AntiVir Scan Progressing

Antivir Antivirus is a German Antivirus and was one of the original free antivirus programs. The program has alot of advanced features including the ability to set the sensitivity of the company’s unique heuristic protection and a priority startup feature.  Free AntiVir also includes free always on protection.

AntiVir Installation:

The program file is only 22 megabytes and downloads quickly.  Unfortunately, you have to register to use Free AntiVir and you will be prompted with a form during login.  There are a few features that are unique to the installation process.  The first is the AHeAD heuristic protection.

Heuristic protection is the ability to detect viruses without actually having a specific definition file for the virus.  Therefore, it is perfect for undiscovered viruses.   Since the process is based upon inference there may be some false positives.   AntiVir gives the user the option to select either a low, medium, or high heuristic capability, with high having the most false positives yet the highest protection.  The next option unique to AntiVir, is the user can configure how the antivirus starts up on the computer.  The first option is a n ormal start which will allow AntiVir to startup like any other antivirus (not a high priority startup.) The second option is the secure start which will force AntiVir to start before most of the Windows startup processes.  The goal of the secure start is to startup before a potential virus can install itself into memory making a virus cleanup significantly easier. I also liked how AntiVir performed a quick scan after the installation was completed.

AntiVir Interface:

AntiVir presents a very uncluttered yet useful interface.  When a scan is being performed you can see the exact progress and files detected.  This is in contrast to some of the other free antivirus programs reviewed.  In addition, the Resident scanner can be easily tweaked and shows the current process that is being scanned.

Antivirus Updates:

AntiVir has an excellent updating system.  While the initial update was very large, it still downloaded extremely quickly. In fact, the update was downloaded at a speed of 326 kilobytes per second.  This is significantly faster than competing antivirus.  With AVG,  I was only able to download the updates under 10 kilobytes a second.  In addition, the update process with AntiVir is very informative.  The updates are also downloaded and installed automatically and silently.

Scanning and Detection Rates:

The AntiVir scanning process was again a lackluster experience.  My 55 gigabyte operating system partition took over an hour to scan.  Unfortunately, if you want a quickly scanning antivirus you’ll probably want to opt for Kaspersky.  The detection rates of  new viruses were tested by AV-comparatives.org.  For the AntiVir scanning engine, AV-comparatives gave AntiVir an “Advanced” rating.  This was higher than Avast and AVG but on par with Bidefender’s detection rates. In addition, according to Consumer Reports, AntiVir was the highest recommended free antivirus product. Other review sites state that the heuristic capability could be better because the software missed a few more recently released viruses. However, the software is free and still includes even a basic heuristic protection.

Resource Usages:

AntiVir does an excellent job of using the fewest resources possible.  The program idles with only about 900 kilobytes.  When the main interface is open, the program uses about 8 megabytes.  Finally, when a full system scan is started the program uses about 41 megabytes which is also comparable with other free antivirus reviewed.

Extra Features:

Free AntiVir includes several extra features which is amazing for a free antivirus.  The first is on demand scanning of the boot sector.  The boot sector is first and most basic area of a drive not accessible by Windows.  This makes it a perfect place for viruses to hide and has made a resurgence in the last few months.

Free AntiVir also includes a virus definition list so one can check all of the viruses the software has capability of detecting.  I am not aware of another free antivirus that has a search able virus definition list. It’s nice just to do a quick check confirming that a computer has the latest virus definitions.

Annoyances:

Free AntiVir will occasionally display a banner telling you about Conficker and how it can affect your computer.  The banner is a little disturbing and annoying

Pros:

• Gives you a paid antivirus feel
• Quick Updates and Performance
• Can View the Definition List and Manually Scan Boot Sector
• Very informative scans
• An excellent scanning engine
• Quick Automatic Updates
• Generally More automated than most free antivirus
• Has a resident scanner or on access scanning

Cons:

• Annoying Pop-Up banners
• Slow Scan Speed
• Need to Register

Bitdefender Interface Basic View

BitDefender has recently released Free Antivirus 2009.  The software uses the same antivirus engine as the paid Bitdefender version.  However, Bitdefender Free only includes on demand scanning and not on access or always on ptotection.  We also ran into a few bugs and annoyances upon installation and scanning.

Bitdefender Free Installation:

In order to get bitdefender free, you must first go to the bitdefender website.  Unfortunately, you need to register the software with an email address. The download link will be sent to your email address.  The program download is approximately 300 kilobytes and the download manager will download the rest of the antivirus program upon installation.  After the download is complete, the software requires a mandatory reboot.  I think this is interesting considering that the program only includes on demand scanning functionality yet it wants to also install a Windows service (requiring a reboot.)

