CA Antivirus vs AVG Free

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by duke1959, Sep 27, 2006.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    What the heck, why not? They both have heuristics. They both have E-mail Protection. And they both are said to run light and offer enough basic protection for the average home PC user. Also they are both West Coast Labs Level 2 certified, now that the latest AVG version has passed this test like CA has already done several times in the past.
     
  2. Seishin

    Seishin Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2006
    Posts:
    204
  3. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2006
    Posts:
    2,585
    I think they are both great programs. Currently they are both free so it will depend largely on what the user prefers.
    My own preference is for avg, i don't like the CA av user interface. I have just started using the new version 8 of CA's av on my test machine so i'll see if this version changes my mind. I think its great that the free version 7 license is tranferable to version 8.
     
  4. marcromero

    marcromero Guest

    I have used both of these av's in the past and eTrust EZ antivirus recently, both do a good job in my opinion, I like both of these programs and wouldn't have a problem running either one of them, I would give the edge to CA Antivirus, I just liked the GUI and layout of the program better, very easy to navigate and use, with good logging features.
     
  5. ggf31416

    ggf31416 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2006
    Posts:
    314
    Location:
    Uruguay
    The 7% of AVG in the latest proactive test (which measure the heuristic/generic on-demand detection rate) vs an unknow result of CA... I think that there are better options.
     
  6. IBK

    IBK AV Expert

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2003
    Posts:
    1,886
    Location:
    Innsbruck (Austria)
    i think i would prefer avg.
     
  7. ajcstr

    ajcstr Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2004
    Posts:
    183
    CA will give you automatic updates and the ability to schedule scans. For some reason I don't believe AVG does both though I have never used it.

    Also, the free CA product is the same as the paid.
     
  8. IBK

    IBK AV Expert

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2003
    Posts:
    1,886
    Location:
    Innsbruck (Austria)
    avg has also a scheduler.

    is this meant as good thing or bad thing? :p
     
  9. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    I must say that CA mistaking a Windows Service for malware and thus causing some PC's to crash is scary. This happened with Windows 2003 , but I I guess it didn't affect Windows XP, correct?
     
  10. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2006
    Posts:
    2,585
    Yeah i guess so, i've used etrust av on win xp with no problems like your one. I'm not sure if ca's av is designed to run on 2003.
     
  11. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    Maybe lightening won't strike twice now that this has happened and CA will be much more thorough now? How do you like CA? I have it on my desktop, but didn't install it yet. i like AVG free, but the one Auto Update a day just puts me off a bit.
     
  12. Patrician

    Patrician Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2005
    Posts:
    132
    What should really put you off is the pretty bad detection rate by either of your chosen AV's.

    You would be much better protected with Avast Home Edition. It's also free and does at least offer some decent protection.

    Trev
     
  13. kdm31091

    kdm31091 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2006
    Posts:
    365
    Avast is usually a total of about 2% better then AVG on the AV-Comparatives. I haven't seen it being "much better" in a few years now. AVG and Avast are more or less equal in detection and AVG is lighter. I like Avast too, but I'm just saying, it's basically AVG detection with a slicker look and some more features.
     
  14. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    I just want to say that I am currently using AOL AVS and happy. I was just curious about the new version of CA. I also started a thread on Avast vs AVS. My input is there. I will further say that I liked something about all the free AV's. Take care everyone.
     
  15. TAP

    TAP Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2004
    Posts:
    344

    In practical and reality, I have many strong reasons that make me choose avast! Home over AVG Free (or even AVG Pro), not only judge by based on detection rates found in some online test results.

    For example

    1. avast! Home has a complete automatic updates with fast and reliable update servers, it can be automatically checked/updated every 4 hours by default or every 1 hour by manual setting.

    AVG Free just has a fixed-scheduled updater once a day with unreliable update servers, a scheduled updater itself is also unreliable. Don't tell me you can manually update AVG yourself, I want my antivirus automatically checks for new updates as soon as I get connected and as often as possible while I'm online.

