ Quote: "
Right - but try to see it this way: I have an airbag in my car and i hope it works - still i try to drive as safe as possible. Most users seem to think a virusscanner is the ultimate airbag. Imho: if an AV alerts the user there are many different things that went already wrong. Same with the airbag - if i ever see it in action, i already made one or more mistakes. And i can´t blame the airbag for it." }-

I don't get it. How did you make a mistake if a drunk driver ran a stop sign and hit you broadside on the driver's side and you were driving under the speed limit, minding your own business? How did something go wrong earlier if your av scanner alerts on a false positive like mine is doing? I haven't done anything wrong. Why would I blame myself if a drunk driver changes my life drastically because he was violating the law or why would I blame myself for my av falsely alerting? Are you saying it is my fault I am using a program that AMON falsely thinks is virus?

[Mele20]

I'd be interested in knowing what version of NOD32 Kobra used in testing and if he used Paolo's shell extension and then scanned with AH. I would be especially keen to know how NOD32 performs if he used the beta I have which has AH for AMON and AH as a choice for NOD32 on demand scanning. I wonder if he will test NOD32 once the beta is public or will he avoid this because he doesn't want NOD32 to perform well? All questions I'd like answered.

[profhsg]

Whatever the shortcomings of the AV test under discussion, we should be aware that the results obtained were extremely similar to the results obtained by Andreas Clementi at http://www.av-comparatives.org/. I believe those tests have been praised by our moderator. They do show that NOD32 does lag behind some other AV products in terms of raw detection power when it comes to Windows viruses and non-virus threats. Of course, detection is not the only thing one should consider in choosing an AV. Usability, stability, and impact on system performance should all come into play. Nor does the fact that NOD32 had a lower detection rate mean it is a bad product. Indeed, Andreas emphasized that virtually all the products he tested will provide adequate protection when properly updated. Nonetheless, detection and elimination of threats are the basic functions of an AV product and performance in these areas cannot be ignored.

[Straight Shooter]

-{ Quote: "Whatever the shortcomings of the AV test under discussion, we should be aware that the results obtained were extremely similar to the results obtained by Andreas Clementi at http://www.av-comparatives.org/. ." }-
The screenshot below is from Clementi's website...
AVK Pro therefore, was not tested...
However, you're right.. Nod32 had similar results..

Still, I would like to see the scanning logs and or the testbed...

[sig]

-{ Quote: "It does seem like that at times, I agree. :-\


Paul makes a good point. I believe the testbed included worms, trojans, as well as viruses, didn't it? So it seems possible that some of what was missed by NOD32 were NOT viruses. I think it's common knowledge around here (at least from posts I've read) that NOD32 is not that good at detecting Trojans and Worms, but concentrates on Viruses.

Kobra does seem to make a good point about ITW viruses. NOD32 seems to hang their hats on 100% ITW results. Has anyone seen what might be considered a professional (as opposed to amateur) test that shows NOD32 doing a good job at detecting non-ITW viruses?" }-

As has been mentioned previously, there are very few viruses out ITW. The most prevalent universal threat (as in email borne "viruses" for example) are in fact worms but they are most often commonly included in the term "viruses." So I don't think it's accurate to say that NOD is not that good at detecting worms and it only concentrates on viruses (of which there are few still ITW). (And just a side note, there are worms that also drop trojans/backdoors on a PC, just to make it a bit more interesting.) The days of the "pure" Antivirus are long gone. Regardless of how people regard NOD, it is not a "pure" AntiVirus. Just look at the ESET updates page to confirm that.

As for non-ITW viruses, most commonly refered to as zoo viruses, VB also has a zoo virus test and NOD often does a clean sweep: 100% on both ITW and zoo viruses in the VB tests. (Again, not including trojans.)

