Review: ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4

By Erik Eckel in Product Spotlight, April 5, 2009, 5:42 PM PST // erikeckel

ESET's NOD32 Antivirus 4 eliminates many of the headaches associated with virus and spyware protection. The award-winning application delivers proven security, uses few system resources in the process and even boasts competitive pricing.

Businesses need security software they can set and forget. All too often, antivirus software slows system performance or fails to catch problematic spyware infections. ESET's NOD32 Antivirus 4 eliminates many of the headaches associated with virus and spyware protection. The award-winning application delivers proven security, uses few system resources in the process and even boasts competitive pricing.

Specifications

Manufacturer: ESET, LLC
Product: NOD32 Antivirus
Version: 4
File Size: 28MB
CPU: Intel or AMD x86/x64
Disk Space: 35MB free
RAM: 44MB RAM
Operating systems: Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP (32- and 64-bit editions) / Vista (32- and 64-bit editions) / Microsoft Windows Server 2000 (32- and 64-bit editions) / Windows Server 2003 (32- and 64-bit editions) / Windows Server 2008 (32- and 64-bit editions)
Download and additional information: ESET
Price: $214.95 (5-license bundle)
For a closer look, check out the TechRepublic NOD32 Antivirus 4 Product Spotlight Photo Gallery.

Who's it for?

Businesses needing thorough and accurate antivirus, antispyware and antirootkit protection with little administration and minimal resource consumption will find ESET's NOD32 Antivirus security application a capable security solution. ESET offers discounted volume pricing and Small Business Server bundles, so a pricing package is available whether a business must protect five or 2,000 users. Enterprise coverage is also available.

What problem does it solve?

NOD32 Antivirus 4 extends businesses a reasonably priced and effective antimalware solution. ESET's antivirus software regularly wins awards for its detection rates (thanks in part to its multilayered ThreatSense technology), and the program possesses a remarkably light footprint of as little as 44MB of RAM.

Its scan engine is well-tuned, too. Even full disk scans fail to noticeably slow most systems. Tests by AV-Comparatives earned ESET NOD32 Antivirus 3 the only Advanced+ certification level of any antivirus brand tested. Further, ESET's entry generated "few" false positives.

Standout features

Industry-leading detection - In independent tests, AV-Comparatives ranks ESET as the only antimalware application earning Advanced+ certification. AV-Comparatives also notes NOD32's generates "few" false positives. In comparative testing by Virus Bulletin, NOD32 caught every "in the wild" virus sample since May 1998. ESET has also won accolades and certification from a variety of other organizations, including ICSA Labs, West Coast Labs and OPSWAT.
Low overhead - ESET boasts that NOD32 is "built for speed." ESET's developers coded NOD32 to use little RAM (just 44MB according to ESET). One new improvement in version 4 is performance tuning for battery-powered systems. In testing on multiple systems, I've found both ESET's real-time scanner and full system scans have little impact on a system's overall performance, an accomplishment few security applications can claim. AV-Comparatives is among those taking notice, awarding NOD32 Antivirus "Best Overall Speed-Performance."
Minimal administration - NOD32 Antivirus 4, by default, downloads updates, provides real-time protection and performs full system scans automatically. Few administrative headaches result, and while anecdotal, it seems as if NOD32 requires fewer reboots to deploy application updates compared to competing products. The ESET Remote Administrator, meanwhile, provides centralized administration within larger, server-based networks.
Attractive pricing -Volume pricing makes NOD32 licensing affordable for even the most budget-conscious offices. With 5-user bundles starting at $214.95, and 20% off promotions available for 2-year subscriptions, NOD32 is competitively priced.
Server protection - NOD32 Antivirus 4 can be installed as endpoint protection on Windows servers. While many antivirus/antispyware clients are compatible only with desktop operating systems, NOD32 can be loaded on Windows servers, too (albeit without such server-specific protections as Exchange integration, for which other NOD32 editions are available).

What's wrong?

Upgrades require renewal - Editor's note: This bullet point was removed for the sake of accuracy. Upgrades are indeed available during the renewal process.
No free personal license - Unlike Avast and AVG, which offer free non-commercial licenses, ESET offers no free personal-use licenses. However, free trial versions are available, and no businesses should be loading non-commercial software, so the only drawback is administrators seeking to familiarize themselves with the software personally might have to purchase a license to do so (although I'm betting a quick call to ESET would likely secure any network administrator a not-for-resale license with which to test).

