From what I’ve read here, it appears that we have an easier time than others; as we generally manage the registering, purchasing and downloading for the clients. I have to admit that I think their partner scheme works well for consultancies such as ours… I just hope v3 becomes what 2.7 is.. a great, fast, lightweight and effective av and anti malware system.

The first one has a 2.X version running and after I got the right “silent” settings flipped, it just did it’s thing with no user intervention at all.

The newest version which I just downloaded and installed on a fresh build of Vista has a new GUI which seems to address some of the more acrane settings of the old one. Still not perfect, but a step in the right direction. Like the old one, it also just does it’s thing in the background. I purchased online and I got two emails within the hour. I downloaded with the codes from the e-mails and installed with the codes without issue.

A comment on some of the “big box” AV packages out there (especially the yellow one which I used to use extensively - that I no longer install), is that although they may install nice on a clean machine….when you try uninstalling them or installing them on a PC that’s been up for a while. Not a lot of fun. I am using NOD32 from now on….

BJB

PC Magazine rated Norton’s Internet Security 2008 highly. I picked up a three seat copy for free after rebate, so I may give it a try on one PC w/ expiring a/v. [W/ some trepidation, I might add. Norton Antivirus 2007 was itself a virus, IMO. What a disaster. I'm hoping that the 2008 version is better, but will have a pre-install disk image sitting on the desk, just in case.]

Scot, e-mail, Web page, Blog. Whatever. Thanks for a great information resource!

1. I don’t use a separate anti-spyware program. I went NOD32-only (v.2.7) about nine months ago on all my PCs, including my wife’s. We have had no problems.

2. I’m running NOD32 3.0 on one test machine right now. I have not had time to evaluate it yet, but I will be covering it in the future. Probably not for 2 - 3 months though. Frankly, I’m happy with 2.7. Most people who have written to me about 3.0 have been very happy. I’ve so far heard about none of the stuff that is posted on Wilder’s. Does’t mean it doesn’t exist; but I think you need to be careful about assuming that a forum post means much. If you see dozens of forum posts with the same problem — that I would believe.

3. So, apparently, Eset has finally gotten away from the requirement to uninstall all trials before installing the paid version. That’s a good change. But it is a recent change. There was definitely an issue with upgrading from a trial with versions 2.5 and 2.7. Eset had specific language on its site specifically telling you to uninstall the trial in advance of installing the paid version.

4. I can confirm that the upgrade to 3.0 is a free upgrade to, I believe, owners of version 2.5 and up. I agree that Eset doesn’t communicate this very well.

5. I agree that the Eset purchase experience is terrible. I wrote about that about a year and half ago. It hasn’t changed much since then.

6. I still think NOD32 is the best AV/anti-malware product on the market right now. The fact that major computer publications have picked Kaspersky, as one example, shows a lack — in my opinion — of understanding about what the user community is actually looking for.

7. One of the things I think many people don’t understand about NOD32 is that it’s primarily a real-time content filter. Its strategy is to nail the bad stuff *before* it’s on your disk. Disk scanning is not particularly a NOD32 strength. It has on-demand scanning, but I think Kaspersky is the undisputed king in that area. But I vastly prefer NOD’s approach. It is an excellent content filter. It works very fast to block the bad stuff before it gets on the disk. And it doesn’t rely almost entirely on av signatures.

More to come on NOD32 3.0. I have said I’m not a big fan of Eset Smart Security, simply because I don’t think much of the firewall or antispam modules included with that package. The main consideration, though, isn’t system overhead or anything like that. It’s primarily about saving the extra money. But NOD32 3.0 is still an open question for me.

If you have something against NOD32 3.0, and you’re looking for an alternative, I really don’t have a recommendation. I went through a long list of lightweight AV/anti-malware products in late 2006 and I didn’t like any of them. While many have released newer versions since then, I have yet to be convinced that any of them have changed in any fundamental way.

If you have alternative recommendations, I’d love to hear them. But, I have very specific product specifications I’m looking for that include things like: No suite products, excellent compatibility with other security software, low system overhead, smart product strategy, high reliability and effectiveness. I do not like the big multiple-module security products with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. That’s mostly marketing, folks. The products from McAfee, Symantec, etc. One product I will be testing at some point is Kaspersky AV 7. That’s one of the few big-name makers that offers a standalone product that doesn’t throw in a lot of other stuff. But I looked at KAV 6 twice and did not like the product at all.