Is NOD32 better than Kaspersky?

I honestly don't know ATM, but i would be surprised if the same choices were not given to WS users, but a WS variant will probably come quite a bit later, if memory serves me correctly, then it was another 4-6 months for the 5.0 version after Personal 5.0? On the other hand they have surprised me before and released a version earlier than a previously given date!

 

So, I don't think NOD32's heuristic engine is over-rated at all. I agree with you that NOD32's trojan detection is not the best but it is improving very much. There are hundred of examples, even not thousands, when NOD32's heuristic engine detected worms with BIG names such as BugBear, Bagle, Mydoom. Did KAV offer a zero-hour protection against these threats? NO. I remember how fast was BugBear spreading.. A lot of machines with KAV (and with OTHERS) were infected, only NOD32 protected them!

 

I am personally getting sick and tired of all the people that keep claiming that KAV has a heavier footprint then NOD.

Maybe that was true with the older versions, but with each new KAV version, the footprint has been getting lighter and lighter. Right now KAV is using 2020K and my settings are set at recommended for real time protection with network protection enabled. Running KAV Pro 5.0.383.

 

bathisland,

I am just relaying my personal observations. They do not reflect RAM consumption. Personally, with all my PC's at 768 - 1024 MB of RAM, I could care less about a few MB's of RAM here and there. I am talking about system responsiveness while sitting at the console. That includes responsiveness to webpage loads, context switching as I hop between applications, and slowdowns that can be seen in operations that involve a fair degree of file I/O.

For the record, I own 5 PC's and have a current KAV WS 5.0 5-license pack. Three of these machines use KAV WS are their primary AV, 2 use NOD32 as their primary AV. The slowdowns are there but not severe enough to bother two of the users (my wife has a desktop and laptop in this mix, both use KAV WS). I like to squeeze performance as much as possible. As I have noted in other posts on this site, the difference in responsiveness is minor, but as with most minor perceptible items, it can be a bother at times, especially if there are options around the bother. My older son is a gamer and experienced one game that was incompatible with KAV WS. The compatibility problem was seemingly tied to the games protection scheme and not something that KL was either able to or unwilling to assist with this problem aside form suggesting we disable KAV to run that game, yes that was the suggestion directly from KL support. Both my older son and I run NOD32 as our primary AV's at the moment.

Simply because you either don't experience the same issues as users like myself does not mean they are not real, nor germane to our own product selections.

Blue

 

There has to be some trade off for deep thoroughness. KAV may cause things to be slightly slower in responsiveness (I personally don't notice it) but surely you can't code something to be deep and thorough and not have some performance overhead. I agree on older machines it may be a pain, but on modern fast PCs it is barely noticeable.

I liken it to airport security these days, we are processed slower, many more adhoc bag and body searches, mobile phone swabbing etc. It slows down the progression of people from main terminal into departure lounge but the result is most of us do not mind taking a little longer to get through so long as we feel safer for it.

This post is not knocking NOD, just trying portray that the slight overhead of KAV can't surely be without good reason.

 

well KAVs detection does come at the price of performance especially on slower machines, however not everyone is going to get a new comp just to have that protection and not everyone needs it anyways. secondly i agree with BlueZannetti, its not a memory consumption issue but rather a slight slowdown especially in disk activity like when reading a folder.

@bathisland - what about if u run it at the maximum settings?

 

By the way, NOD32 is improving a lot its database, and not with garbage...It´s coming to have the best heurístic and one of the bests database...

 

These discussions are as pointless as the numerous '10-file home tests'.
Nobody can claim to be the best AV simply because of each persons individual preferences.

The _ONLY_ way of choosing the best AV for _YOU_ is to try them out.
Do your own tests, and for the love of god, do some research about the AV you have in mind and do not ask the question "So which one is the best"....


Thank you

 

Brian,
I do not want to start a flame war, but when new folks come here and wonder about some element of security, then I would encourage them to ask. The fact that you have "sat through" these questions does not negate the desire of someone with much less knowledge and experience to try to get answers/opinions from those who they consider have much more expertise than they.
I believe this to be an important purpose of this forum, and there are many who are willing to help.

Please consider those things before you knock the wind out of the sails of new comers.

Best,
Jerry

 

Maybe my previous post sounds a little harsh, which was not my intention.
I'm just trying to make a fact, not only to the person who asked the question but to everyone...

 

I concur.
The very best AV doesn't exist.
There are good and lesser good AV's, so choose a good one that meets your wishes.
Each good AV has its own strengths and weaknesses.
And everybody is convinced that his AV is the very best.
My AV scanner doesn't exist, so I'm waiting ...

 

Brian,
I understand, and meant no special criticism.
It seems to me that post such as, "The best one is the one you like" or similar, are not helpful.

What is a person trying to find out? Maybe the following are the some items to address when helping the person.
What has the best detection rate? Without a good detection rate all else seems superfluous.

