PC Tools Antivirus – Free Virus Removal Software, AntiSpyware
PC Tools Antivirus protects you from cyber threats both local and remote. If you go online without you’re running a risk of getting infections from hackers and malware from websites. PC Tools Antivirus protects your computer with database updates, their very own IntelliGaurd(tm) real time protection, and comprehensive protection from both virii and spyware. PC Tools Antivirus comes in two flavors, a free virus removal software, a registered version, and a $30 registered paid edition.
PC Tools Antivirus is pretty user friendly. There are two different scan modes, a full scan and a custom scan. The full scan will scan your whole computer, meaning every disc. The custom scan allows you to select certain drives or folders. PC Tools Antivirus doesn’t come with its faults. It is horrendously slow in comparison to other programs. PC Tools Antivirus updates their anti-virus definitions every night. When you want to scan for viruses, switch on or off various features, or check your PC’s status, it’s a matter of clicking a button. The user interface is intuitive, the freeware version of the software is great until you seek help, and in what is otherwise an okay program, the help feature throws a wrench into it. It is hard to navigate, even for an experienced user.
PC Tools has won nearly a hundred awards for its products. They also provide 24/7 phone technical support for their free virus removal software registered version of PC Tools Antivirus. The program is a 42Mb download and it uses about 700Kb of ram when running in idle mode. In addition to this, the program runs in a factory set “intelli-scan” mode, which basically scans predefined areas of the computer, where viruses and spyware are proven to lurk and hide. PC Tools Antivirus does not come without its faults though; it did not pick up any of the viruses I had that were in zipped or other forms of compressed folder, though the virus’s effectiveness too is diminished as it cannot infect your computer while locked away in a compressed folder. PC Tools Antivirus did detect all of the malware samples though, so it is still a good product which works. Finally, I’d like to tell you about the Intelligaurd function. The Intelligaurd function provides real time protection for your files, memory, and e-mail. You configure what they call “Trusted Zones” or port lists; basically, it’s a list (“zone”) of user defined ports and services that you trust. An example of this would be ports 25 and 110, for SMTP traffic and POP3 traffic respectively. The additional benefit of this is that you can configure PC Tools Antivirus to trust additional ports, such as port 587 and port 995 which provide ingress and egress SSL encryption for e-mail traffic.
In closing, PC Tools Antivirus is a very comprehensive program for protecting your computer from local virus infections as well as malware. It is free virus removal software, though business users must buy the retail version and it just works. The trusted zone feature is nice as it allows you to assign services which don’t pose an immediate threat to your security. PC Tools Antivirus is very good at virus removal and provides free virus removal.
Have you tried PCTools Antivirus before? How did you like it? Leave your comments below!
