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Antivirus

Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware is a stripped-down security option, offering only the most basic of protection. That's not a bad thing, but except for the Smart Protection Network, which leverages anonymous data from customers to block malicious threats that are manifesting on users' computers, we're not sure how this differs from its freeware competitors.
There is strong customer service, of course, and the user account-style lockdown to prevent unauthorized changes to programs. However, the program lacks consistent performance, and a lack of recent independent testing numbers on Trend Micro has made it equally hard to determine how effective it is. Unless you're a die-hard fan of Trend Micro, we'd advise staying away from the bare-bones AntiVirus and AntiSpyware version this year.

Publisher's description

Antivirus, Security Software

Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware is a stripped-down security option, offering only the most basic of protection. That’s not a bad thing, but except for the Smart Protection Network, which leverages anonymous data from customers to block malicious threats that are manifesting on users’ computers, we’re not sure how this differs from its freeware competitors.
There is strong customer service, of course, and the user account-style lockdown to prevent unauthorized changes to programs. However, the program lacks consistent performance, and a lack of recent independent testing numbers on Trend Micro has made it equally hard to determine how effective it is. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Trend Micro, we’d advise staying away from the bare-bones AntiVirus and AntiSpyware version this year.

Publisher’s description

Antivirus, Security Software

Consistently at or near the top of independent efficacy testers, Avira’s AntiVir remains one of the best freeware security solutions around. Its scans are flexible, allowing the user to fully scan both internal and external hard drives, run a preloaded scan–for rootkits, for example–or customize a scan. The latest version introduces antispyware protections, scanning tech that can crack open “locked” files, improved internal security to prevent AntiVir’s files from being maliciously altered, and one-click threat removal–no more baby-sitting.
There are few interface changes in version 9, and older users are not likely notice anything different in the interface besides a refreshed banner logo. The main window offers a left side navigation with drop-down menus and a central pane for more detailed information. AntiVir opens to the Status menu, informing you of your last scan, your last definition file update, whether the real-time guard is active, and premium upgrade link. Events logs changes to the program and the Reports tab keeps a history of threats. Both are exportable.
The Local Protection and Administration navigation options reveal the Scanner, Guard, Quarantine, and Scheduler features. Combined with the Configuration button located at the top of the central pane, users can customize their scans as necessary. Quarantined file information is on display, with options to scan it again, restore, delete, and e-mail the file to Avira. The rebuilt heuristic engine retains the same choices from the previous version’s, and can be turned on or off in part or in full and offers three intensity levels. The scheduler offers much that other free antivirus programs don’t, and the help features are excellent, with mouse-over information on each feature.
Savvy users will notice the removal of the on-demand e-mail scan, and AntiVir is still challenging to fully uninstall. Despite these hang-ups and the nag screen that follows definition file updates, AntiVir offers such effective protection and a well-rounded set of features that as long as the updates keep coming, it’ll be our first line of defense.

Publisher’s description

Antivirus, Security Software

Avast Professional Edition skillfully scans your PC and several programs for viruses, although configuring it is not for the faint of heart.
Immediately after installation, the program asks if you want to schedule an antivirus scan of your local hard drives at system start. You’ll notice two icons in your system tray after installing Avast: one to configure the functions and another to activate the virus recovery database.
Well-designed, Avast scans executables, inbound and outbound e-mails, and P2P programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, and Morpheus. Instant messages received from several messenger programs are inspected for harmful viruses as well. The program was able to block URLs and common file operations such as renaming and deleting. We appreciated the sensitivity adjusters to get protection to desired levels including normal, high, or customized.
We must say this application did slow down our system while surfing and using other programs. Many of its configurations require intermediate know-how or better. Fortunately, it has a generous 60-day trial. Don’t let the steep learning curve turn you off; Avast safeguards your system at optimum levels.

Publisher’s description

Antivirus, Security Software

AVG’s most popular product is its free antivirus, but the company also makes two enhanced security suites that are geared for users who don’t mind paying for additional protection–as long as it’s worthwhile. AVG Anti-Virus 9 introduces a few new features, claiming faster scan times, faster boot times, and other under-the-hood improvements.
Users who’ve used AVG 8 will find the interface nearly identical, and generally it’s easy to use. From the main window, though, you must double-click to get further information on any feature, whether virus scanning, firewall protection, or updating. We’d like to see this streamlined, since there’s no reason to click on any of them without wanting more details; it is a spare interface, otherwise. You’ll find a full-blown scheduling utility for automating tasks and checking for new definitions as often as you’d like. Other perks include technical support and the ability to run on multiple operating systems. Should a virus create serious system problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode. The program doesn’t obviously tax your system when scanning or when running in the background. There’s also a new identity-theft assistance service, available for free and provided by a third party.
AVG Anti-Virus lacks the firewall, identity protection, antispam, and system tools that come in AVG Internet Security, although it’s definitely more robust than AVG Free. In empirical testing, scan times were slower than expected, and the new firewall database proved to have autoapproval problems with some well-known programs. It also detected some image files as threats, when two other scans decided they weren’t–we decided these were false positives. AVG might not be the fastest or the most effective available security option, but it still gets the job done and you’re better off with it.

Publisher’s description