But there's a lot of malware out there: trojans, IRC bots, spyware, etc. in addition to viruses and worms. For users who don't engage in P2P and don't download mystery files from unknown sources but haven't addressed browser security, probably spyware is the most common scourge. And not all AV's deal with spyware to any significant extent (although for example it's difficult for the antispyware experts to keep up with all the new CWS variants, etc.). NOD I think is not one of the AV's that includes much spyware for detection. So if spyware is in a test I'd suspect NOD would be bested by NAV in that area for example. The likelihood of running into a wide variety of threats depends on a large part on one's computing practices/activities.

And there are some critters that some AV's apparently have problems keping up with...for example, IIRC the argobot family has been said to have over 500 variants (and not necessarily related enough so that even generic detection might get them all). I think I read that AV's are having to work hard to keep up with them, with varying degrees of success.

I think a lot of people want an AV to protect them always, all the time regardless of their computing practices. But I don't think any AV can really provide that kind of protection, frankly. (Especially if someone is active in downloading from areas that are known spawning grounds for malware.) If you find an AV that appears to provide better protection against the various threats that you might likely run into, go with it by all means. I prefer to regard myself as my first layer of defense and my AV is just a backup measure. YMMV. ;)

[steve1955]

HI again
I'd lay a £ to a penny(british saying!)that if the Kobra test results had shown Nod to be the "best thing since sliced bread"(another british saying!) not one of the people,Paul included,who are criticising his methodology would have bothered about the methods/files used you would have all been accepting the results and making posts/statements like"another test that shows Nod to be the best" without a thought about the methodology used!

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "HI again
I'd lay a £ to a penny(british saying!)that if the Kobra test results had shown Nod to be the "best thing since sliced bread"(another british saying!) not one of the people,Paul included,who are criticising his methodology would have bothered about the methods/files used you would have all been accepting the results and making posts/statements like"another test that shows Nod to be the best" without a thought about the methodology used!" }-

I disagree. All one has to do is read the posts he has made. NOD bashing from the get-go.

His posts are all over the net in security and antivirus forums.

He will be discredited soon enough in those forums as he has been here.

[JimIT]

-{ Quote: "HI again
I'd lay a £ to a penny(british saying!)that if the Kobra test results had shown Nod to be the "best thing since sliced bread"(another british saying!) not one of the people,Paul included,who are criticising his methodology would have bothered about the methods/files used you would have all been accepting the results and making posts/statements like"another test that shows Nod to be the best" without a thought about the methodology used!" }-

I'd bet a "dollar to a donut" (Texas saying) that you would be incorrect.

;D

[steve1955]

-{ Quote: "I disagree. All one has to do is read the posts he has made. NOD bashing from the get-go.

His posts are all over the net in security and antivirus forums.

He will be discredited soon enough in those forums as he has been here." }-
I didn't realise he was basically a Nod basher,I was under the impression was a genuine test,which if he has set agenda it(to have a go at Nod) cannot be,has he some history here to make him "anti Nod"?

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "I didn't realise he was basically a Nod basher,I was under the impression was a genuine test,which if he has set agenda it(to have a go at Nod) cannot be,has he some history here to make him "anti Nod"?" }-


He was posting in the NOD forum and the other antivirus forum anonymously with the sole intent of discrediting NOD. He can no longer post here.

If it were a genuine test, where is the webpage where we can peruse the results? And, who is he and how is he qualified to test antivirus programs?

I could come here and say I have tested programs and give "results". It means nothing if you don't have the credentials.

It must be difficult for antivirus companies to live with bogus testers. That goes for all antivirus companies.

[steve1955]

Doesn't need a web page a link to a pdf file with results+methods would be adequate

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "Doesn't need a web page a link to a pdf file with results+methods would be adequate" }-


I would like to see a resume of his experience in computing and antivirus testing in general.

[Arin]

i didn't know Kobra is banned here. anyway there is no point in arguing here steve1955. its not that NOD32 users are blind or something. Sir Carew sent NOD32 some samples and they didn't add those samples. so he started a thread and in the end most of the samples were picked up. thats how things work here. its not that we go blind when NOD32 scores well. there are so many webpages claiming to have 'tested' this product. but tests like AV-test or VB or Checkmark or Clementi's are different. just visit their pages and you'll see the difference between their tests and Kobra's tests.

hey you'll find that in Clementi's NOD32 scored kinda low. but we all accepted it isn't it? but i like the way you are sticking up for Kobra, a rare virtue nowadays.

