Avast and Norton.

[lovelyperson]

   Hello,

As this is my first post please forgive if any errors.

Installed Avast Home today, did get the Norton Warning!!

Can you confirm that Avast Home and Norton WILL CONFLICT if run together!

Having read so much bad press etc re: Symantec and Norton I thought I would look at your Avast prog. I have had relative peace and basically no problems with securityetc whilst I have been running NAV2003. It has advised a couple of times of attempted virus attacks and hence thought it was doing its job.

I have read several of the threads and would just like to hear some more confirmation that I am doing the right thing by dumping the Norton protection.

My main concern, especially having had no problems and I have tried most of the on-line scan checks, is that the Avast Home prog has and will has perform to users satisfaction.

¿Not had a good look yet, but is there a data base/list of the viruses protected against in the Avast Home prog as there is with NAV, which shows over some 68000.

¿Anyone know the amount of users/downloads of Avast Home?

Your valuable time would help me to gain confidence in my move.

Thanks.

Cheers   lovelyperson







 

[Gene Johnson]

lovelyperson: welcome to the avast! forum. Glad to have you aboard. Many of us here had Norton on our machine before switching to avast!. What makes avast! better is this personal forum and the dedication of the avast! team. The people who write the programs are some of the people you will meet here. As you will see updates are frequent, sometimes 2 per day, often on weekends. Actual counts of virii are hard to come by as it depends on how you count and what name the virus is going by today. Rest assured that you will get prompt answers to any problems that might arise from using avast! and you will probably make some new friends here too.

Yes, Norton and avast! will conflict. See any post by Rejzor or Eddy for links to the Norton removal tools.  

[RejZoR]

Yes,two AVs will conflict. Especially if one of them is Norton.

Number of malware in database usually cannot be counted that easily.
Some companies count every piece of malware even within same family, others count only entire family (Beagle A-Z for example), you also cant count generic and heuristic detection. So these numbers aren't really important.

I think that number of Home Edition users is over 2 milions (or is this number for all avast! products? Alwil guys will confirm this hehe )

[techie101]

Hello to you as well!

Can you confirm that Avast Home and Norton WILL CONFLICT if run together!

Yes, they will most certainly.  Let me explain.  Both AVs use a resident scanner (runs all the time) which will conflict.  You can use either with a manual non-resident scanner but not if both run at the same time.

It has advised a couple of times of attempted virus attacks and hence thought it was doing its job.

Actually, (and I will get flak from this remark...) Norton is not bad in functionality.  What it lacks is stability and ease of maintenance.  Norton entangles itself so deeply into your system that if anything does go wrong with it, repair is an impossible task which can leave your system in ruins.
Avast on the other hand is very simple.  If there is a problem that is determined to be the program itself, it can be removed and reinstalled in minutes.  It also has a Repair function which usually cures the most common ailments.

I have read several of the threads and would just like to hear some more confirmation that I am doing the right thing by dumping the Norton protection.

You will only hear a Yes from users here, but to be fair, I would like to know WHY you want to switch?  Normally, I recommend the switch if users have had problems with Norton, or the subscription is running out.  Norton has been known to miss a virus or two  , but so has Avast.  

Avast Home prog has and will has perform to users satisfaction.

Yes indeed!  Avast has many features that are hard to find, especially in a freeware (HOME) version.  Avast updates are free and it can be set to download both program and database updates automatically making it virtually sel-maintaining!  A bargain at any price....   Avast Home is free for non-commercial/Home usage.
Users here for the most part are avid users, and this forum is one of the best support forums around.

Not had a good look yet, but is there a data base/list of the viruses protected against in the Avast Home prog as there is with NAV, which shows over some 68000.

A specific list is not available, but you can go to the Avast site and look for a history on the VPS updates which will list all the viruses that that update includes.  Last count was over 25,000.  Now... you are saying that the count is much less than Norton, but Norton counts variants individually whilst Avast watches for the main virus signature, and the heuristic capability to enhance its' detection capability, Avast can detect amounts to 2-3 times the basic signature file.

Anyone know the amount of users/downloads of Avast Home

Wow...good questions.  I do not know the exact amount since there are many sources from which Avast can be downloaded.  I can only say that when I started using Avast and participating on the forum 2 years ago, we only had about 2500 members.  We now have over 7000!
That in itself only represents a small number of users, certainly a small amount of the actual downloads.
Avast is available to internet users all over the world in many languages.

You really need to ask yourself why you want "change".
You will not be dissapointed in the product, the updates, the support or the people here in the forum.

Hope this all helps you make your decision.

Take Care
Techie101






 

[Tipton]

 Hello,

As this is my first post please forgive if any errors.

Installed Avast Home today, did get the Norton Warning!!

Can you confirm that Avast Home and Norton WILL CONFLICT if run together!

Thanks.

Cheers   lovelyperson







 

When I first installed Avast, Norton Anti virus was present on my system.  After installing Avast, and re-booting, I was greeted with my system locked up tight. Your first impression, if you weren't told this would happen, is that the offending party is the newly installed Avast. When indeed, it is two AV's not playing well on the same system. A hard re-boot, and installing an image of my operating system partition before installing Norton, and I was ready to re-install Avast. Haven't had a single issue since. If you don't use imaging software, you can do a search for links on how to manually remove Norton.  Good luck!.

Tipton

[techie101]

Tipton,

I have not heard of this being done, but can understand the feasibility.

