2
votes

I have read this and this this

But I have a few requirements that I don't know are addressed in those questions.

I am looking for a Replacement for our Symantec Anti virus. (if you want to know why see the end of this question. Here are the requirements for the AV software.

 
1)      Must be Enterprise Wide

2)      Must be able to control it from a server 
          (kind of the same as enterprise wide)

3)      Must not have to pay for updates 
          (ie virus updates)

4)      Window 7 x32 and x64  bit compatible

5)      Windows 2000 x32 bit compatible 
          (This is a sad requirement I know.  If it cannot be filled 
           then that is OK, it will just add another reason to get 
           this very OLD OS out of our company.)

Background (if you care)
The main reason we are looking for a replacement is that the upgrade path form our current version would require our PC Support to remove any current versions of Symantec before upgrading to this new version. This is has been the main reason why they have never looked for a new virus software, because it would be too big of a hassle for PC Support to go around to each machine and remove Symantec to install something else. Symantec is a big resource hog and it would make a big impact on user machines if we could find something better.

2
  • Can you indicate what version of Symantec AV you have in place now?
    – Dave M
    Oct 9, 2009 at 19:49
  • Assuming the rest of the company has what I have, 10.1.6
    – Vaccano
    Feb 7, 2010 at 6:38

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
6
votes

I can completely recommend ESET NOD32 Business Edition. I'm not sure about the Windows 7 requirement, but my guess is that it won't be a problem.

NOD32 is lightweight, fully managed, and built for "enterprise" deployment. The administration interface is a regular application, not some whacky web-based piece of junk. (sore spot for me) It rates very highly in all of the independent anti-virus test reports I've read.

I moved to NOD32 from Trend Micro Worry-Free recently and couldn't be happier. I actually had users say, "why is my computer running so fast?" I'm not kidding. I marked it on my calendar.

I, like you, waited a long time to switch because of the whole uninstall issue. Trend didn't disappoint, I had to manually remove the dang thing from almost every machine... and by manually remove I mean manually deleting registry entries, drivers, etc. In the end it was worth it, though.

The downside to NOD32 is that it's a little bit more difficult to setup initially. Not too hard though. It's also a bit more expensive.

I'm not sure what you mean by not having to pay for virus definitions. You're going to sign into one or two years of support with any managed anti-virus solution.

2
  • 1
    Well, at least you can deploy ESET using the MSI domain-wide... But as for removing Symantec, you are out of luck. And it does run on Windows 7 without any hassle.
    – Andrew Moore
    Oct 9, 2009 at 18:30
  • You may find that certain ESET resellers are willing to offer very significant (i.e. order-of-magnitude) discounts vs. list price, particularly if you are switching from another product and are willing to purchase a multi-year license.
    – Skyhawk
    Aug 26, 2010 at 3:57
3
votes

My vote would go to NOD32 from eset....as the other threads have suggested. We moved from Symantec to Eset and have been very happy. Their admin console can be a bit daunting at first.

I'm running the antivirus 4 client on Windows 7 x64 as I'm typing this. They also support W2K.

To your background though, as far as I know, you're still going to have to manually remove Symantec and touch each workstation to switch to another product.

1
  • Well, since we are going to have to do that either way, that is not a problem.
    – Vaccano
    Oct 9, 2009 at 18:41
3
votes

I would also recommend ESET NOD32 Antivirus. It fulfills all of your requirements. Additionally, they are able to create a custom installation package to remove your previous antivirus software before installing their package. ESET refers to this process as Rip and Replace.

2
  • Rip and Replace sounds like it could be very useful for us.
    – Vaccano
    Nov 9, 2009 at 20:23
  • 1
    Their custom Rip and Replace installation package worked great for our organization. I removed McAfee VirusScan 8.5 from 350+ workstations without issue.
    – user24280
    Nov 18, 2009 at 17:12
1
vote

I switched to TrendMicro OfficeScan recently, and I'm reasonably pleased with it. (Though I also switched from Symantec, so I would have been pleased with a kick in the teeth.)

I do not believe that they charge for virus definition updates (you can download their pattern file for free, so I assume it's free for the software, too), it's client-server based, and they do have clients for 2k through Vista and '08, (Windows 7 isn't listed, but I would be surprised if it wasn't supported).

I believe that it might also have the possibility of uninstalling SAV during installation, possibly even during remote installation. (I couldn't do it because the stupid Symantec firewall had been enabled and I had to touch each machine anyway.)

2
  • 1
    Officescan requires a maintenance contract to receive updates. If you don't renew, you will have 60 days before the update cease.
    – Doug Luxem
    Oct 9, 2009 at 18:40
  • They may disable the automatic download, but the pattern file is freely available. (Added link in answer.) It's certainly worth talking to a salesperson to make sure, though.
    – wfaulk
    Oct 9, 2009 at 21:03

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