Which is among the lightest on resources?

Which has the best support?

Which is the most economical in the long run considering future renewals?

Are there problems with installation, and/or uninstalling? In line with this is there some particular problem with a particular AV, and I am thinking about some complaints with KAV involving something like streams or some such. I did not even understand what they were talking about, but several objected to it.
I have the impression that KAV might be more difficult for the average user than some other AVs. Some firewalls seem to be especially difficult for a newbie.

Now I realize that the answers are not universally agreed upon, and one's machine may not be compatible, and so it must be tried to determine the best on one's computer. Also, support may be good with all choices.

I am convinced that any of the better known AVs are suitable along with other normal secutiry programs; AT, As, etc, to protect computers unless one engages in "dangerous" sites and surfing.

I do not have the knowledge to answer the questions I have posed, but that is the type of information I need when considering a software program of any kind.

Please understand that I am not "looking for trouble" but just thinking about all the questions I have asked, and gotten help for, and putting myself in the position of one who does not have a great deal of knowledge in these things. I can really relate to that.

Have a good day.
Jerry

 

All those questions are called 'research' to narrow it down
I understand what you mean, I've been there myself in the early days when I started using Windows 95.

But you cannot rely on statements when choosing your security programs.
Indeed it takes alot of research, and indeed some are less 'in to it' than others, but what it comes down to in the end: Personal preference.

Some like it fast, some like it easy, some like it advanced and the list goes on and on..

Guess I can relate in some way actually

 

To all:

As Jerry points out, although these threads can seem to come around ever few weeks to months, viewers of the threads as well as the programs themselves change. Searching older threads goes only so far. For potential purchasers, these small exchanges can be of use, they're of use to me now when I contemplate purchasing an application or looking at a number of programs to trial.

It's also important to put some flesh around the bare comments. On my systems, KAV is heavier. Not inordinately so, and with the right combination of hardware and internet connection, I'd hazard to guess that the difference would not be perceptible. Also, as others have mentioned, this is in part due to design tradeoffs. A more comprehensive product will generally, but not always, be slower. Finally, for those focused solely on detection statistics, there are rational reasons to opt for a product with lower detection statistics on a given test. Simply because, for example, KAV/NAV/McAfee tradeoff top position on the av-comparatives test doesn't mean they are the only three viable products to consider. This and other items mentioned above are points of discussion that many here already accept as given, but some of them are novel concepts to a new user.

Blue

 

Yeah, agree.

 

having viewed the PC Flank tests - Kaspersky is my preferred choice - i want as much protection against trojans as possible - i'm waiting for the new version to come out and may well buy it with the anti hacker firewall (might be integrated in new release?)


i currently have a dial up connection can anyone tell me how big the download for kaspersky personal is?

 

11.6MB

 

thanks Ned, i can handle that

 

The discusion the question generates IS research as the proponents of one or the other come to the fore and often point out the flaws of the competition as well as the attributes of their own choice. I consider these type of questions worth while to ask from time to time especially as new versions come out.

 

NOD is 8.3 MB

 

Yes but KAV will come with a bigger database

 

I'd agree here - KAV 2006 does provide some very interesting new features but does not play well (in my experience with the 183 build) with security software like Process Guard or System Safety Monitor - kind of like an ultra-jealous Russian ballerina, wanting control of all your assets...

 

I've seen precisely the same behavior. I was doing some configuration testing and installed SafenSec on the partition that I have KAV 2006 beta located on. An immediate and profound system slowdown occurred as though there a major scuffle broke out in the background. So far, absolutely nothing in the way of system instability has emerged, just slowdowns to the point that you would assume the system had locked up, except it hasn't. Note, I have KAV 5.0 WS and NOD32 systems with SafenSec installed with absolutely no problems at all and I had also configured the KAV 2006 beta install such that only the AV functionality was enabled - registry protection, the firewall, etc., were disabled.

The thing I wonder about is whether this is simply beta rearing its head, or if this behavior is a consequence of some fundamental design decisions? At this time it's not clear.

For anyone desiring a suite-type solution, this really doesn't matter. For those who desire to pick and choose components, it could be a bit of a rocky road.

Blue

 

i read an article today that you can get a perfectly good pc with monitor for £69 (pentium 3 with win98se dvd/cdwriter combi drive + 17inch monitor.

by not running any security programs of any description there will be no system degradation - use it to surf but don't use online banking and voila if the machine gets so badly infected it won't run throw it away and buy another one.

sometimes it's good to get minimal - i've seen enough instances of all singing all dancing expensive computers loaded with every conceivable combination of protection and they still get infected or their software throws up false positives.

 

If this becomes commonplace, expect the cost of disposal to become prohibitive due to the potential of heavy metals contamination at landfill sites. This is not a viable approach when you get down to it.

Blue