AntiVirus Reviews

Overview:

Pros:

• Absolute active protection technology
• Enhanced 2-way firewall
• New home screen
• New scheduler and idle timer
• Enhanced alert system
• Improved help center
• Advanced firewall integration

Cons:

• Registration a must
• Misses out on a few essential features

Review:

When it comes to purchasing antivirus software, you might want to go for a company that you will be able to trust, as the internet threats are really serious. This is one of the reasons why McAfee is one of the major choices for those looking for software suite. Nobody will argue with us if we said that McAfee is one among the chief names in the industry of security software for computers. While we have to confess that they are not the most efficient of quickest in the current market, they do have a few positives about itself that makes it a very attractive option for system security.

Installation:

The installation and set-up process has been simplified by a great deal, which is an update that any consumer will appreciate. Installation of McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 took about three minutes and one second. When compared to the BitDefender software, the company employs a restricted number of dialog boxes and prompts while installation. While it is not as smooth as Nortion Antivirus 2011 installation, the company still tries to keep the process quite simple, without outing their customers through the technical issues like BitDefender. You will find a banner at the top which will indicate the security state of your system. You will also find a list of easy to understand commands that you can find from the HTML type of links. When you click over it, a mini menu will open to the right side of the instruction with some sub options. It will take you just a couple of clicks to get the complete scan of your system up and running and it is not terrible either. You will also find a features box below the dashboard that will find a complete list of securities offered by McAfee.

Get protected from the get-go:

This suite sports the required set of features to make sure that your security is perfect from the minute you start working, such as finding and removing the threats that install themselves and this type of precautionary actions just makes sure that you get a quick installation sans getting stopped by any sort of malware that already resides in your system. The account settings are quite easy to adjust and the McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 Software even offers one of the best Microsoft Outlook 2010 integration. The ease of use of the entire suite has been improved.

Ease of use:

For most of you out there, schedule of the scans and making necessary changes to the settings within 2011 McAfee AntiVirus Plus the suite should be quite easy. The interface that has got a make-over is not anything fancy, but is quite simple and straightforward giving easy navigation. From the main menu, you will be able to access all the important features and the security banner that is differentiated by colours so that you will be able to immediately identify if the security if your software is updated and you can get to any problems immediately. One important thing that you will have to note here is that, the suite does not need any sort of continuous safeguarding. However, you must also be aware of the fact that it has been designed to safeguard your system, as and when you access the files or just browse online. The suite is quite inconspicuous. Of course, there will be a couple if pop-ups, but you can just turn off all the notifications that are not necessary.

Scanning:

Similar to most of its rivals, McAfee too offers support for complete Scan of your drive and also a quick scan and look for major issues. You can also run a custom scan seeking for the malware and other issues in hard drive and network that concerns you the most. Scanner of the suite will remove the unwanted viruses and programs and also track cookies that will take care of browsing. There is a checkbox provided that allows you the shutdown your system once the complete scan gets over. Again, a very handy feature that initiates physical virus scan during late night.

Registration- A Must:

One of the major issues with the interface is with the process of registration. There are cases when you will not want to register a product. However, with the McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 you are given no preference other than to register it as soon as the software is bought.

What is new?

The McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 provides virus protection and heaps more, with a little added tools that enhance its effectiveness. Features wise, what is new with the McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011? Well, to begin with, it has an improved two way firewall, and as we had mentioned earlier, an alert system that is less intrusive now and enhanced integration with Microsoft Outlook 2010. The McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 suite offers you protection against a number of threats such as viruses, identity theft and spyware. It is a absolute antivirus suite, protecting your system from the worms, rootkits, common viruses, and Trojans. This suite also has the ability to sense and keep away from attacks from malicious scripts, dialers, hackers, adware, phishing scams, and heaps more.

QuickClean and Disk Fragmenter:

You will be able to realise that there are quite a few functionalities that the suite does not have, but it also has a few unique features that are not always found on most mainstream antivirus suites. All in all, it has quite a set of functionalities that allows your PC or Mac to provide better performance such as a shredder, disk fragmenter and QuickClean. These updations made will not only be consistent, but will also be automatic, that is only as long as you have a subscription for it. With the digital file shredder feature, you will be able to permanently and safely eliminate the junk and sensitive files and folders. You can even shred them off up to ten times for the sake of complete elimination. The QuickCleaner tool has been designed to fix or remove the fragmented files and the other stuff that causes your precious system to slow down and also locate them.

SiteAdvisor:

Their SiteAdvisor toolbar continues to offer proactive protection as you search online. There are many system security manufacturers that provide you with link scanners, but McAfee is the one to provide you with the original SiteAdvisor. This tool offers security ratings on each website in order to safeguard your system in a proactive way from the threats that are trying to attack you from the websites. In case you know that a website is no good, the icon of the SiteAdvisor will become red to alert you. This tool makes your shopping experience a safer one. This utility also includes a toolbar that projects the status of security of the website that you are currently on and also provides security rating icons sans any obstruction to each of the search results. The SiteAdvisor utility employes itself in about twenty two search engines, and here you have to take a note that this browsing protection of the suite not only relies on the SiteAdvisor utility, but is also dependent on the virus database that is already installed in your system. Hence, both these features together keep it updated for enhanced protection while browsing the net.