[Dazed_and_Confused]

-{ Quote: "...but tests like AV-test or VB or Checkmark or Clementi's are different. just visit their pages and you'll see the difference between their tests and Kobra's tests." }-
Hello AMRX. I would like to see these tests. Do you have links?

[Arin]

here they are dear Dazed and Confused.

1. www.av-test.org

2. www.virusbtn.com

3. www.westcoastlabs.org

4. www.icsalabs.com

5. www.av-comparatives.org

don't forget to visit this (http://www.wildlist.org) site.

[kjempen]

And here are some others:

http://www.checkvir.com/

http://www.av-test.org/

http://agn-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/vtc/

[ronjor]

This sums it up for me.

http://www.nod32.com/news/snakeoil.htm

[Dazed_and_Confused]

-{ Quote: "This sums it up for me.
http://www.nod32.com/news/snakeoil.htm" }-
I'm feeling better about my NOD32 purchase already. Good article, Ronjor. It gives me a whole new perspective on anti-virus tests. And thanks to Kjempen and ARMX for the test sites.

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "I'm feeling better about my NOD32 purchase already..." }-

Hi D & C, first of all I am a reseller, so some would say I'm biased, however putting that aside, I have installed over 400+ copies of Nod32, it really is great software, day in and day out I have people with the worlds number one selling AV coming into my shop with infected PC's, I don’t have this with Nod.

Nod is easy to configure and use, though takes a little tweaking to bring it up to maximum strength, and it takes a little more to delve into it and make it do weekly scans etc, though if you have someone helping it is not so hard after all, as we have found ;) And the next version (Beta) to be launched soon is even more impressive ;D

So all in all, you have a great product that works really really well, and together with other security products you can set your system up like a fortress ;D

Cheers ;D

[Paul Wilders]

For the record:

Kobra has not been banned from this board for "NOD32 bashing". At first, we have asked him to refrain from posting on the NOD32 support forum focussing on different AVs - this is the NOD32 Support Forum after all. Kobra apologized in private for doing so - but couldn't live up to his promise. Therefore he was asked to keep out of the NOD32 forum at all.

Reason for banning has been posting over on this board all over the place using different guest names, fairly often in one and the same thread. Since many members/readers got very confused by this, he was asked to refrain from doing so and use his registered user name all the way: "Kobra". Instead of playing by this very reasonable request, he started using even more guest names. After being warned several times not to do so without any result, we did had no choice other then banning him - the second ban ever on this board; we hardly ever ban people.

It could well be, as a result from this ban Kobra started bashing NOD32 elsewhere. Strange move, since as said above, his banning is not related to NOD32 in any way. Anyway, that's not a concern of ours.

That sums it up, and the "Kobra book" has been closed as far as the NOD32 forum goes.

regards.

paul

[Slovak]

-{ Quote: "This sums it up for me.

http://www.nod32.com/news/snakeoil.htm" }-

That my friend is a very interesting article to read. It is making me lean more toward purchasing NOD32.

[Dazed_and_Confused]

-{ Quote: " http://www.nod32.com/news/snakeoil.htm " }-
Should be manadatory reading material for AV newbies. Sure makes me see things in a whole new light. :D

[DougWeller]

-{ Quote: "
[SNIP]
Nod is easy to configure and use, though takes a little tweaking to bring it up to maximum strength, and it takes a little more to delve into it and make it do weekly scans etc, tho
[SNIP]" }-

What tweaks are needed?

Thanks.

Doug

[tazdevl]

-{ Quote: "Should be manadatory reading material for AV newbies. Sure makes me see things in a whole new light. :D" }-

Pssst info in there is FUD. FUD is a less than subtle marketing tactic used to help fortify your position in the market by creating perception gaps.

Take everything with a grain of salt rather than seeing it as the gospel, also have to remember the source.