However, it has always been my recommendation NOT to use two resident scanners on the same system, regardless of whether they were Avast and Norton or Avast and anything else, or anything else and something else.    Updates and Upgrades can affect how the two "AVs" play together, and the average user has neither the knowledge nor skill to sort things out and recover from a "lockup".

It is good information which I will have to try on one of my less used systems.

Thanks.

[jhiker]

Hi,
I'm a recent convert to Avast, too.

For the record, here's how I got rid of NIS2002...

Ran RegMechanic and cleared up any existing problems and made sure the registry was tidy.
Used Control Panel to uninstall NIS2002
Reboot
UsedControl Panel to uninstall LiveReg
UsedControl Panel to uninstall LiveUpdate
Reboot
Used the Symantec utility RNav.exe to mop-up NAV
Used the Symantec utility RnisUPG.exe to mop-up NIS
Used the Avast external control to mop-up any left-overs!
Rebooted and installed Avast!
Ran the Mail Wizard
Rebooted and ran RegMechanic to clear up any remaing Symantec entries (and, yes, there were several still lurking!)
.. anyway, all seems OK and I'm a happy Avast user.

[DukeNukem]

I to came from norton 2003  

Did a nice clean re-install  

[Tipton]

Tipton,

I have not heard of this being done, but can understand the feasibility.

However, it has always been my recommendation NOT to use two resident scanners on the same system, regardless of whether they were Avast and Norton or Avast and anything else, or anything else and something else.    Updates and Upgrades can affect how the two "AVs" play together, and the average user has neither the knowledge nor skill to sort things out and recover from a "lockup".

It is good information which I will have to try on one of my less used systems.

Thanks.

Techie, I probably didn't word my post correctly. I do not run two AV's on my system, just Avast. Back when I first installed Avast, I too did not know that I could not have another AV on my PC. Thats why I got the lockup, because Norton was still on my system. Thats why I inserted my True Image rescue CD, and did a hard re-boot (pressed button on front of system) and recovered from a clean image of before I had Avast, and also before I had Norton on my system. I then re-installed Avast cleanly without Norton present. I always create an image of my operating system partition, before a new software install, and store it either on a second internal hard drive, or on a USB hard drive. If things get ugly, I am back in business in minutes, with the offending software completly removed from my PC .   I have mentioned this before, that I basically use my AV to scan files I download from the net, and also scan my e-mail. If I ever did get a virus, I would recover by loading a clean virus free image from an earlier time. I usually image 3 or 4 times a week, so I would only lose minimal data if I decided on restoring .

Tipton

[lovelyperson]

  Hello,

Firstly may I say thank you for all the fast replies, gives me a bit of confidence, especially being the first post.

Guess I will proceed and delete Norton 2003, the subscriptions for renewal are just due. With me the money issue is not a problem, I just need to be and have confidence in the program I am using, especially an AV prog!!

Quite a bit to digest from the replies, like the tone used in this forum, thanks.

As suggested I will read the threads by 'Rejzor or Eddy' on removing Norton from my system.

a) As I mentioned I have already installed Avast Home to find the conflict with Norton. ¿ Is it best that I remove the Avast prog BEFORE I set about the Norton deletion.?
¿ As a result of the Avast deletion, upon reinstall would the license code issued to me still be valid, if not I assume I would be allowed a new one.

b) Any more comments on the best way/ problems encountered for the Norton 2003 removal would help.

Again thank you all for your input, your valuable time is appreciated.

Cheers   lovelyperson

[igor]

a) As I mentioned I have already installed Avast Home to find the conflict with Norton. ¿ Is it best that I remove the Avast prog BEFORE I set about the Norton deletion.?

Of course, Norton should be removed before installing avast! (actually, avast! setup should give you a warning when you try). However, if you already installed it and you don't have any problems with your computer, there's no reason to remove avast! just to go on with removing Norton (i.e. you can simply remove Norton now, just for sure).

¿ As a result of the Avast deletion, upon reinstall would the license code issued to me still be valid, if not I assume I would be allowed a new one.

Yes, the key will still be valid.

[lovelyperson]

a) As I mentioned I have already installed Avast Home to find the conflict with Norton. ¿ Is it best that I remove the Avast prog BEFORE I set about the Norton deletion.?

Of course, Norton should be removed before installing avast! (actually, avast! setup should give you a warning when you try). However, if you already installed it and you don't have any problems with your computer, there's no reason to remove avast! just to go on with removing Norton (i.e. you can simply remove Norton now, just for sure).

¿ As a result of the Avast deletion, upon reinstall would the license code issued to me still be valid, if not I assume I would be allowed a new one.

Yes, the key will still be valid.

  Igor,

Thank you for the reply. Have removed Norton following Avast threads instructions and all seems to be running ok.

Again, thanks.

Cheers   lovelyperson

[RJ]

I discovered avast about, hmmm, 6 months ago I think

I was tired of all the other anti viruses, got talking to a friend in the govt, and he recommended avast to me.  gave it a try, then e-mailed everyone I knew and told them to give it go.

How many downloads of avast home?  Well download.com shows that 1,714,522 have downloaded home from them sine April this year.  remember that is just from one site.

[lovelyperson]

How many downloads of avast home?  Well download.com shows that 1,714,522 have downloaded home from them sine April this year.  remember that is just from one site.

  Guess that the post by RejZoR was not far short with his quote of 2 million, whether that is one site or not, excellent.

Hard work & a good quality product, that certainly paid dividends in my business with lots of recommendations and more orders.

...............I reckon that sounds similar to the program WE ARE ALL USING!!

Cheers   lovelyperson

[Vlk]

Currently there's about 11,000 new avast home registrations a day.