Trend Micro 2009 is their latest software package and one of the packages that we have put to the test and have made our exclusive report available to you at this time, and to begin with I will start with the setup.

Setup:
Our installation was clean and even a reboot was not required. After activation, the signature databases were updated as well as any program updates it needed. If you ever want to uninstall an independent option is also available. A few traces of the product were found upon reboot.

Interface:

The interface is an enhancement of last year’s version, removing some odd features. Down the left side are nicely place Overview, Virus and Spyware Controls, Personal Firewall Controls, Internet and E-Mail Controls, and Other Settings. Clicking any of these buttons will open a more detailed view in the right windowpane.

In Trend Micro 2009, there are additional features that appear in the form of a pop-up dialogue, including protection for mobile phones, system utilities, and onscreen keyboard.

Prominent at the bottom are buttons Scan Now and Update Now. The whole page is color coded to inform you about the status and uses the now-standard red for alert, yellow for warning, and green for good.

Features:

A simple antivirus scanner and also in addition a antispyware scanner was provided in Trend Micro Antivirus plus. A utility tracks your system files and notifies you if some changes occur to your system.

Updates:

Updates are both available as automatic and manual. Automatic updates checks for updates every few hours, three hours to be more precise. If an update requires a reboot then you shall be notified by the program.

Performance Speed:

In Labs’ performance tests, Trend Micro Internet Security 2009, in general, scored even with Norton Internet Security 2009 this year. In one third-party independent antivirus test, Trend Micro 2008 scored well, in the upper-middle rank.

On the iTunes test, Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 came in at a respectable 271 seconds, 3 seconds longer than our test system. On the Microsoft Office test, Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 finished last at 1,415 seconds, better than some standalone antivirus products.

During a test in which  scanning a single folder with compressed and media files, Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 had very respectable results, completing this test in 229 seconds, only a few seconds more than Norton.

In terms of boot speed, Trend Micro Internet Security 2009, at 30.45 seconds, was much faster than Norton Internet Security 2009, at 33 seconds.

In terms of whether Trend Micro Internet Security 2009 will protect your PC, we mention results from two leading independent antivirus testing organizations.

From AVtest.org, Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 found 91 percent of the malicious software and 88 percent of the adware in the September 2008 test.

These are some pretty impressive results. Despite faltering on the On Demand antispyware portion, Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 scored average or better in the other individual tests performed.

Support :

Some good technical support is offered by Trend Micro. The good thing is it is free. You are first directed to an Answer Guide. If you can’t find what you are looking for in the FAQ, then you can search the knowledge base, submit a question via e-mail, conduct an online chat (1 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends), or even call a representative of Trend Micro(5 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays only).

Some other Help/support features include PDF-file documentation. There is also a video tutorial (which other vendors should supply but don’t), an interactive learning guide to the product’s features, and a Getting Started manual that covers the basics.

Conclusion

Tidy interface is impressive. Good effective and helpful live-chat support is available. Scanning abilities for vulnerabilities is not bad. Installation is difficult on malware-infested systems.

The interface looks almost the same as the previous one, except that the familiar controls are now on a tab named My Computer. So there is nothing much new in the interface to praise about.

With the latest edition Trend Micro Virus Scan 2009 aims at boosting protection, reducing worries for the user, and does it all using fewer system resources.

Trend Micro Virus Scan 2009 is a significant improvement over last year’s edition. Its features go along better, some user-interface peculiarity is fixed, and it recovered from installation problems much more conveniently.

Bottom Line:

A great product to challenge is competitors. Much improved protection-definitely worth giving a try.

System Requirements

• Compatible Microsoft Operating Systems
• Windows Vista (32/64-bit) Ultimate/Business/Home Premium/Home Basic, with SP1
• Windows XP Home or Professional Edition with SP 3
• Windows XP Media Center/Tablet PC 2005 Editions with SP3

CPU Requirements

• Windows Vista (32/64-bit) Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Ultimate Intel Pentium 800MHz (1GHz recommended)
• Windows XP Home/Professional/Media Center/Tablet PC, Intel Pentium 350MHz

Memory Requirements

• 256MB RAM for Windows XP (512MB recommended)
• 512MB RAM for Windows Vista Home Basic (1GB recommended)
• 1GB for Windows Vista Home Premium/Business/Ultimate

Disk Space and Misc.

• 300MB HD required
• Supports Web Browsers
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with SP2* for Win XP
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0
• Mozilla Firefox 2.0
• Supports Instant Messaging Software
• MSN Messenger 7.5
• Windows Live Messenger 8.0

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The following review is what we experienced with the various tests we did on Panda and what you can expect if you decide to purchase it for yourself.