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "Pssst info in there is FUD. FUD is a less than subtle marketing tactic used to help fortify your position in the market by creating perception gaps.

Take everything with a grain of salt rather than seeing it as the gospel, also have to remember the source." }-

You speak the truth for sure! Check your sources. Here as well as elsewhere.

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "What tweaks are needed?..." }-

See post #13 on the following thread: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=37102

Cheers ;D

[DougWeller]

Thanks

Doug

[Blackspear]

-{ Quote: "Thanks, Doug" }-

My pleasure Doug, anytime, You can also set up Nod to make a automatic weekly or daily scan, see this thread: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=33275 and from post number 18 onwards... And post number 46 in the same thread for a maximum strength command line scan...

Cheers ;D

[flyrfan111]

I don't think you should purchase NOD32. Their support is less than stelllar, I had a what I think was a false postive back on 5/26/04 and submitted the file to NOD32. Two days later I got a request for another file from my hard drive which I didn't have so I wrote back saying the file wasn't on my system. About 10 days later i received a support survey asking how my experience with Eset support was, I explained that I wasn't happy as I still had not received a response if the file was infected or it was a false positive. I have not received a response from that email either. I have since removed NOD from my system and returned to Panda. I would say ESET is not quite ready to play with the Big Boys. Everyone here and in the company seems to think NOD is the be all and end all of AV solutions and can't stand the suggestion that another product is better or even equal to NOD. I think this cult-like mentality keeps a good product from getting better. They always point to their VB success and say "We have never had a false positive in their tests" and "ESET is the Best", well look at the results folks, $ymantec is only one or two awards away and KAV one or two behind as well. VB is but one test and certainly not the real world. West Coast Lab's ONLY certifies NOD for Windows 2003 server, and the AV-comparatives tests have already been mentioned in this thread. WAKE UP Eset and start accepting some negative criticism, for more growth comes from an honest assessment of your shortcomings then from the "VB says were are the best and that's that mentality."

[Marcos]

Personally, I don't know about other AV company of which technical support works as a bee at the midnight from home in their spare time. We have our distributors providing local support all around the world, plus 2 main centrals, one in Slovakia, and another one in the USA so there should not be long delays in responding. In one of the previous threads I have already mentioned several reasons why users may not get a response (e.g. use of spam words, infected files attached, incorrect email address provided in the request, spam filters on the user's side, etc.)

[Dazed_and_Confused]

-{ Quote: "Everyone here and in the company seems to think NOD is the be all and end all of AV solutions and can't stand the suggestion that another product is better or even equal to NOD. " }-It's downright amazing that you've formed that opinion in such a short time with this forum (2 posts to date)! That is - unless your really a previous long-time member with an hidden agenda that prefers to also hide his identity (although I can understand why). ::)

I've contacted Eset twice and received prompt responses each time. So IMO your just plain wrong.

[flyrfan111]

-{ Quote: "It's downright amazing that you've formed that opinion in such a short time with this forum (2 posts to date)! That is - unless your really a previous long-time member with an hidden agenda that prefers to also hide his identity (although I can understand why). ::)

See what I mean, I share my experiene & give an honest opinion, & someone jumps from the woodwork and immediately starts throwing insults because I question their beloved NOD32. As if I had no life prior to joining this forum, my existence was meaningless until I began using NOD. I was not aware that I had to meet a certain quota of posts before I was entitled to an opinion. If you read the entire post, you will find that I state that IT IS a good product, but that it can be made better. If they spent some of the energy they spend on tooting their own horn on working to improve the product, they might not need to toot so loud (or need to be defended by people who have to resort to name calling & accusations of vauge conspiracies). I reference that My first email to ESET was on 5/26 submitting the file that NOD said was infected with the Win32/Ralpha.A trojan. On 5/27 I received a response from zeman@eset.sk asking for a file that wasn't on my computer and I replied as such. On 6/8 I received an email from bourcier@eset.us with a survey of my experience with Eset's support staff. I responded explaining the whole issue and informed him that I still had not received a response. I have not received a reply from that email either. I should note that Panda, Kaspersky, Trend Micro and $ymantec did not need any additional files to determine the file was not infected. Someone from Eset could easily verify these emails, but notice they are not joining the thread, their silence is their answer.

