NORTON OR VET??

I have been using Vet - now owned by Computer Associates - for some years and have been very happy with it. While it is paid up for another 8 months or so, I recently had a rebuild and the tech put Norton on instead. It is a full version with updates coming in and no need to pay till expiry - a year from install - now 10 months. This is a minor dilemma. While I feel loyalty to Vet, I simply want the better of the two to remain on the machine. Unlike other software where you can compare and decide, with antivirus gear you really can only trust bench tests done by a an independant source.

1 what are the views of readers who have had had experience of both?


2 are there any reputable test articles around.
thanks to all

 

I have used both and I prefer VET. But you could use vet as your on access scanner and norton as your on demand or the other way around. Since you have both might as well use them both. Just make sure that the on access scanner is turned off on one of them.

bigc


vet detection history vet



norton detection history norton

 

Since the rebuild I have not re-installed Vet as I thought 2 scanners on the one machine might create havoc. I could put Vet back on and just use it to do a scan as you say. Does it scan outgoing emails like Norton. I must say I like the little popup that says it is being checked. I always prefer to to see that programs are not only doing their job but "seen to be doing their job." with both on board, I then need to decide which one to renew when they expire....

Why do you prefer vet?

 

I have just had much fewer problems with vet, norton is known to be a real bugger to get rid of sometimes if you decide to delete it. I had it take my dsn and ip addresses out of the computer when I deleted norton. Nortons mail proxy was the culprit. But over all I have had no problems with vet and it always seemed to keep me protected. I will tell you that I am not now useing either of these av's. But that is not because I don't think they are not any good.

 

dear racket, please mention your system specifications and the version of Norton installed in your system. VET is good for slower systems where Norton needs a muscular one. VET has the upper hand when it comes to protection. i never had uninstallation problems with Norton. i used the 2004 version and can't say about the new 2005 BETA which is doing the rounds. the VET engine is quite powerful and updated recently unlike Norton.

 

Believe VET engine is used by Zone Alarm suite. Had a chance to test drive this program last month. Discovered that the virus definition update can be large...2MB. Not sure if this was a fluke. The average definition file for Norton is around 150KB. Avast Home (free) takes less than 50KB...ideal for folks with dial up.

 

yes ZoneLabs use VET engine in their AV package. CA uses ZoneAlarm technology in their firewall. so both of the companies are in cahoots with each other. the new eTrust EZ uses the latest VET engine and it supports incremental update feature. the first download is the whole package which is around 2 or 2.5 MB. the later downloads will be smaller. the only AVs i know which downloads the whole signature base are F-Prot and AntiVir.

 

EDIT - the eTrust Armour AV+Firewall still uses the old EZ i guess. in that case incremental update is not supported. get the eTrust EZ not eTrust Armour.

 

ez armor 2005 is using za 4.5 pro

 

dear bravesrule, sounds bad if it uses the old version. whats the AV version?

 

ZA 5.x is way too buggy to use it widely right now. Its more like beta then final. ZA 4.5 works without problems on most machines out there.

 

av is the 6.2

 

So what are you using now?

 

I'm using eTrues EZ AV 2005. The updates are very small, and it has been catching things that I didn't think it would. Hasn't slowed my system down at all. I've also noticed that it doesn't interfere with certain procedures, where NAV has. Not to mention that it's basically using the same updates that the corporate version of eTrust AV 7.x uses. The vet engine is an extremely powerful AV scanner.

 

I am running command antivirus. I have used them all at one time or another but I really do like command.