Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/54
For almost as long as there have been computers, there have been viruses. Today, there are tens of thousands of viruses in existence, with new ones being created each day. In retaliation, several software companies have created anti-virus packages with ingenious techniques for protecting against even the most complex and cunning viruses. Here we have two of the market leaders: Dr. Solomon's AntiVirus Toolkit and Norton AntiVirus 2.0.
Norton
AntiVirus 2.0
Norton AntiVirus 2.0 is a great AntiVirus package. Almost every aspect of every component
is configurable, yet it is still quite user-friendly and very easy to use. Norton walks
you through everything from updating your data file to repairing a virus. The resident
virus protection, called Auto-Protect, is virtually impenetrable. In addition to scanning
accessed files for known viruses it is able to look for virus-like activities and take
user-configurable action when encountered. The file scanner is also very configurable, and
very powerful. It also has methods for finding unknown and polymorphic viruses. Norton
also comes with a scheduler, with which you can schedule periodic scans of the hard drive.
Unfortunately, this great configurablity and flexiblity comes at a price: Auto-Protect
takes up 2.11 MB in memory, almost twice as much as Dr Solomon's equivalent. In addition,
the scheduler takes 2.05 MB, and the file scanner is somewhat slower than Dr. Solomon's.
Dr.
Solomon's AntiVirus Toolkit v7.72
Dr. Solomon's AntiVirus Toolkit has always been an excellent package. This version is no
exception. The virus scanning and protection are very powerful, and very easy on the
system: WinGuard, the resident virus shield, takes up a mere 1.4 MB in memory, and the
event scheduler only takes up 690 KB. However, many aspects of the scanning and protection
are not configurable, and it lacks in several functions that could really make life much
easier. It does have a few notable unique features though: the scheduler has the ability
to make some complex schedule properties. It can be set up to scan only one time at a
specific date, or periodically between two dates. Also, FindVirus, the file scanner, can
scan not only into numerous types of archives, but also into archives nested within
archives. WinGuard can scan files that are being written to the disk. These features
combined add a new level of security when dealing with internet downloads and files copied
from foreign sources.
| Norton AntiVirus 2.0 | Dr. Solomon's AVTK | |
| AntiVirus Package Features | ||
| Price | $70 MSRP | $85 MSRP |
| Auto Update | Yes | No |
| Recovery Disk | Yes | Yes |
| Number of virus signatures to date | 7,700+ | 12,000+ |
| Unknown virus detection | Yes | Yes |
| File Scan Features | ||
| Scan inside archives | Yes | Yes |
| Scan inside nested archives | No | Yes |
| Scan boot records | Yes | Yes |
| Scan memory | Yes | Yes |
| Log options | Yes | Yes |
| TSR Features | ||
| Scan all files | Yes | Yes |
| Scan on writes | Yes(limited) | Yes |
| Clean automatically | Yes | Yes |
| Stop access on virus | Yes | No |
| Configurable File Type List | Yes | No |
| Detect boot sector writes | Yes | No |
| Detect low-level formats | Yes | No |
| Performance Comparison | ||
| Memory Usage: Event Scheduler | 2.05 MB | 690 MB |
| Memory Usage: TSR Protection | 2.11 MB | 1.40 MB |
| Scan Time: 861.833 KB | 103 seconds | 90 seconds |
Although both Norton AntiVirus and Dr. Solomon's AntiVirus Toolkit are excellent anti-virus packages, Dr. Solomon's left me wanting just a little more. Its interface was a little bit hard to use, and I missed some functions like single file scanning and automatically updating the data files. Although Dr. Solomon's has released a version called Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus which addresses some of these problems, they cut out several other features such as the very useful scheduler. Norton AntiVirus costs less, is more user-friendly and more configurable than Dr. Solomon's. Although the performance is not as good as that of the AVTK, Norton appeals to me as the better buy between of the two.
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