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "-{ Quote: "It's downright amazing that you've formed that opinion in such a short time with this forum (2 posts to date)! That is - unless your really a previous long-time member with an hidden agenda that prefers to also hide his identity (although I can understand why). ::)

See what I mean, I share my experiene & give an honest opinion, & someone jumps from the woodwork and immediately starts throwing insults because I question their beloved NOD32. As if I had no life prior to joining this forum, my existence was meaningless until I began using NOD. I was not aware that I had to meet a certain quota of posts before I was entitled to an opinion. If you read the entire post, you will find that I state that IT IS a good product, but that it can be made better. If they spent some of the energy they spend on tooting their own horn on working to improve the product, they might not need to toot so loud (or need to be defended by people who have to resort to name calling & accusations of vauge conspiracies). I reference that My first email to ESET was on 5/26 submitting the file that NOD said was infected with the Win32/Ralpha.A trojan. On 5/27 I received a response from zeman@eset.sk asking for a file that wasn't on my computer and I replied as such. On 6/8 I received an email from bourcier@eset.us with a survey of my experience with Eset's support staff. I responded explaining the whole issue and informed him that I still had not received a response. I have not received a reply from that email either. I should note that Panda, Kaspersky, Trend Micro and $ymantec did not need any additional files to determine the file was not infected. Someone from Eset could easily verify these emails, but notice they are not joining the thread, their silence is their answer." }-


I believe Marcos responded two posts up.

[flyrfan111]

-{ Quote: "I believe Marcos responded two posts up." }-
Yes, Marcos did respond. And his reasons why I may not have received an answer to any of my attempts to contact support, seemed logical to me. I would've said so sooner, had I not been slammed so quickly. But offering assistance might have been more helpful. He states "I don't know about other AV company of which technical support works as a bee at the midnight." But off the top of my head I can tell you that Norton, Panda, Kaspersky, & Trend Micro all have 24 hour support; I'm sure there are others. But I guess it was more important to slam me than help me. Thanks, Moderator Marcos...And thank you too, Senior Member Ronjor. I'll state it again, for those who missed it the other two times I said it: IT IS A GOOD PRODUCT...BUT IT CAN BE BETTER. All they have to do is respond to negative critism by addressing the problem. All of you wanting to slam anyone who questions any faults in the system (& they ALL have faults), might better serve your beloved NOD, by getting the powers that be to fix any problems (the purpose of this forum), so your claims of the greatness of NOD can become fact.

[ronjor]

-{ Quote: "Yes, Marcos did respond. And his reasons why I may not have received an answer to any of my attempts to contact support, seemed logical to me. I would've said so sooner, had I not been slammed so quickly. But offering assistance might have been more helpful. He states "I don't know about other AV company of which technical support works as a bee at the midnight." But off the top of my head I can tell you that Norton, Panda, Kaspersky, & Trend Micro all have 24 hour support; I'm sure there are others. But I guess it was more important to slam me than help me. Thanks, Moderator Marcos...And thank you too, Senior Member Ronjor. I'll state it again, for those who missed it the other two times I said it: IT IS A GOOD PRODUCT...BUT IT CAN BE BETTER. All they have to do is respond to negative critism by addressing the problem. All of you wanting to slam anyone who questions any faults in the system (& they ALL have faults), might better serve your beloved NOD, by getting the powers that be to fix any problems (the purpose of this forum), so your claims of the greatness of NOD can become fact." }-


This NOD support forum is attacked constantly by people with their own agendas. Sometimes just to criticize the smallest detail. Yet time after time, I see people try to help them here.
As far as greatness, NOD is great on my machine. No more, no less.

[TheQuest]

Hi, flyrfan111

-{ Quote: "I don't think you should purchase NOD32." }-

Where did I put that clock Key.

Take Care,
TheQuest 8)

PS: your first post had seven answers and you never went to say thanks and close the thread.