First Bitdefender Use

Everytime the program starts up it will display a banner ad telling you the advantages of the paid version.  You are required to click through this ad each time.  Next, you will need to register again with Bitdefender.  This time you will need to enter in a user name and password.

Basic vs. Advanced Mode

I like Bitdefender’s attempt to create an advanced and basic mode.  The advanced mode will provide more information about the scan while the basic mode presents a clutter free environment.  The problem is when you start a scan under the advanced mode and then transfer back to the basic mode it doesn’t recognize that you have already started a scan.  The basic mode will then start a new scan on top of the original scan if a user isn’t careful.  The “Deep Scan” functionality also doesn’t work (this maybe due to my OS configuration.) I also didn’t like how the advanced scan didn’t show the progress of a scan, it just stated the current items and how many files had been scanned.

Bitdefender Updates:

The first bitdefender free antivirus update was about 10 megabytes and downloaded pretty slowly.  My biggest pet pieve was the fact that I had to reboot again after the update was applied. Why can’t the software update before the initial install was completed?

Bitdefender Detection and Performance

The bitdefender free antivirus utilizes the same detection engine as bitdefender’s other software antivirus.  The free edition is certified by ICSA, Virus Bulletin, and Westcoast Labs.  PC tools antivirus also has the same certifications.  Interestingly, according to the AV-comparatives report, Bitdefender was awarded an “Advanced” rating.  This was higher than the “Standard” rating given to AVG and Avast.  This suggests that against newer viruses Bitdefender is one of the most effective free antivirus software. However, a full system scan took quite a while.  It easily took over an hour for a 55 gigabyte operating system partition.  So be prepared to be patiently waiting for the system scan to complete.  Also, whether this is unique to my computer or not, my system crashed after the full system scan completed.

Lack of a Resident Shield or always on scanning

All of the other featured free antivirus software have a resident shield.  This is a crucial component to any antivirus product.  If a user downloads a program from bittorrent etc.  the virus will infect the system immediately. Bitdefender will only be able to detect the virus once a scan is run by the user or on a schedule.  However, Resident Shield protection is included with the paid version if you want to upgrade.

Conclusion:

Bitdefender lacks alot of the features included with other free antivirus.  Bitdefender  also has several software bugs and annoying pop ups.  However, the software exceeds in virus detection ability because it uses the same engine as the paid versions. One should at least scan their system with Bitdefender occasionally to make sure that computer is genuinley virus free.

Pros:

• The highest detection rate of the other free antivirus
• Utilizes the same scanning engine as the full product
• An established antivirus company

Cons:

• Need to register
• Large updates to download
• Need to reboot twice after installation
• Has pop-ups
• No on access scanning

PC Tool Antivirus Main Screen

PC tools is fairly new to the antivirus program scene.  The company  is best known for its award winning Spyware Doctor software.  While some users complain of  false positive detection with Spyware Doctor, the software has the capability to remove some of the nastiest spyware on the net.  PC tools antivirus inherits the same user interface and similar scan settings as Spyware Doctor.

Memory Usage

PC tools antivirus clearly uses the least amount of Ram of any antivirus software that I know of.  In idle mode the software uses approximately 712 kilobytes of RAM.  This is a real feat as it beats notepad.exe by about 700 kilobytes at 1.3 megabytes.  During an Intelliscan PC tools antivirus used approximately 4 megabytes of ram.  This is several times lower than other free antivirus solutions.  This makes the antivirus software  perfect for a netbook or any computer with fewer than 512 megabytes of Ram.

Scan Selection

I have always really liked how PC tools (e.g Spyware Doctor) presented the scanning options.  One can select an Intelliscan, Full Scan or Custom.  The later are included on most antivirus programs.  However, Intelliscan is an extremely efficient way of scanning a computer for malware.   Rather than scanning an entire drive for viruses, Inteliscan will scan a computer for the only the most prevalent areas that viruses can exist.  This would include the Windows folder and the Program Files folders etc.  The best part about the scan is that it took under 3 minutes to complete and therefore could easily be performed upon a computer’s startup.

Detection and Virus Deletion.

PC tools has an excellent scanning engine and several accolades to prove it.  The software is ICSA labs, Virus Bulletin, and WestCoast Labs certified.  These are all of the premier antivirus testing companies and basically guarantee that PC Tools free antivirus has benchmark detection capability.

Updates

If you go to the PC tools website you’ll see that the free version lacks fast updates.  During the installation I noticed that the program had to download an update that was 22.7 megabytes in size.  This was for sure the largest update I have ever seen for an antivirus program.  I am also surprised that the program didnt include some these detection signatures in the download file.  The update was just for “Database Updates” not any increased functionality so I wouldn’t exactly call the updates “smart”.  The good news is that the update downloaded fast.  Maybe the speed was slightly degraded but I was still able to download the updates in less than a minute.  However, this will vary with the speed of a users connection.