Installation:
Panda comes bundled in a 35 MB file that can be downloaded off the internet. During the installation process it performed a scan to detect any kind of unwanted stuff. Though, no details of the scan was shown to us and neither was any trace of this scan was found after the installation-pretty weird.

The details should have been displayed for us to see which program it caught. Uninstalling: It is quite simple and straight forward. There is a feature named uninstall wizard. After a rebooting there was no traces of Panda AV were left.

Panda Antivirus 2010 includes an interface with bright, contrasting colors and basic graphics.

Interface:

The interface is pretty basic and it may seem unreal and may be too basic. The color scheme this time was much better than the previous version which was not much appealing.

Though all the options were nicely placed and within reach. One thing odd was that during a manual scan all the features if the program were inaccessible.

A novice user can easily begin scans or update the definitions and in advanced mode expert users can have more control over the settings. Some basic scans can be scheduled but with limited control.

Extra Features:

Panda Anti-virus scans and blocks viruses only. The full version also includes protection against malware and its different forms. Not much features are available in this stripped down version.

Performance Speed:

Panda scored nearly average of the antivirus products in Labs’ performance tests. On iTunes test, Panda was fast at 270 seconds, just 2 seconds more than our test system. On our Microsoft Office test, Panda was firmly in the middle at 1,355 seconds.

In a test scanning a single folder with compressed and media files, Panda scored a speedy 135 seconds, however, the default setting excludes many of the compressed files used in our test. And in terms of boot speed, Panda did poor and came in last at 39 seconds.

Panda Antivirus is a good AV product with decent speed for inexperienced users, but it would be better to see at least a scheduled full scan for better disk protection. If you’re looking for some broad protection and more control, NAV will be a better choice.

Scanning:

It uses generic engine heuristics with real-time scanner. We have the option to add file types and turn on compressed file scanning in real-time scanner. Scan results inform us about detailed stats on files infected and cleaned files. By default it deletes the virus upon detection.

For quarantine there is an option but to purchasing a platinum version which includes this feature and will cost you around $70. Some settings can be confusing.

For instance, you can enable heuristic scanning, but there’s no indication as to whether it’s working for on-demand scans, real-time, or both.

If you disable the real-time scanner it should come back automatically but in this case it doesn’t. The simple options might be attract novice users but other may want their control over scans and actions of the AV.

Support:

Local E-mail support is available in 40 countries but there is no phone support. An interactive troubleshooter helps you pin down solutions. It takes you to an unappealing knowledgebase section. It lacks significant details.

The software also includes a tool that lets you send suspicious file to an S.O.S service for further analysis. This feature should have been automated but unfortunately it isn’t. ‘Hot topics’ takes you to all the questions that already have been answered.

Least we can say here is that support for Panda AV is not much satisfying.

Conclusion:

Though a decent Anti-virus but the price tag makes you think twice. It has many tough and good competitors in market available for the same price range. They offer much better protection and features at the same price. One good thing that impressed us was the inclusion of antispyware to detect all those nasty spyware.

The bottom line: It lacks third party-tests to prove its worth and failed to draw attention.

Software

• License Type Complete package
• License Qty 3 PCs
• License Pricing Standard
• Platform Windows
• Distribution Media CD-ROM ( Mini-box )
• Package Type Retail

System Requirements

• OS Required Microsoft Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows Vista
• Microsoft Windows XP 64-bit Edition
• Microsoft Windows Vista (64-bit versions)
• Software Requirements Internet Explorer 6.0
• Min Processor Type 150 MHz
• Peripheral / Interface Devices CD-ROM
• System Requirements Details Pentium – RAM 64 MB – HD 170 MB

Service & Support

• Service & Support New releases update
• Service & Support Details New releases update – 1 year
• Phone consulting – 1 year – availability: 24 hours a day / Monday-Sunday
• E-mail consulting – 1 year – availability: 24 hours a day / Monday-Sunday
• Web support – 1 year – availability: 24 hours a day / Monday-Sunday
• Security alert notification – 1 year

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It just so happens that we were interested enough in their newest creation to do a detailed review over it and pass this information over to you. so without further ado, this is what you can expect from Norton this year.

Let’s start with the installation:

Installation process is admirable. The only thing you need to do is click one big button that says that you agree to the license- after that, the software is fast and happens automatically.

From the first click to the installed product launching took a minute and a half when we timed it; activation just took another one minute. The initial Live Update of malware definitions required one more minute. Whole process took place in an amazing 4 minutes.