Two-way firewall:

The Antivirus Plus 2011 from McAfee protects you from spyware and it is the only antivirus software applications to include a complete two-way firewall. It is almost unheard of with basic Antivirus software, make it one of the most user-friendly antivirus packages we had reviewed this year. This means, basically, this suite is equipped to protect your system from threats not considering where they come from, including online scams, network threats, risky downloads, malicious websites and also the files that are share via email or instant messaging.

One of our favourite features of the McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 is its high quality firewall, which prevents others into the system and also ensures that your private data is kept safe. This feature keeps you worry free from the identity theft issue.

Idle Timer:

McAfee has also included an idle timer and scheduler and idle timer so that the Antivirus Plus 2011 continues scanning when the system is not in use. When this utility observes that you actually not active, the scans will start routinely; just pause the process when you start up again. You are also provided options to schedule the scans to take place while not using the system. In case you are utilising a laptop or ilk, you will also be able to adjust this software to no do the scanning unless you are even plugged in, which saves your battery a great deal. This Idle Timer brings on improvised performance and efficiency.

Updates:

McAfee AntiVirus Plus 2011 Software Suite keeps itself up to date. This antivirus security will allow automatic updates and the company provides enough updates in order to keep track of the latest threats. Similar to the scanning, the suite will just wait for an opportunity to get an update so that your performance will not be disturbed at any cost.

Performance:

Performance wise, the scan rate is much faster. Small download size enables you to quickly get up and running. Lesser the memory footprint, lesser the impact on the daily PC activity. It managed to block threats in just milliseconds and you are never kept waiting for the next update. Since a threat can come anytime, this type of a real-time protection makes sure that theft is not something you have to really worry about.

Customer care:

McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 also features an improved help centre. They offer you help based on the task you are trying to complete. But, we will say that the customer service of the McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 is a mixed bag. This is because, for the first 30 days, you get free phone support. Once the thirty days time frame has burned out, your options are restricted to mail support and unlimited chat. This is a real issue because many would have a preference to talking to a person instead of just converse through writing. There have been reports from former and current users about the support team’s lethargy and lack knowledge about their very own product.

McAfee’s website provides you technical and client support with quite a searchable knowledge and also a FAQs section. You will also be able to get detailed options with subscription to a premium support product. The Premium phone supports cost is calculated based on per occasion. There is also a unique self aid tool that most of the users will be able to take advantage of; it is known as McAfee Virtual Technician. This tool is downloadable and quite a simple one that installs and check the system and takes you through the entire process of fixing.

Value:

The McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 has been priced a reasonable £26 for 1 user PC and £43 for 3 users PC. For additional peace of mind, you get a 30 day money back guarantee.

Verdict:

The McAfee Antivirus Plus2011 is very cut-throat antivirus suite. Though it might be a little subpar when matched up to some of the best antivirus software available currently, the Antivirus Plus is a very competent one. It includes some unique features such as virtual technician, Idle Timer, SiteAdvisor and, file shredder that are hard to ignore. Again the McAfee 2011’s sluggish Performance along with integrity of their effectiveness against malware and viruses in still in debate. Overall, the McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011is pretty solid, but is not solid enough to compete with some of other more advanced antivirus products such as the Norton Antivirus 2011. While both the ancillary security features and ease of use sure looks impressive, it is the paucity of their very own core product that is kind of dicey, which makes us think twice before recommending McAfee as the antivirus suite you can settle in for!

Check Norton Antivirus 2011 Review, PC Tools Internet Security 2011 Review in this website.

McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011 – Software Suite Details

Lab	McAfee
Software name	McAfee Antivirus Plus 2011
Suite type	Antivirus
License Type	Complete package
License validation period	One year
License quantity	Three users
System requirements	1 GHz processor or higher 800 × 600 or higher resolution 256 MB RAM or higher for Windows XP (512 MB recommended) 512 MB RAM for Vista/Windows 7 (2GB recommended) 200 MB of available free drive space Internet connection
Other requirements	Outlook Express Windows Mail Outlook 2000 or later Eudora Thunderbird 1.5 or later Anti-Spam also supports any other POP3 email client (without SSL) and web accounts
Supported Browsers	Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later Mozilla FireFox 2
Supported Email Programs	POP3 – Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, Netscape, IncrediMail and Thunderbird MAPI – Outlook Windows Live Mail Web – MSN/Hotmail, or email account with POP3 access
Supported IMs	AOL Instant Messenger 2.1 or later Yahoo Messenger 4.1 or later Microsoft Windows Messenger 3.6 or later MSN Messenger 6.0 or later
Core protection	Yes
Advanced Protection	No
Networking	Yes
Identity Protection	Yes
Backup and Restore	No
Support	30 days phone support Free forums and chat “Virtual Technician” – Paid support