General comments on NOD32 problems

I just finished my trial run of NOD32 and while I think that their signature updates are probably excellent, and it allows for many configurations, I felt it slowed down my computer experience considerably.

I spend about 8-10 hours a day on the computer and the 'net, and very often I would find NOD32 slowing me to a crawl. When I installed new programs or downloaded files, I would watch NOD32 scan every little temp file and practically freeze the keyboard. I'm into computer safety, and I certainly didn't want to take the advice of some and uncheck the "scan all files" feature. In addition, I found that any time I opened a program (clicked on exe), there would be a several second hangtime. A reason could be that NOD32 doesn't interact well with Zone Alarm or some of my other security programs, but I haven't experienced this with Avira or Avast.

Since I don't use Outlook, I don't need the EMON module, and the DMON shell just does what other AV programs do normally. Right now, my task manager indicates NOD32 is using 22 mg of ram, and Process Explorer indicates it's using 85 mg of virtual memory.


While I respect the opinions of AV-comparatives.org, and think that NOD32 is a nice little AV program, I don't think it's currently worth $39. Considering that last week, some retailers had Kaspersky for free after rebate, Norton
and McAfee can also be obtained free AR, Avira Premium is $26, and AVG, Avast, and Bitdefender are free, I'm going to try one of the latter. Perhaps I can even get a competitive upgrade program for free AR.

Obviously, McAfee is a system hog and Norton seems to take over one's computer (although it's reviews are getting much better). I can't use Norton 2007 because I'm still on Windows 2000 Pro. That leaves me with Avira free or Premium, AVG or Avast. I always liked the bootscan feature of Avast and its email shield.

For the time being, with a good HOSTS file, IE-Spyad, Zone Alarm Pro, a router, Spyware Terminator free and Win Patrol free, Avast or AVG with Bitdefender as an on demand backup, and greater use of Firefox with less of IE, my computer should be secure.

When NOD32 gets a greater share of the market, reduces the price and fine tunes the program, I'll take another look at it.

 

I spend almost double that amount of time on the internet every single day and have never had my system slow to a crawl because of NOD32. I would suggest repairing Winsock as described HERE

As to your pricing issues, I am quite happy to pay a very small price for the best AV on the market, especially when you compare this to the cost of your machine, what it could cost you for loss of identity, loss of what's in your bank account and credit cards, $39.00 is very cheap in the scheme of things for great protection. Others may want to throw their product away in a cheap publicity stunt, but the more savvy computer user knows the cost of choosing the wrong software far outweighs a free giveaway.

Blackspear.

 

It'd be of an interest to know what were you exactly doing at the time you notice slowdown - whether you were copying files, installing software or downloading some stuff from the web, etc.

 

How many experienced users do you know of, that are aware of all the security utilities, understand the use of the registry, and are not on a network (only have their own computer to worry about), have ever experienced the most severe problems associated with malware and viruses?
Are you saying that a good free program like Avira PE Classic (or Avast Home which probably protects against more spyware), along with a firewall, resident anti-malware program, and frequent scans using Hijackthis and the best free anti-spyware programs like Asquared, AVG, SuperAntispyware and the rootkit utilities isn't enough?!


If you engage in safe hex, avoid the more prurient sites (or check Siteadvisor's ratings before ever clicking on a url that a friend sends), and maintain an up-to-date array of multilayered security programs (even if they're freeware), a computer should be safe.

I'm not saying I woudn't use security programs that one has to pay for. Plenty of great payware security programs are now being offered for free after competitive upgrade rebates. In order to get those for free, all one has to do is purchase another one, like Norton, which has been offered for free many major online and B&M retailers for free AR.

 

Hi
From your post and alleged vast experience AND the advice you seem to be offering others about how to browse safely,I'm suprised you bother with or need any kind of security software installed,especially one that is a system hog like Nod!
PS not trolling are you??