The Interface:

The user interface is sleek and simplified. The main window includes a nice huge CPU usage meter that independently tracks system-wide usage and usage specific by Norton. When the system seems to slow down; you give a quick look to see who is to be blamed.

Performance:

This latest product by Symantec unlike the past products makes sure that you get top-notch performance without eating away the system resources.

Process like downloading new virus definition or scanning for malware can significantly slow down the system, so the product performs these tasks when the system has been idle for a while, more specifically 10 minutes.

A link located at the top of CPU meter opens a detailed display of CPU and memory usage over the last 90 minutes. Typically you’ll see a steep rise in Norton specific CPU use during times marked on the chart as idle. The software also contains a log showing you when various tasks last ran.

There is another performance tool located below CPU meter that can be accessed by a link. Another awesome feature is the Norton Insight, speeding the malware scanning by indentifying files that can be trusted. All executables are checked against a huge data base containing trusted programs.

Also there is a display showing files that it has exempted.  The full scans become faster after Insight completes its assessment. This full system check if not manually launched occurs during the system idle time.

Norton adds about 15 seconds to the boot time when compared to the system running without the Norton installed. This is not too much and is about the same when compared to some of the other standard leading AV in the market.

Updates:

Live Updates takes place every 8 hours to get most up to-date definition and signatures. To protect against nasty threats that spread much faster than than 8 hours, pulse updates checks for signatures after every few minutes.

Additional Security:

Antiphishing is a feature that checks for frauds, parental controls checks for inappropriate content, and malware protection is also quite impressive.

Compared to the  ZoneAlarm’s 30 percent to Kaspersky’s 65 percent  Norton  only increased the browsing  time to 13 percent to the time, which is quite impressive.

The big self-determining antivirus testing labs all certify the efficiency of Symantec’s antivirus technology. West Coast Labs and ICSA Labs certify it for both detection and cleaning, and West Coast also confirms its Trojan horse detection ability.

European lab AV-Comparatives tested the 2008 edition’s ability to detect and remove known malware as well as to proactively spot malware without using signatures.

AV-Comparatives rated it Advanced+ (the top rating) for signature-based detection but just Standard (the lowest passing grade) for proactive detection.

AV-Test, another European lab, tested both the 2008 and 2009 editions in August and rated them in a dozen significant areas. The 2008 edition received Satisfactory, Good, or Very Good on all tests, with Very Good being the highest rating in all the areas.

The 2009 edition was rated Good or Very Good in every category a significant improvement. Norton’s antivirus scans files on access, on demand, and on schedule.

However, the scheduled scan is turned off by default, because real-time protection and the automatic idle-time scan render it unnecessary.

Those who wish can schedule full or custom scans to run on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, or to run at start-up or log-on, but it really isn’t necessary.

We installed Norton on a dozen systems infested with malicious software of many types, among them adware, spyware, rootkits, Trojans, worms, and rogue antispyware. Its speedy installation was a great bonus. Also the fact that it doesn’t require a reboot after installation.

Norton’s installation went effortlessly on all of the infested test systems, though there were a couple of obstructions during the cleanup process.  Scanning on any standard clean test system took 50 minutes, quite a bit longer than most others. Usually 30 minutes is about average, and ZoneAlarm managed the job in just 20.

However, that was before Norton Insight had finished processing. After Norton Insight identified 90 percent of the files as trusted. A rescan took 5 minutes, which quite impressive.

Overall Conclusion:

We evaluate the Norton Anti-Virus as one of the best Anti-virus currently available in the market- matching performance to some of the best products.

With significant increase in performance hats-off to Symantec for producing the best product yet. The top- notch security the product offers, after installation we may no longer fear any deadly viruses or other malicious software.

For those of you, who still believe that Norton cannot be quick and light on resources, think twice before making another prejudice opinion. Definitely, a recommended product worth your money!

System Requirements:  (obtained from the official website)

Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Ultimate*
Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 and later Home/Professional/ Media Center Edition
Microsoft® Windows 7 ready***

• 300 MHz or faster processor
• 256 MB of RAM (**512 MB RAM required for the Recovery Tool)
• 150 MB of available hard disk space.

Email scanning supported for POP3- and SMTP-compatible email clients.

Required for all installations:

CD-ROM or DVD drive (if not installing via electronic download)
Support for AntiSpam feature

• Microsoft Outlook® 97 or later
• Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 or later

Browser support for Browser Protection feature

• Microsoft Internet Explorer® 32-bit 6.0 or higher
• Mozilla Firefox® 2.0 or higher

*Must meet minimum Windows Vista operating system requirements.
**Tested on AMD 1600+ CPU based PC with Windows XP Service Pack 2, and without security software previously installed.
***Microsoft Windows 7 compatibility update to be delivered online, and is subject to production release of the Windows 7 operating system within the service period. For more information, go to www.norton.com/win7. See Microsoft for Windows 7 system requirements.