Competitive Products

Bottom line for business

ESET has deservingly won accolades for its NOD32 Antivirus 4 security software. The antimalware application provides proven (and independently verified) protection against viruses, spyware, adware, Trojans, worms, rootkits and other common threats. With its minimal footprint, centralized administration capability and competitive pricing, most every organization (from five to 2,500 users) will find NOD32 Antivirus 4 a potent and efficient platform capable of protecting their network while freeing system resources and administrators to dedicate their energies to other tasks.

User rating

Have you encountered ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4? What do you think? Rate the product and compare the results to what other TechRepublic members think. Give your own personal review of ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4 in the TechRepublic Community Forums or let us know if you think we left anything out in our review.

How would you rate ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4?

About Erik Eckel

Erik Eckel owns and operates two technology companies. As a managing partner with Louisville Geek, he works daily as an IT consultant to assist small businesses in overcoming technology challenges and maximizing IT investments. He is also president o...

21 comments

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steve

All product upgrades and updates are included in a licensing subscription as long as it has not expired. The licensing credentials allow for the downloading and installation of the latest version(s) from the ESET website. This statement needs to be re-evaluated under "What's wrong" as it is incorrect. "Upgrades require renewal - While some antivirus applications (AVG, for one, comes to mind) permit users to upgrade to new versions using their existing licenses for as long as those licenses are valid, ESET requires that customers renew their older licenses to deploy new editions."

Erik Eckel

Steve, Thanks for the heads up. Product upgrades do no require a renewal license, an eSet spokesperson tells me. I'll have the spotlight updated accordingly. When I tried upgrading my test license, the upgrade would not work. It appears that's due to my use of an NFR license (or other issue), I'm not sure. But the official word is you should be able to upgrade for the life of your license.

Erik Eckel

Steve, Thanks for posting this note. When I tried upgrading my (nonexpired) 3.0 license to 4.0, I was unable to do so. I'm checking now to learn whether that's an isolated case or not. I'll be sure to post an update here (and correct the Product Spotlight if necessary). Thanks again for the heads up.

cbader

Had a bad experience with that company. Havent used them since and never will again.

cbader

When i was still in school I did purchasing/receiving/comp repair for a small computer shop here in town. At the time ESET was running a special where you could get NOD32 in the clamshell case for so much money, or you could get the regular box case for a different price (Sorry Im forgetting specific prices, and which option was the more expensive item). So anyways, I order 5 cases of the more expensive item which comes to X amount of dollars. When I do the math she actually charged me the price of the cheaper unit when I was getting the more expensive unit. So I created my PO, submitted it and got everything all set up for my order based on the price I was quoted. A few days later my order comes and I only get 4 cases, so I call to let them know they shorted me a case and the sales lady starts arguing with me about how the price I paid was for 4 cases and that it would be the price for 5 cases of the cheaper item. That lead to us going round and round about her making a mistake but it wasnt her fault, me feeling that she should honor the quote she gave me and ship the 5th box, yadda yadda. In the end she refused to honor the price she gave me for 5 cases, even though she made a mistake, and I havent used them since. Just plain old bad customer service and bad salesmanship.

jeffro in Berkshire

Hey bud, Im sorry you had bad a salesperson but cutting off your nose to spite your face is probably something you should have grown out of by now! Try the product again, you can download it direct and be protected within 10 minutes of making the online purchase, that includes purchase, download, installation and configuration, I will be suprised if your not satisfied

jeffro in Berkshire

I do understand however, with you being a professional I think you really should be checking against the "virus bulletin" as they are the industries accreditation organisation - ESET have the only A+ classification! despite your bad previous history. I do urge you to re-asess your comments and test the process again - I know I refer all of my clients to it including our most prestigeous.

cbader

True, bad salesmanship doesnt affect the quality of the product, but it does affect my view of the company and of the final product and I dont want to spend money at a company that treats me like shit. Have you ever gone to a restaurant that you really liked and been treated so poorly that you never returned, or some other similar situation? Its really not that uncommon occurance. Besides, I can download Kaspersky and be installed, configured, and protected in 10 minutes and have a quality company behind me that has always exceeded expectations.

travis.duffy

I have been using their products for 5 years now and have had nothing but great experience with them as a company and their products. I recommend them to anyone who asks me what antivirus/antimalware software they should purchase. If you are going to publicly post something negative about this company, please tell us why you feel this way and how this software failed to live up to your expectations. Otherwise your opinion is pretty much irrelevant.

