Kaspersky Antivirus 2009: A Half-Colored Version
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: 2009, antivirus, test | Themes: Software
- 1. One-Stop Comparison for 14 Anti-Virus Titles
- 2. Anti-Virus Basics
- 3. Comodo Internet Security v3.8: The Newbie
- 4. Avira Antivir Personal Free Edition v9.0.0386: The Best of the Freebies
- 5. Clamwin Free Antivirus 0.94.1: Open Source Protection Software
- 6. Avast! 4.8 Home Edition Free: The Classic
- 7. BitDefender Total Security 2009: A Balanced Choice
- 8. F-Secure Internet Security 2009: A Disappointment
- 9. Trend Micro PC-Cillin Internet Security Pro 2009: A Reasonable Option
- 10. McAfee Internet Security 2009: Very Complete
- 11. Norton Antivirus 2009: The Choice For Ease and Simplicity
- 12. Panda Global Protection 2009: An Outsider Who’s Left In The Dust
- 13. G-Data Total Care 2009: The Heavy Weight Of Security
- 14. ESET Smart Security 4 (Nod32 Antivirus 4): A Positive Evolution
- 15. Kaspersky Antivirus 2009: A Half-Colored Version
- 16. AVG Internet Security v8.5 (paid version): An Insufficient Evolution of What You Can Get For Free
- 17. The Verdict
- 18. The Test Protocol
- 19. More on this topic
15. Kaspersky Antivirus 2009: A Half-Colored Version
- Anti-Virus 2009 (Full...
Known and celebrated for the past few years for its numerous functions, Kaspersky is incontestably one of the kings of the anti-virus market. We’ll find out if the 2009 version lives up to its good reputation.
A Magnificent Interface That Misses A Few Opportunities
Very readable due to a judicious choice of color and graphics that are both careful and discrete, the Kaspersky interface is a real aesthetic win for the company and definitely takes the cake in this roundup. The principal information appears in the form of a very clear instrument panel and the alerts are very easy to see as well.
The default settings are consistently logical, but we were unpleasantly surprised by the advanced settings that were completely inaccessible, even though the preceding versions from Kaspersky distinguished themselves by giving many different possibilities in this domain. This is a very strange adjustment for the company to make, indeed.
Effective Protection Would Benefit From A Few Adjustments
The threat-detection engine works well during the internal disk scan, even if several threats contained in some older files passed through the mesh of the protection program’s net. The resident protection is not very proactive–it is effective against most viruses, with the notable exception of text files, which are a classic refuge for certain kinds of viruses.
The absence of an automatic scan during the insertion of external drives is also a bit of a problem. The email-protection feature is effective enough, and the neutralization of infected attachments makes it possible to open the email that came with the file. Then again, viruses embedded in text files are not detected. It is unfortunate that the detection engine for these threats is not more attentive to these documents because the treatment of the viruses that are identified is very effective.
A Limited Inconvenience
The 2009 version of Kaspersky's anti-virus software causes Windows' start-up time to slow down significantly (+58%), and it takes up a large amount of processor resources during the internal hard drive scan.
The duration of the operation is the shortest measured during all of our tests (20 minutes) and the uninstall procedure of the software is very efficient–only two keys are left in the register at the end of the process.
Conclusion
Deprived of its principle attraction in the eyes of advanced users by making it impossible to access the advanced settings option and handicapped by feeble protection, the 2009 version from Kaspersky doesn’t really convince us of its worth. The price is a bit higher, too ($59.95 per user per year), even though the additional software only offers the strict minimum, and in order to get the firewall feature, you have to pay double the price.
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- Next page AVG Internet Security v8.5 (paid...
And here I thought AVG Free was the best free antivirus.
Kaspersky internet security/ anti-virus does not look like that.. what the heck
No NOD32?
What about Microsoft's own Oncecare
These guys sound like they don't know what they are talking about. They claimed that Avast skips text files even though "they are a classic refuge for malevolent programs." Text files cannot be executed and therefore cannot contain viruses. The pictures they have are different as well. In any case I am a happy user of Avast and prefer it to McAfee and Norton but have not tried the others.
the picture they use for Avast is with a different skin. You can switch the skin at anytime.
I m using avast home too. I think the scanning for HD is bit longer and taxing a lot on my P4 2.6. But its free..no complain...
what about Kespersky ??? lol so much missing good antivirus software
Spanish Kespersky = norman?
French... T_T?? not english there we go
KASPERSKY Ftw ...
what I used to like on Tom's site was the use of graphs... can't find any in this round up. More over how the can you judge resident scan performance just on start up time? What about disk R/W after all services have been initialized?
Anyway quite poor article
I use Norton NIS 2009, and have had problems that made me look for another. When I saw this article, I said "Great timing lol !"
Unfortunately, there is nothing in this article that inspires confidence in either the comparisons or the conclusions. There are comments about Norton that my personal experiences tell me are incorrect (at least in the US).
And, as said before, no tables, etc.
Very disappointing.
@Shadow703793: NOD32 is in page 14
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/2009-a [...] 15-14.html
@romain_75: Kaspersky in page 15
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/2009-a [...] 15-15.html
@shurcooL: So do I, use AVG for last 3 years thinking it was best one.
May be good time for change ...
eset smart security 4!!!and zone alarm extreme security 8
I'm very surprised to hear that Norton is not a resource hog. It is the reason I switched to free AV software like Avast and AVG. I'm not going back to Norton even if they paid me...OK I might consider it.
Why do you have pictures of Kaspersky on the page with AVG antivirus?
haha kapersky became norman.. avg became kepersky.. lol
Was this review bought or something? For Norton to get such a good review I am leaning towards it being bought. I mean c'mon, Norton not being a resource hog and stealing your system. How do you expect us to believe that?
Why not review Kaspersky Internet Security, instead of just the Antivirus, when the Internet Security package for other brands were reviewed?
Also, The KAV Internest Securitiy is $54.99 at Walmart. The review stated it was double.
I seriously have my doubts and found myself shaking my head after reading the reviews for several of the products in here.
I'm surprised you didn't give a "Best Value" award... I'd say for best value go with Trend Micro, for less than $20 you can get protection for 3 PCs for one year (Look online you will find it). I use it on all my computers and no complaints.