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For this reason I have decided to review McAfee’s latest virus protection to help anyone interested in protecting your personal information.

Setup:

McAfee persists with a method to use a bootstrap, a method of downloading code to your machine, it then installs the suite module by module. However in this edition the process was much faster in our informal tests.

According to McAfee, this method permits it to offer the latest build; the other alternative is to install the product, then immediately update. As a whole the process is quite simplified and straight forward.

Uninstalling:

If you ever want to remove McAfee Internet Security 2009, there will be no uninstalling option for McAfee in the Start menu listing. Instead, use the traditional windows uninstaller to get rid of the software.

After a reboot, we found its little evidence on our machine. So a clean uninstall feature should have been provided.

Interface:

The interface was impressive integrating all of its tools–security, utility, and networking–in one interface. This feature of integrating all the tools really came in handy.

The McAfee Security Center offers a left-hand navigation for all tools, with a right-hand windowpane for system status. There are two types of contents: one lists basic features, which should be sufficient for most people, while a second lists tools that are more advanced.

Features:

McAfee VirusScan offers some quality set of features:

• Scheduled scanning can be set to scan your system at a desired time, but you will not be able to do  multiple schedules at once.
• A new feature called Quick Scan will scan for the most common areas within your computer that are hit by viruses.
• Disk boot sectors
• System memory and startup objects are included in these areas.
• Added protection for Viruses, Trojans, Spyware and Malware is also provided.

Some further features of the new McAfee system include:

• McAfee’s Active Protection (also known as Artemis) which will enable the product to detect and remove a new threat that is only a few minutes old. Heuristics and built-in signature files are used by the program to identify unknown threats. Daily signature updates are provided to keep the product updated.

One excellent new feature introduced is the provision of Active Protection, McAfee’s near-instant communication with the master signature back at McAfee database.

If a new malicious software is caught by McAfee Internet Security, rather than wait for the new update to become available, protection is sent back to the desktop.

By comparison, Norton uses mini database updates every few minutes. In Labs’ performance tests, McAfee 2009, in general, scored noticeably better than last year’s version, and on one test it scored better than Norton Internet Security 2009.

In third-party, independent antivirus testing using live viruses, McAfee Internet Security 2009 scored in the upper ranks, although not always at the top position.

In terms of boot speed, McAfee Internet Security 2009 took only 30 seconds, faster than Norton and most of the other suites we tested. In terms of whether McAfee Internet Security 2009 will protect your PC, we quote results from two leading independent antivirus testing organizations.

In the September 2008 AV-test.org results, McAfee Internet Security 2008 scored well, having a few false positives, but is scored toward the bottom of the list in response times to new threats.

In the latest test results from AV-Comparatives.org for on-demand scans, McAfee VirusScan Plus 2009 earned an Advanced (second highest) rating, catching 94 percent of all malicious software tested, falling behind Norton, Kaspersky, Eset Nod32, and others.

Support:

An Emergency Response team, constantly monitors the worldwide virus behavior to provide you with the maximum safety. The always-on protection protects against viruses, spyware and other Internet threats that may enter your PC.

McAfee lacks a bit on the technical support end. Unlike Trend Micro and Norton, which both offer free telephone support, McAfee only offers its support for a limited time.

The 30-day free phone support is accessible daily from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Pacific. Afterward, telephone support is starts to cost you at $9 per minute or incident.

Virtual Technician is software available as an extra plug-in. It diagnoses the current state of your AV and can recommend some actions to improve it. It doesn’t have a manual or other online support.

Conclusion:

McAfee is faster lighter and much improved when compared to its previous versions. It is a proved to be a competitor when compared to some of the best products available in the market. Instant updates are available instantly to keep your product updated.

Comparing the product to one of the best products like Norton Internet Security we notice that this product offers more features combined with a decent interface.

Much of its features can be customized according to ones needs. Technical support can be improved and test scores could have been higher but still its offers some unprecedented security.

The bottom line:

Security provided by this remarkable software is no joke and can be compared to some of the best products available in the market. Definitely it is an incredible piece of software worth trying!

