PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition
According to the experts and users reviews, the PC AntiVirus Free Edition is considered among top 5 free antivirus protection programs on the market. While it is not on the top three products selection (Avast, Avira, and AVG), it has several advantages, as, for example, the great simplicity of operations, which attract significant amount of the utility fans. Antivirus has been developed by PC Tools, the company, famous by other security related products and Spyware Doctor and ThreatFire.
Per authors description, with PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition you are protected against the most nefarious cyber-threats attempting to gain access to your PC and personal information. Going online without protection against the latest fast-spreading virus and worms, such as Netsky, Mytob and MyDoom, can result in infections within minutes.
Once infected, the virus will usually attempt to spread itself to your friends, family and associates by accessing your email contacts and networked PCs. The infection may also allow hackers to access files on your PC, use it to launch attacks against other computers and websites or to send mass SPAM email.
That's why PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition provides world-leading protection, with rapid database updates, IntelliGuard real-time protection and comprehensive system scanning to ensure your system remains safe and virus free. PC Tools products are trusted and used by millions of people everyday to protect their home and business computers against online threats.
Main Features
- IntelliGuard protection against computer viruses and related malware threats
PC Tools AntiVirus detects and eradicates viruses and related malware threats that attempt to enter computer systems by means of file transfer through storage media, e-mail, the Internet and other network protocols. Protection is provided by means of on-demand system scanning or real-time (IntelliGuard) detection of threats.
- Smart Updates to keep virus definitions and other feature enhancements up to date
Smart Updates are released frequently, allowing you to protect your system against the latest virus and related malware threats, as well as improvements to PC Tools AntiVirus' functionality. By running Smart Update regularly, you can help keep your system free of new infections.
- Customizable Scan Settings applicable to both PC Tools AntiVirus' on-demand file scan and real-time protection features
Scan settings are easily configurable and apply both to the on-demand scans and IntelliGuard scans (detection in real-time through the IntelliGuard tool). These scan options allow you to customize a range of generic and global settings which affect the overall behavior of PC Tools AntiVirus.
- Ability to quarantine and restore items that have been detected
PC Tools AntiVirus allows you either to remove detected viruses and related malware from your system or to quarantine them into a contained area. The majority of infections that have been quarantined can be restored at a later time. You can customize PC Tools AntiVirus either to remove or to quarantine malware items fixed in a scan.
- Logging of File Scans conducted by PC Tools AntiVirus
All File Scans conducted by PC Tools AntiVirus can be logged, providing a record of when each scan was conducted; the infections that were identified; and when infections were disinfected, quarantined or removed.
- Enhanced architecture providing enhanced infection removal capabilities for limited user accounts
PC Tools AntiVirus' service-based architecture allows user accounts with limited permissions to scan all areas of the operating system to ensure thorough removal of viruses and other related malware threats.
Strengths
- PC Tools AntiVirus program is easy to use and navigate. You can choose from two different scans. The full scan is what the average user will most often use. This will scan your entire computer. The other is a custom scan where you can choose which files you would like to scan.
- One of PC Tools' strengths is it makes a complicated process simple for the average user. This company has a good registry repair program as well as an antispyware program. Both have incorporated the same type of interface, which is great for the average user. The program has some great update features offering both automatic and manual updates, however this software doesn't offer as many features as the top-ranked products.
- Windows operated computers are not affected by PC Tools using memory. This antivirus software idle uses a little under 700 KB of RAM. Scanning, PC Tools only uses a little over 4 MB of RAM. This resource-friendly software is perfect for both new and older computers.
Weaknesses
- The normal scanning process is significantly slower than the average scan time with the competitive products.
- Trojan detection capabilities are quite limited, leaving space for the additional company utilities, focused on the malware threats detection and removal.
- While the program installs smoothly and looks relatively good, it doesn't schedule a scan by default, nor does it automatically update. The software will notify you once a day (by default) if an update is available, but to make it do the updating by itself, you will need to turn on the Smart Update feature.
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