 

I am well into my second year as a NOD user and I can truthfully say it has never impacted the speed of my system to any noticeable extent at all!http://smilies.sofrayt.com/fsc/clap.gif

 

I couldn't have said it better myself.
Hey quad
I have NOD on my laptop and my Vista machine (no, I am not a NOD flag bearer, I use other AV's on my other 2 PC's), and this is (last time I checked) a NOD support forum.
Not all AV's will please everyone OR work on every PC, so if you don't like NOD, I would suggest that you try other AV's that suit your indispecable methodology and "safe" hex.
Opinions are respected, however, if your intention is to be negative, then do us a favour and provide "substative" proof so that we can discuss the issue and possibly improve the product (assuming that is your original intention).
Have a great day.
Cheers

 

You know, in all my years of contributing to various forums around the www, I've never accused anyone of anything other than being enthusiastic and honorable about their opinion. Read some of my posts in the other forums and judge for yourself what my intentions are. The replies on this forum to anyone who voices an opposing opinion about NOD32 would almost lead one to believe that you're paid spokesmen for the company, rather than just consumers.

If you check the official Avira and Avast forums and those of anti-malware issuers, you'll find that plenty of individuals complain about support, signature files, false positives, slow scans, etc. However, if one complains here, certain posters take it as a personal affront. Too much of this will lead those
who have problems with the program to avoid asking for help, and possibly realizing that it is a very good, if not great, antivirus program.

I'm just a user who has been forced to become self-educated in computer security. Regardless of whether one uses Siteadvisor to decrease the chances of going to questionable url's along with a host of other blockers, you know a decent AV program is mandatory. Recent security articles about AOL and the Winfixer problem is a good example of why this is true.

I make sure that all unnecessary services are disabled and keep open only those ports that are necessary. I'm avoiding instant messenger programs until I read more security material. I'm also leery of torrent programs and most other p2p utilities. If someone knows of a good security tutorial for those, please post a link. All I see are sites devoted to increasing speed.
I know that Avast has a p2p shield, and I'm assuming that NOD32 handles it with one of their modules. It seems that these programs are increasing in popularity since motion picture companies started use Bittorent for their pay downloads.

I'm not exactly sure what you meant by the first sentence. In answer to your second comment, if you would take another look at my first post, my opinion was not entirely negative.

In the first post I stated that NOD32's signature updates are probably excellent. I should add that in the time I used NOD32 I didn't have one virus or spyware/malware. Whether this is because of NOD32, or the various security programs I have is another matter for debate.

All I ask is that you respect a dissenting opinion as I respect all of those that feel NOD32 is an excellent program. If it weren't for various points of view on this forum, how could I (and others) possibly decide whether to use the program again in the future?

 

If you read some of my posts here,you will realise this is not the case(ask Blackspear:-we've had our disagreements!)I'm not really bothered which AV I use as long as it does the job I want it to,they're tools to me,nothing else
Having said that ,your original post in this thread was,I feel,a deliberate atempt to "wind up" the fans of Nod,if your honest"you know it was"!(I think your last lines prove that):-This opinion is my own and not endorsed by Eset or any of their employees or agents!
PS your 1st line in this(snipped) quote contradicts the last!

 

Sometimes I think I'm in front of a computer 20 hours a day...I support small==>medium business networks for a living. So I get "hands on" with pretty much every antivirus product out there.

I find NOD32 to be one of the lightest ones out there, it's what I recommend and install now. Surprised you find it slows your system to a crawl....I wonder what's leftover on your system from other AV products..or what's changed your TCP stack/winsock.

Also being an online first person shooter player (Battlefield 1942/Desert Combat/Vietnam)...it's the only AV product I've used in a long time that I can leave enabled while I play...and not have a system slowdown (Core 2 Duo overclocked to 3.5GHz, 2 gigs RAM, 512 meg ATI 1900xl, WD Raptor 10,000rpm hard drive)

For the freebies..I think you'll find Avira the only one comparably light...AVG, and especially Avast...really hit your system quite a bit more "sluggishness" wise.

 

First of all, thanks for posting a response that's not chiding in any way. It's greatly appreciated.

In answer to the previous post, I'm not trying to "wind up" any fans of NOD32. I'm just stating a viewpoint that's a bit different from many on this board, and describing my experience. That's it, period! Some of these comments remind me of what happens to liberals when they disagree with conservatives on the Fox News Channel!