    The *big difference* is that when it comes to an outbreak that antivirus vendors have to release an urgent signatures several times a day, in this case for those who online almost all the time, AVG Free's scheduled updater itself is pretty useless if you want your antivirus gets up-to-date as much as possible for a peace of mind.

    2. I feel more safe with avast! Web Shield (HTTP scanner) that I think it's a special-extra protection (I don't care about other shields such as IM, P2P, Mail), it has been explained here many times by experts (people who develop antivirus software) why the HTTP scanner is so important for effectively stop some kind of malware.

    If you have to deal with exploit malware such as WMF or others via IE (unfortunately, I always use IE as my main browser), you'll see how unreliable the AVG's Resident Shield (or real-time file scanner of other antivirus) is, HTTP scanner has its unique purposes that cannot be replaced (or compared) by traditional real-time file scanner in such scenario.

    3. Scanning engine, I personally believe that the avast! engine is so robust, has more unpackers (for archives and run-time packers) than the AVG engine, AVG on-demand scanner can't even delete malware packed in archives, users have to manually delete found malware themselves, that's strange for me. And according to Grisoft official site, AVG just has the scanning of NTFS alternate data streams in AVG 7.5 beta, while avast! 4 Home has this ability for a quite long time.

    AVG claims it has static, dynamic (code emulation) heuristic analysis, generic detection but AVG has a pretty poor results in proactive test (according to the latest AV-Comparatves.org) which quite strange for me. avast! is rather contrary, it has quite higher scores even though avast! is rather a pure signature-based scanner without so-called heuristic in its on-demand scanner (but with generic detection, as far as I know).

    In the past, AVG can't properly detect some (complex) malware that found in the real world such as Win32: Polip (polymorphic virus) and WMF exploit sample while avast! can detect them all 100%, according to AV-Test.org.



    That's my personal reasons, it's just me, avast! Home just works best for my needs.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2006
  16. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    That's great what everyone posted about on Avast, but there is another thread I started on Avast vs AOL AVS where it is more appropriate. I'll debate the Avast users there. Here however, I certainly think because of just the update feature alone I would use CA over AVG, but after the free year was up I wouldn't be afraid to use AVG for any reason. (Even over Avast)
     
  17. farmerlee

    farmerlee Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2006
    Posts:
    2,585
    Have you got the latest version 8 of CA's antivirus installed?
     
  18. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    no, that's some of the purpose for my threads. I just can't find enough info on CA, especially the new version. I have however, been told in the CA Antivirus 2007 thread that the latest version isn't as light as it use to be. Not so sure now I would use it over AVG Free since I never had any slow downs when I used that AV.
     
  19. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    AVG free just had a new program update on 9/26. Among other things, it claims to have improved Polymorphic detection. I have looked at some more screen shots of CA and I like AVG Free better. Also at least I know how it does in tests like the AV Comparitives, where I can't find much on CA. AVG and Avast were very close in AV Comparitives, and I think AVG Free runs much lighter than Avast, and probably CA at this point.
     
  20. poles18

    poles18 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2006
    Posts:
    15

    actually avg does both
     
  21. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2005
    Posts:
    11,164
    Location:
    UK / Pakistan
    As I remember AVG does not has auto-update? Am I true?
     
  22. unhappy_viewer

    unhappy_viewer Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2005
    Posts:
    259
    Thats right. As I have mentioned before, Win 2003 is a server OS and requires enterprise-level protection software. You simply cannot install a home security solution on a server OS.
     
  23. duke1959

    duke1959 Very Frequent Poster

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2006
    Posts:
    1,238
    AVG Free has an Automatic Update feature that can be set for all hours of the day, but if it is set for say 1:00 P.M. and there is an update later than that. Then I don't believe it will receive it until 1:00 the following day along with what ever new update came out that day. However you can just do a manual update if you like. It also has a Scan option that can be set for all hours, but only for a Daily scan.
     
  24. ellison64

    ellison64 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2003
    Posts:
    2,587
     
  25. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2003
    Posts:
    2,448
    Location:
    Sky over the Wilders Forest
    Me too and I have used both. AVG would be my pick of the two. ;)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.