User experience and Control

PC Tools Free antivirus does an excellent job of presenting a streamlined clutter free interface.  This is a perfect match for most computer users and should be applauded. The biggest complaint I hear is that users see messages on their computer and have no clue how to remedy them.   However, if your looking to tweak how the antivirus does its scanning etc.  you’ll be hard pressed to find any advanced settings.  For example, you may only get a couple of drop down boxes to configure each of the individual scanners.

Windows 7 experience.

Everything in PC tools antivirus was functional except the file guard setting.  However, I am running a beta version of Windows 7 and all that may be required is a simple elevation of Administrator Rights to the program.

In Summary, PC tools Antivirus is an excellent choice for the novice computer user.  The interface is extremely well designed and the scans are fast.  I also really like how the resource usage was extremely low making the software perfect for scanning a system on every reboot.  However, if you are a power user you might want to consider an antivirus that would give you the option of tweaking more settings.

Pros:

• Extremely Fast Intelliscan Performance
• Fast Update Downloads
• A simple User Interface (GUI)
• Very low resource usage during scans and idle
• An excellent scanning engine

Cons:

• Not a lot of tweakable options
• Not a lot of technical information about detected items

Some of the Many Avast Modules

Avast version 4 has been out for a while.  In fact, I have been using the software for at least 5 years.  This is not necessarily a disadvantage rather it indicates Avast has been developed into complete antivirus solution.   The software includes 7 modules.  All of the modules are also completely controllable and its pretty amazing that this type of functionality is included in a free edition.

Instant Message Scanning Module.

This module scans all incoming and out bound messages for viruses.  This could prove extremely useful because I am constantly getting viruses that send me a link to “fun stuff .org” or go to this site which are almost always malicious.  The module supports all mainstream instant messaging clients such MSN, AIM, Yahoo, IRC, Google Talk etc.  Surprisingly, there is even support for more obscure clients such as Pidgin (GAIM) and QQ.

Internet Mail and Outlook scanning Module.

This is a feature I haven’t seen in other antivirus products. The Customizable features are truly amazing.  You can fine tweak the heuristic analysis of this module.  The highest level will check a message for 30 seconds. You can also create a whitelist of your trusted URL’s. Unlike, Free AVG the Avast Scanning module did an excellent job in tests.

Network Shield Module IDS (Intrusion Detection System) and Web Shield
Why,  is this included on a free product let alone a free antivirus?  This module will scan all incoming traffic for viruses and attempt to neutralize them.  This feature would normally only be included server antivirus.

P2P Shield

Free Avast also offers robust support for most P2P clients.  To my knowledge this is the only main stream antivirus let alone free antivirus that supports P2P traffic.  There is even support for popular clients like uTorrent.

Avast Installation, Scanning, and Performance.

Free Avast was really convenient to download.  The initial download was only 300 kilobytes.  While the software downloaded the rest of the program, which was several megabytes, this form of delivery is still convenient for people who main not have the fastest connection.  The installation went smoothly.  The only downside is that you have to register to get a free key for the Home Edition.  This is kind of annoying and will take you about 5 minutes to complete because you have to register your email address.

Avast scanning performance is pretty abysmal.  The scanning maybe even slower than Free AVG and will easily take an hour and a half for a 55 gigabytes operating system partition. While scanning, the program needs about 44 megabytes of memory but surprisingly doesn’t need a lot of cpu power.  However, while idle the software only uses about 1 megabyte of memory.  According to the installation ReadMe,  Avast can even be installed on 486 PC.  I’m not aware of any mainstream product that supports that low of computing requirement.

The efficacy of the scanning engine may also be a concern.   According to the, av-comparatives.org, an antivirus comparison testing website, Avast had many false positive detections. The product was only awarded a “Standard” rating for detection which is below the “Advanced” and “Advanced+” rating. This rating was the same as the AVG scanning engine.  However, in my experience Avast was able to quickly detect viruses and neutralize them.  Even when traveling abroad the software was easily capable of detecting  non well known viruses.

Free Avast Standout Features

Upon installation, the user will be prompted that the “VRDB” or Virus Recovery Database has been activated.  The VRDB software will take a snapshot of all of the programs on a computer and only activate during idle operation. The database will allow Free Avast to quickly recover any lost files from viruses attacks or deletion. This feature is clearly unique to Avast.