Regarding your post, nothing was left over from another AV as I installed NOD32 immediately after an entire system re-installation. I used to take the opinion that the OS should be reinstalled every 18 months or so. No matter how much you try to clean your registry, it becomes bloated by leftover keys and strings of programs that were "uninstalled". However, in the last several months, I've decided to monitor every install with an Uninstaller (Total Uninstall and Zsoft's are the best with the latter being free). This allows me to clean out the registry strings without having to use a registry utility. In addition, I'm going to use an imaging program to back up my OS/program partition. Hopefully, these procedures will make re-installations unnecessary for awhile.

I think your computer description indicates why you find NOD32 to be light on resources. If you're running 512 mg or less with a slower CPU than dual core, cheaper video card, and slower HD, it's going to have an effect on the program. I'm sure that large downloaded archives must zip through the NOD32 scan on your machine. Unfortunately, I haven't upgraded yet and NOD32 will be the AV program of choice when I do (unless others grade more favorably by that time).

I've tried Avira PE Classic and it was much lighter on resources than NOD32, but as I've stated I quite like the fact that I can watch NOD32 scan through every last file in an archive. I also agree with you about Avast. I was constantly shutting shields as I would find page rendering to be very slow on occasion.

It's also possible that Zone Alarm's zlclient and vsmon processes might be conflicting with it in some way, as they're always working and use 30 mg. Whenever I run Regmon, I notice that those exe files are working overtime! I've also noticed that my Firefox has starting using as much ram as IE6, and the downloads were scanned faster by NOD32 when using IE6.

As an AV security program, I think NOD32 is top of the line and if I had a faster computer, it's one of the first I would think of installing. I just personally feel that my CPU/ram combination can't handle it. I'm probably going to buy a few more sticks of ram. At that time, if its price is in the range of the current top sellers, I'll try it again. I have a feeling that the price will drop as it becomes more popular, and starts to compete with the top two players. However, by that time, it might be bought or merge with another vendor.

 

Hi quad
I am not versed with ZA, (and do not use it) so I will ask
-can you exclude files in ZA?
-were you using ZA with their AV (was it disabled)?
Maybe some conflicts exists between AMON and ZA trying to scan the same files, giving excessive CPU/RAM use.
Just a thought
IMHO I don't think that the "cheaper" video card has any negative impact, if it has enough GPU memory it should be fine. It is the outdated video drivers that will be the bottleneck. The CPU (e.g. AMD 1800+) @ 1.5MHz should work fine (I took that as an example). The HD (IDE @ 7200rpm) should also function with NOD ok.
My laptop does not come close to the above specs and NOD is light and has a small footprint on that laptop.

Cheers

 

A repair of Winsock and IMON should resolve this known conflict.

Cheers

 

Yeah that's just my gaming rig...but I have a few other machines at home, at the office, plus my laptops, and my personal experience on clients workstations.

I used to format and reinstall often back in the Win9X days..and back then it was a 1/2 day affair. But with Win2K/XP, I just don't find it necessary anymore unless I do major hardware upgrades on my rig (like a new motherboard/CPU), even though on todays fast rigs it only takes an hour or so.

Zone Alarm..hmm....whenever I see that program on a computer...I'm wanting to format to clean the PC of it...can't stand that program, have seen it cause soooo many issues.

Anyways..the nice thing about having many AV choices..find one that runs well on your PC. PCs are different, all sorts of combinations out there creating unique environments for programs. Avira is a good one..light, very strong detection....just have to keep an eye on the updates and nudge it sometimes.

 

What are you using? I loaded Comodo on a friend's machine and was impressed by its menu options.

I find ZA Pro to be a great security program. It's so configurable and the alerts and logs are quite plentiful. Every time I check ports using Grc.com's online scanners, they always test out as secure.

 

Hi Quad,
As to the question of system specs, I just installed nod32 on a neighbors machine that is antique! A VIA m/b w/AMD K6-2 500MHz and 128MB of RAM running Win2KproSP4..... And, it runs as spritely as any of my 512/1024MB PC's.

Yes, your comment about stuff in the registry struck a chord here. That can be a drag, but I'm sure from your continued shares that you have this well in hand. Only sharing that I do not believe nod32 has some "golden" system spec requirement necessary to run as designed. I own 7 and they all run great!
Best,
Duncan