[flyrfan111]

-{ Quote: "This NOD support forum is attacked constantly by people with their own agendas. Sometimes just to criticize the smallest detail. Yet time after time, I see people try to help them here.
As far as greatness, NOD is great on my machine. No more, no less." }-


There we go again with the suggestion I have a hidden agenda. Sounds alot like the policies of the Bush White House. "Throw dirt on those who question us!" This thread was started by Slovak asking why he should buy NOD32. I responded with my own experience with the product's support staff, which was less than stellar and I might add STILL UNRESOLVED for going on 26 days. I also stated that NOD is a good product which could be made better. How this got convuluted into my having a hidden agenda and suggestions of NOD bashing is beyond me. If you would have read between the lines you would have gotten the following: I used NOD32, I had an issue that was ignored, I went to another AV provider, had Eset responded with a solution (or even a "We don't know" would have been nice) I would still be using the product. The reason I left NOD was the lack of a response, not why there was a false positive. My reasoning was, if they don't answer for this, what if I have a REAL virus that is damaging my system. To me, they displayed the attitude that I could not count on product support. However this attitude of suggesting everyone who doesn't sing the high praises of NOD has an agenda is really mindboggling and makes me glad I no longer use NOD. My only agenda was relaying my experience to someone who asked why he/she should buy the product.

[bigc73542]

Gentlemen I for the life of me can not figure out why anytime a thread is started with the name nod in it for some reason it has got to turn into a war of words. So before this post gets into one of those do you think we might calm down a little and stay on topic.


thanks
bigc

[flyrfan111]

-{ Quote: "Gentlemen I for the life of me can not figure out why anytime a thread is started with the name nod in it for some reason it has got to turn into a war of words. So before this post gets into one of those do you think we might calm down a little and stay on topic.


thanks
bigc" }-

I didn't think I was the problem, merely defending myself, but I am sorry if I offended, just giving my opinion on the title of the thread or trying to anyway.

[Detox]

BigC hasn't said you were the problem or that anyone else in particular is. The problem is the general turn of the thread off-topic and the personally directed arguments developing.

[ronjor]

I'll add my answer to "Why should I purchase NOD" to keep on topic.
I have never had a problem with support. It keeps me virus free. It is the smoothest running antivirus I have ever used and I have used a lot of them. It conflicts with virtually no programs that I use.

I have a license through 2006 because I think NOD is an innovative program that looks to the future.

[flyrfan111]

-{ Quote: "Hi, flyrfan111



Where did I put that clock Key.

Take Care,
TheQuest 8)

PS: your first post had seven answers and you never went to say thanks and close the thread." }-


closing that thread isnt an option, I guess maybe because I started it as a guest, not as a member. Thanks to all who answered though

[TheQuest]

Hi, flyrfan111

-{ Quote: "closing that thread isnt an option" }-

Sorry did not mean close it, but just acknowledge the people who answered.

As so many people come and get help on something and do not say if it helped and if it fixed their problem.

So the next time someone come with th same problem, there is no reference
to search for to give a quick answer. [it you understand me?]

Thanks for your time,
Take care,
TheQuest 8)

[dvk01]

I use several different antiviruses/anti trojans etc

As a keen malware fighter, many people send me samples of malwares to look at and see why their computer isn't working well.

I use NOD as my main antivirus, KAv as a back up scanner and AVG as a 3rd back up

No NOD doesn't always find everything, nor do the others, but NOD works well as a first line of defence, normally it flags suspicious files in emails and when it doesn't thenany attachmnet is treated very cautiously.

My experience with NOD has be on the whole good, with many samples that I have submitted being included in rapidly issued updates.
Some samples that other AV's have Identified haven't been so quickly included, but every AV vendor decides what in "HIS" view is the risk to "HIS" user base, and NO av will ever find & detect all possible viruses etc.

Nod works well on my machine, I also like KAV, but only as an on demand scanner not as a resident protection because KAV slows down the computer too much to work efficiently.