Another cool feature is Avast’s screen saver scanner.  The screen saver can be activated in the Windows Screen Saver menu and will scan the computer when the screen saver is activated.  This is a great way to have extra virus protection when a computer is not in use.  This feature is excellent for mission critical computers.

Conclusion

Free Avast has the most features of all of the free anvirus downloads that I have tested.  While the scanning is average it is still comparable to Free AVG’s detection.  Therefore, Avast will be a great free antivirus program for any computer.

Pros:

• An intuitive full featured free antivirus
• Screen Saver Scanner and VRDB virus recovery database
• Low system requirements

Cons:

• Not the most effective scanning engine
• Long system scans
• A somewhat dated user interface

Free AVG Main Screen

Free AVG has been around for a while.  It still seems to be the most popular free antivirus out there.  Just do a quick Google search “free antivirus” to prove this theory.  Version 8.5 brings a completely new interface update to the previous version 7.0 AVG software.

Link Scanner Plugin

AVG’s main big update is the inclusion of the link scanner which is an add on to either Internet Explorer or Firefox.  However, I question the necessity of the Link Scanner utility because Internet Explorer 7.0+ and Firefox 3.0+ already include built-in phishing security. The built-in browser protection is based on lists that are downloaded rather than sending each  individual URL.  However, with the link scanner every website you visit is submitted to AVG and then checked for malware.  So, while the tool bar may provide extra security you also need to be concerned about the potential privacy implications.   If the later is not  too much of a concern, consider installing the toolbar. I consider my privacy pretty important so I used the “Tools” > “Add ons” in Firefox to remove the toolbar.  In Internet Explorer 7.0 and 8.0 use the “Tools” > “Manage Add ons” to delete the Link Scanner.

Resource Usage Install Process

The installation process of AVG was pretty smooth.  However, unlike the previous versions of AVG the resource usage has significantly increased.  I originally installed Free AVG on a Centrino Mobile Laptop with 512 mb of ram and Windows XP. On this machine start up time was significantly increased and the computer was fairly sluggish as a result of the install.   However,  on newer systems with Windows Vista and Dual Core processors, Free AVG  functionality is significantly improved.  The Windows Task Manager indicated that the entire AVG process was using about 4 megabytes of RAM.  In relation to other antivirus programs Free AVG is very efficient under Vista.  There seems to be a discrepancy between resource usage in Windows XP vs. Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Virus Scanning Performance

Free AVG’s scanning performance was really sub par.  To scan a computer with a 55 gigabyte Operating System Partition, it took about 50 minutes.  This is several times higher than competiting antivirus (Norton and Kaspersky etc.)  that can scan an entire hard drive between 12 and 20 minutes.  The scan was also performed while there weren’t many background processes active.

Resident Shield and Updates

One of the great features of Free AVG is its Resident Shield.  Many free antivirus simply do not include always on scanning functionality.  In tests, Free AVG quickly detected the eicar test virus available from eicar.org.  While this test virus is known by all free antivirus it still was indicative of the speed at which Free AVG can detect and neutralize viruses.   Free AVG also includes free automatic updates.  However, this should not be used on a critical machine as updates can only be applied once everyday.  Competing antivirus such as Panda’s Cloud Antivirus can download new updates in as frequently as 15 minute intervals.

Virus and Spyware Detection Performance

Free AVG’s virus detection has been certified by ICSA labs and Virus Bulliten VB100.  These awards mean that Free AVG has benchmark capability at detecting viruses.  However, I have read online that users are experiencing problems with AVG’s false positive detection rate.  Essentially, Free AVG is detecting viruses that don’t exist and could potentially delete important files by accident.   In the spyware neighborhood Free AVG has significant problems.  In tests, Free AVG missed mainstream spyware such as Weather Bug and 180 Solutions etc.  However, this is due to the fact that AVG is a barebone antivirus program and not a Internet Security program.  If you want additional antispyware protection you’ll need to download a program such as Spyware Doctor or Malware Bytes. Also note that Free AVG doesn’t include root kit detection.  For those of you who don’t know what a root kit is, they are some of the most devastating viruses.  They are extremely hard to detect and delete.

Email Scanner

Simply put if you want an advanced email scanner consider a paid antivirus.  Free AVG’s email scanner is a hassle to configure and I never got it to fully work.

Conclusion

Free AVG is free and therefore lacks capability of paid antivirus.  Major Antivirus costs money for a reason.  However, if your not going to open your wallet for a paid antivirus solution, make sure you download AVG.  Its better than not having an antivirus program. Just remember to get an additional free antispyware solution.

Pros:

• The most popular free antivirus program
• Provides benchmark protection
• Link Scanner plugin makes surfing more safe from phishing sites

Cons:

• Very slow updates
• Full system scans take a while
• May slow down some systems