System Requirements:

Operating System -

• Windows 2000 (32-bit) with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or higher
• Windows XP (32-bit) with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or higher
• Windows Vista (32 or 64-bit)

System Memory – 256 MB RAM
Monitor – 800 X 600 or higher resolution
Storage – 150 MB of available free drive space
Internet – Internet connection
Browser – Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later (optional: Mozilla Firefox 1.5 or later)

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As put by the eTrust company:

“CA Anti-Virus for the Enterprise is the next generation in comprehensive anti-virus security for business PCs, servers and PDAs. It combines proactive protection against malware with new, powerful management features that stop and remove malicious code before it enters your network, reducing system downtime”.

So we decided to place CA under the microscope this time and have taken the time to share with you exactly what we have discovered…

Download Your CA 2009 Anti-Virus NOW!

Installation:

After laying hands on the latest CA Associate 2009 we got down to business by installing the product and we found that installation was a breeze, and was quick and easy but found that registration proved to be somewhat a nuisance.

But the results were unanimous, and installation took a couple of minutes without proving a burden on system resources.

Interface:

After the installation, it came down to clean, sleek and elegant interface. The interface is well designed, including something for both the average user and a professional.

The interface includes nicely placed tabs at the left for quick access to its features and a status bar at front informing the user about the current status of the system.

Protection:

CA anti-virus provides top-notch protection against the latest threats of viruses, worms and Trojans and other malicious programs. It also includes an online e-mail scanner.

Comprehensive Spyware Detection and Removal tool protects you from all the spyware hidden deep in your system.

Updates:

To ensure perfect security from everyday threats it includes an online updater that download the latest definitions daily to ensure that your product remains up-to date.

It updates itself automatically (if set to automatic updates) and frequently to ensure that its signature never turn out-of-date.

Scanning:

It includes a standard Scheduled and on-Demand Scanning feature and also Real-time Scanning to protect you from any threats that you may encounter while accessing your files.

It also means that any spyware, virus and Trojans residing in your memory are detected and cleaned, and also includes Advanced Heuristic Scanning and Archive Scanning for those files that sound suspicious and also those that are in compressed formats.

This feature impressed us during our review. Custom scanning allows you to search for nasty virus exactly where you what it to, and allows for scsas of any specific drives, files,  or folders you want.

Detailed Scan results are put in an organized manner for your viewing allowing you the opportunity to view the path or source of the threat detected.

Evaluating Performance:

But beneath the surface, CA proved awful at the fundamental task of identifying and blocking malicious software. German research company AVTest.org performed the malware testing portion of the product.

When it pitted CA’s suite against its 674,589-strong collection of dormant malware samples, AV-Test.org found that the it caught only 63 percent, meaning that almost four out of every ten pieces of malware slipped right by its defenses.

This result isn’t even in the same league when compared to the other products that we tested. The next worst product, caught 86 percent of the samples in this test.

Also, CA miserably failed to detect almost half of all spyware and adware; its detection rate of 56 percent was the worst recorded for any of the eight suites in our collection.

And in tests of the suite’s ability to use one-month old signature files to detect newer malware, it again hit rock bottom. The suite spotted an insufficient 3.5 percent of new threats.

CA did prove quite effective in dealing with rootkits, detecting and cleaning all six samples that AV-Test.org threw at it. Only Norton matched the strong performance of CA’s suite on this test.

Further, the CA suite issued just one false positive warning in connection with a harmless file; and it was relatively fast, scanning 10MB of data per second during user-started scans–the third-best result we got among the other suites we tested.

CA wasn’t nearly as rapid at responding to malware outbreaks. Delivering signatures for new threats in an average of 12 to 14 hours. Certified by Independent Testing Organization “West Coast Labs as effective spyware protection”

Support:

The company offers decent online support. CA also offers direct phone support for $19.95 per incident. Free online chat and e-mail services are also provided to the valued customers.

There are a good number of options available online like the FAQ’s. Though some of these options are buried deep and you may struggle a bit to find these options though!

System Requirements:

**Product does not support Windows 98/Me**

• Windows 2000 (SP4+), Windows XP (SP1+), or Windows Vista™
• Visit shop.ca.com/64bit to download an upgrade to 64bit at no additional charge and for more information
• 256 MB RAM (512 MB for Windows Vista)
• 300 MHz or higher processor (800 MHz for Windows Vista)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher (7.0 for Windows Vista)
• 35 MB hard disk space
• CD-ROM drive
• Internet access
• Download Size: 32.8 MB

That about wraps up our review of CA’s 2009 Anti-Virus protection, and as you can see though it does not do as well as some of the other virus protection we have reviewed it is still a viable fit for your computer’s protection and will do well for the price you pay.

Click Here to go to the CA website and ORDER CA 2009 Anti-Virus today!

Download Your CA 2009 Anti-Virus NOW!

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