I would like to see what malware was detected by the tests being mentioned and what was missed. Without that info it's difficult to know from the results whether any particular AV is the right one for you

[BlueZannetti]

-{ Quote: "
Nod works well on my machine, I also like KAV, but only as an on demand scanner not as a resident protection because KAV slows down the computer too much to work efficiently.
" }-
I run the opposite way, but may switch if some of the performance issues on the version 5.0 offering of KAV aren't fully addressed. I have a 2.8 GHz P4 with 768 MB RAM. That's not a light PC and I can see some performance drain. I don't do gaming (my sons do on their PC's), but I do some intensive numerics, and really don't want to suffer any significant performance drain.

But to the main question - Why should I purchase NOD32? Well, I go back to the time when I disabled my AV (not KAV, but another major one out there) on a previous PC simply because I had not experienced an infection in a few years and the performance and stability of the PC was so bad that I found I wasn't able to work on it effectively. It took a few months, but I was infected by an e-mail borne virus - so much for the preview panel. I had to wipe that PC clean to get it working again. I now know enough that I could probably use less draconian measures if this reoccurred, but the lesson remains the same - a resource heavy AV caused me to disable functionality to get acceptable machine performance and I suffered in the end.

I still think that of the light footprint AV offerings available, NOD32 is an example of best-in-class. If you have an older PC or run very CPU intensive applications, NOD32 is an excellent choice. There are a couple of other solid ones out there also, not unlike AV's as a whole.

Also, while it is possible to tweak various programs to yield reasonable performance on almost any platform, you do have to look at the compromises in functionality that occur to accomplish this. If "resource light" is an absolute requirement, my belief is to go with a solution where this is an intrinsic design objective rather than disable functionality of a heavier competitor.

As to support - I've gone through the support organizations of Symantec, Kaspersky, and Eset. All have had good days for me, all have had bad days. All are satisfactory. As a reseller of one of those AV's has noted in an e-mail to me after a "bad day", "Our experience has been that they answer the easy questions quickly, while the more difficult issues may require several days. Unfortunately, the support people are remiss about apprising customers that their inquiry remains under investigation." You should never judge the support organization on a single service instance - good or bad. The e-mail response was in connection to a complicated issue. Another "bad day" experience was tied to a major fraction of the support organization being tied up at a trade show. In isolation, any of these support incidents could be viewed as the standard level of support provided by the vendor, but they're not. In the vast majority of cases, Eset support is timely, professional, and they generally do keep working the problem until it is solved. As with any AV, the vendor makes design choices that at times infuriate or exasperate the users. Paging through the threads related to NOD32 demonstrate this. If you visit the KAV forum over at Ice Systems, an analogous series of threads are now playing out in relation to a number of decisions that KL made in implementing version 5.0. In almost all cases, these choices do not impact the basic functionality of the program, though in some cases they do. In any case, you need to assess the entire package to really determine whether those deficiencies are sufficient to compromise the utility of the AV for your needs.

All AV vendors make design choices in creating their product. Depending on your situation, hardware platform and mix of software, and Internet surfing habits, some of these choices may be exactly the mix required for you, some may yield unintended consequences. The best way to figure out where a given product stands is, as always, to test it out in the field using the live 30 trials and see how it functions in your hands

Blue

[Blackspear]

Nice post Blue, well said ;D

Cheers ;D

[Mele20]

First off ...trials are not always 30 days. The KAV trial said on the website "30 days" but my download says the trial is only 15 days. TrendMicro has no trial. well, they have one but it is cripple ware so it is worthless and cannot be used. NOD32 has a full 30 day trial with proper updates of definitions during the trial.

As for design choices...well isn't the design and tech support the main issues when choosing an av? It is for me. The KAV design for 5.0 is absolutely ludicrous on many fronts. It is the worst design I have ever seen for an av. It is extremely dogmatic to the point that I can't understand how the designers could have thought anyone, even a newbie, would like it. When I was a newbie, I had McAfee 4.2 which came on my computer and I had to learn a lot of confusing stuff. If I could, anyone can and no one wants to have their av rammed down their throats which is what KAV 5.0 and Panda Titanium and some others do.

