Kaspersky or Bitdefender?

qualityshopper · ‎12-04-2011

I've used Norton Security for years (currently have Norton 360) but have been having issues with it lately. Am seriously considering changing to either Kaspersky or Bitdefender, but wanted to get opinions about both first. How do those of you who have either of these feel about them? Or, if any of you who have other brands you think are better, would appreciate hearing about those as well. Thanks.

Xivambala · ‎07-26-2019

I had Norton a long time ago on a HP laptop. I got rid of it because it crashed my laptop and caused me to wipe the machine clean and start with a new install. Never again. From there I went to Kaspersky. I have always purchased my computers with my antivirus from Best Buy. At that time, they recommended Kaspersky or Norton. I chose Kaspersky and had it for quite some time. When we had all the fear mongering with Russian spying that started a few years ago, it was recommended that everyone drop Kaspersky from all government and personal PC's. I guess people were convinced Kaspersky was using their software in our computers to 'spy' on Americans. Anyway, I had the option to keep the Kaspersky on my own, or change over to another recommended antivirus option offered through Best Buy. I chose Trend Micro, which I have used for a few years. I use Bitdefender on my Samsung smartphone. I've never had any problems with any of the programs except Norton. I think Kaspersky did have compatibility problems from time to time though requiring me to turn it off.

DJP · ‎03-09-2010

I used Kaspersky a few years ago and it took up a lot of room and seemed to slow it down. It might be better now. It might have been my computer. Sorry I really don't have a good answer for you.

Foxxee · ‎10-03-2014

What problems are you having with Norton 360?

Since I started using Norton 3 years ago, I've had absolutely no problems. It seems to catch everything.

I also use 3 stand alone virus scans just to make sure Norton hasn't missed anything. Malwarebytes. SuperAntiSpyware, Microsoft Safety Scanner.

Norton 360 is rated the highest subscription program by CNET. Recommends Microsoft Defender and Bitdefender for free.

Katcat1 · ‎07-21-2011

@qualityshopper Kaspersky is okay but the one that is really good is Webroot. Bitdefender -- never heard of it.

kindness is strength

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@qualityshopper

I would not use Kaspersky, because it is banned by the government.

You may want to consider doing an uninstall of Norton and a reinstall.

This may solve the problems you are having.

The uninstall and reinstall will be slightly different depending on where you obtained the software.

Norton from Comcast.

Do a Google search. How do you to remove and reinstall Norton? Please print the directions.

Norton you brought from the Company.

The job is slightly different. You need to make sure the company knows you are a licensed user of the product.

You will find directions at Symantec.

HLP · ‎04-02-2015

@qualityshopper wrote:
I've used Norton Security for years (currently have Norton 360) but have been having issues with it lately. Am seriously considering changing to either Kaspersky or Bitdefender, but wanted to get opinions about both first. How do those of you who have either of these feel about them? Or, if any of you who have other brands you think are better, would appreciate hearing about those as well. Thanks.

Call the number on your Norton page. I had difficultys last month even signing up for the new year, because they always automaticly, just billed my credit card, and that was it. Some one wanted me to start over, and it was confusing for me. I called the number, got the sweetest girl, she said I will fix it right here and now, and she did. in 2 weeks recieved my bill on the card and it was there. the number for USA and Canada is 1-877-888-7506 I always after such transactions print it out and keep it for future references.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

I've just used Windows Defender for years now with no issues. I just follow safe computing practices, and have had no problems. My previous experience with paid services was iffy, at best. Windows Defender works fine for me and costs nothing.

McAfee locked me out of my computer once and wouldn't let me back in until I went online and verified my identity, which I couldn't do being locked out of my computer. I could restart the computer in Safe Mode and delete the program however which is what I ultimately did. Going online on a different device didn't help as the only way to unlock the service was by doing it from the computer the program was on, but it wouldn't let me go online until after I'd verified my identity which I couldn't do because the program locked me out. A long conversation with customer support at McAfee ended with them saying there wasn't anything they could do, so I dumped the program and moved on.

I never got to use Kaspersky as an install of it failed in the install process and corrupted the registry of my computer damaging the Windows Installer files. I had to reinstall Windows to fix that. I decided not to try installing it again.

Windows Defender works for me and it's caused me no trouble, so that's what I use.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

qualityshopper · ‎12-04-2011

Thanks everyone for your answers. Really appreciate it.

The issue I've been having with Norton has to do with their safe web feature. Over the last few weeks, it has worked intermittently. For the last couple of days, it has stopped working at all. No matter what I do (uninstall & reinstall the whole program, enable & disable the chrome extension for safe web, etc.), nothing helps. And every time I call Norton to see if they can fix it, it turns out to be a complete waste of time. The people I encounter seem to know nothing about the issue (frankly they don't seem to even know how it's supposed to function). For instance, finally got a supervisor who acknowledged that there was an issue, but couldn't say when it might be fixed. A few days later I called to see about the status of their fix, and the person I got knew nothing about a problem and insisted that everything was OK.

Having this feature is certainly not necessary as long as you're careful about the sites you visit (for those of you who don't know, safe web provides little icons beside the site listings when doing a search which indicate the site's safety). One always needs to be careful about where they go and use good judgment--you can't blindly trust what the icons say about the site. Nevertheless, it's still a nice feature to have, when it works! I feel like they've had plenty of time to fix this and aren't, which means I'm not getting use of all of the features I've paid for. Might just go with Windows Defender as Gardenman suggested.