pgit

I'd never heard of this product before this morning. Then when searching for info on Vundo, I came across the wikipedia entry, which obviously had been hacked to slam NOD32. Pertinent text: "also contrary to common knowlede the eset nod32 antivirus program does NOT protect against vundo! and whh got 2 variants in one week! torrents make my compy cry On infected systems, there is usually a listing for "MS Juan" inside of the registry." Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vundo Then I open the tech republic folder to read the mail, and this review is in the mix. Anyway, this sounds interesting and I do plan on obtaining a copy for my own testing. We all know the type that doesn't want to know anything about their AV software, rather they just want to "pay someone and forget it." This sounds like a better application to deploy in that kind of role. Just yesterday I had a totally mucked system that sported a paid in full, up to date installation of Norton 360... MalwareByte's MBAM did the trick. I'm guessing Norton tried to warn them and they elected to continue anyway. When I downloaded MBAM the user's downloads folder was the default location of course... containing one other executable: "SEXX.exe." So Norton probably shouldn't be blamed, at first. But shouldn't it have caught the results once the infections raged?

dcbohn

Nice puff piece, does not tell what the diff is between versions 3 and 4, since ver 3 won the awards.

gorenjc

For me there are 2 big changes in Nod32 Tools window: 1. Create Rescue CD: Now you can make a boot CD of eset nod32 4.0 product to scan and disinfect a PC which is infected badly. Attention To do this you need the last Microsoft Windows AIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit)use the last Vista&Windows 2008 version (1.25GB download) to clean all operating systems new and old. 2. SysInspector: their own system inspector like sysinternals but with different organization and treat view. Also I'm a satisfied nod32 user from 2.7 to 4.0 version.

AndyW360

You will probably be able to find the differences on Eset's Website but one I do know of is the ability to create a rescue CD has been added to version 4, this will allow you to boot from the CD and scan for viruses and spyware, quite handy.

submerj

Great protection, good price

michaelangemiel

I like to use NOD32, because it can detect and delete the files or folders that was be created by the virus!!!

AndyW360

Upgrades require renewal - While some antivirus applications (AVG, for one, comes to mind) permit users to upgrade to new versions using their existing licenses for as long as those licenses are valid, ESET requires that customers renew their older licenses to deploy new editions. --- This is wrong I have just upgraded my existing customers from NOD32 version 3 to version 4 with their current licence, A renewal is not required.

jeffro in Berkshire

I also have migrated clients through the 2.7 - 3 - 4 versions on the AV only product and have also migrated clients through both versions 3 and 4 upgrades of the security suites software without errors. Once youve used it you will ask yourself why have I not heard of this product before!!! It quite simply is what this type of product should be, light on resources, effective and once set just keeps on running. Many of my clients used to use a variety of other products and would require "extra" assistance through the year withtheir security software. Once we have installed and changed a couple of options and set a weekly scan up for the client we dont hear from them again regarding security until we ring them regarding their renewal! How many other products can boast the same situation. I have deployed the software accross win98, Win XP (32 & 64 bit), Win Vista (32 & 64 bit), Server 2003 (inc SBS) and Server 2008 (inc SBS) and protect my own business and home with the software!

shaun.daly

ESET is, quite frankly the best AV software I have used. On my home PC I hardly notice its there except for the "updated definitions" message daily. I worked on a neighbours pc infected with the Brontok & Sality worms, they managed to defeat Zonealarm, AVG, Avira, Truesword, Spybot, Adaware, Spyware Doctor & a variety of one time cleaners / online scanners, but NOD32 finally cleaned the machine. Huzzah!

c-tom.matthews

They support every system... 32 and 64 bit, excellent detection rate (wife doesn't get infected even on MyVirusSpace). Kaspersky has defeated everything thrown at it so far. Speed, footprint all good. Far better than the Symantec Endpoint Protection we have at work... SEP flips out over scanning and remediation tools but has never found an infected website, where Kaspersky blocks websites with infections. NOD 32 needs to become NOD64 first, then maybe I will give it a try. Kaspersky's 1 and 3 user licensing is a little pricey, but some judicious online shopping can take care of that.

rwieck

NOD 32 does support 64bit systems. I'm using it on ALL our enterprise machines, servers and desktops.

wratholix

I'm running 64bit Eset IS on my vista workstation and its seriously smooth. The move from AVG to ESET has been a pleasant experience. I have nothing against AVG but i was using the free edition and i felt that i needed more, so my first thoughts were NOD or ESET Internet Security of which i have no regrets. Oh i'm glad to have dumped Zonealarm :) too much alarm for me. Same for kasperski .. i hate how it integrates under the windows skin. I've tried it a few times but didnt work nicely and messed with my system to the point i had stability problems. Hmm i figure its just chance as most people have good experiences with it.

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