"In almost all cases, these choices do not impact the basic functionality of the program, though in some cases they do. In any case, you need to assess the entire package to really determine whether those deficiencies are sufficient to compromise the utility of the AV for your needs."

Well every choice that KAV made for 5.0 directly affects the basic functionality of the program and the deficiencies are so severe I would never recommend it to anyone. I keep reading their help file and am continually stunned at their arrogance. I will never again believe anything I read by anyone saying Anti virus A is great or Anti virus B is super because no one could possibly praise KAV 5.0 and yet some do. The same can be said for Panda.

As for tech support, the best is free phone support which Rod gives for NOD32 in Australia and which, knowing Rod, I am certain is outstanding (and how I wish I lived in Australia) and which Trend Micro gives in the USA with USA citizens as support engineers and theirs is outstanding also. The quality of tech support is of great importance and if you can find an av that combines excellent design and excellent tech support that is the av you should choose and forget all about who won how many awards from VB or who scored the best in virus test ABC, etc. Consistency in the quality of tech support is very important. I don't think one should make excuses and say that if the problem is small the tech support can be slow, lousy, non-existent and that is ok. The quality of the support board, if there is one, is also important.

So to the question why should I buy NOD32? If the design is what you want and the support is excellent then you should purchase it. If either of these is not so then look elsewhere...unless NOD32 is the lesser of all evils then by default it is the one you purchase. :) I suspect the latter is the case for many. And that is a shame since an av is the most important software we purchase outside of our OS.

[Paul Wilders]

Mele,

This isn't the KAV 5 review forum. Please post your extensive opinions about any other AV besides NOD32 over on the "other antiviruses" forum next time and/or over on the UK KAV or other support forum(s). BlueZannetti addressed the main question very well IMO - addressing common and overall issues in a fair and constructive way.

regards.

paul

[Mr.Blaze]

doesn't also depend on how you question it

i myself wondered same thing not to start waves or anything but in my opinion the nod boys are great programmer's but really bad salesmen

i get more info from reguler lurkers and newbies and trolls and mods that arn't nod related then i get from the owen company members?

i mean what kinda sales is this

all you want to know about nod go read this and that on a websites and then get back to us.

you know i don't even owen nod paul

but when i get replys like that as a potential customer from any company i wonder if there support service is the same go read this and that and get back to us.

man even you got to admit thats just bad salesmanship

also stuff like are program is the only one you'll ever need un-install others

basically saying layer protection is not in your best interest but none is in ours except ours.

i cant see the guys posting just your reply but if he had a review and wanted the NOD to comment if it were true or sales pitch nod to get the info straight from the makers hows that bad?

of course didn't read the post of his cause it looks gone or i maybe not viewing it or something don't know

but if he was just being cruel or something or flameing i can see it going by by

i guess ill never know lol

it did get my attention cause i was thinking yeah i asked that question to why nod lol guess no one will ever know why nod over the other ones lol

;D lol lol lol lol i love you paul but its kinda funny in a twisted way i guess im twisted lol

pleas don't beat me and take my milk money lol ;)

[netnut]

Flyrfan111- I am not an experienced member of this forum, so take my comment with a grain of salt. My short experience with Esset is that their support is nothing short of amazing. I have just installed NOD32 on a clean XP Pro install. Before hand things were running as one would expect on a 2.8 P4 with 1 gig of memory and a raid 0 setup. My shutdown times increased significantly, but without any error messages like my last NAV install. I
e-mailed suppport and received a response within 2 hours! Not the response that I wanted, but I was thrilled with the timeliness. I then sent back an additional question, and that too was answered quickly.

So consider me inexperienced with the depths of security. But inexperienced with computers I am not having built over 10 of them, and having setup a reasonable sized network on my job. The response that I received today was super. I was much heartened and will stay with NOD even with the slowdown on shutdown. We all should be spending our money at companies that show as much concern as Esset seems to. The majority of time most companies have a hard time getting an e-mail back in a few days, much less a few hours!