Quantcast
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20080410085326/http://www.pcworld.com:80/article/id,124475-page,1/article.html
PC World: Technology Advice You Can Trust
Search
Browse by Topic
Subscribe to magazine

Magazine

Subscribe & Get
a Bonus CD

Customer Service

Find a Review
CTIA Center Audio & Video Business Center Cameras Cell Phones & PDAs Communications Components & Upgrading Desktop PCs DVD & Hard Drives Gaming Hardware & Software HDTV Laptops Macs & iPods Monitors Printers Spyware & Security The PCW Test Center Windows Vista & XP
Resource Centers
Asus Notebook Center
Intel Technology Center
CDW Solution Center
Lenovo Laptop Showcase
White Paper Library
Webcast Library
Most Popular Search Terms
Most Popular Products
Most Popular Downloads
Free Newsletters
Receive the latest reviews, how-to's, news, and more.
Weekly Brief
Daily Downloads
Daily Technology News
Go
WiFi Finder
Locate wireless services by a specific address, city, state, country, airport, or zip code.
RSS Feeds
Get our latest content via convenient RSS feeds.
Latest News
Today @ PC World
Become a PCW Member
Join the community and start enjoying the benefits:
  • Get tech advice from thousands of PC World Members
  • Rate and recommend the latest tech products
  • Share your thoughts in blog and article comments
  • Get free excerpts and exclusive discounts on Super Guides
Signing up is free and easy.

Top Antivirus Software

BitDefender, McAfee, and Kaspersky Lab top our chart, showing excellent ability to detect both known and unknown malware.

Narasu Rebbapragada

Wednesday, January 25, 2006, 07:00 PM PST
Recommend this story?
Yes
No
Test Center About the Test Center • How We Test
What Our Ratings Mean • How the Charts Work • Service & Reliability Methodology
Compare
Use the Check Boxes to See a Side-by-Side Comparison
Rank Name PCW Rating
Antivirus software
1
BitDefender 9 Standard
BitDefender 9 Standard
• Performance: Superior
• Ease of Use: Very Good
• Features: Very Good
• Price when ranked: $30
•
Vendor's Website
Inexpensive product received excellent scores in our performance tests, although its scan speed was sluggish.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
2
McAfee VirusScan 2006
McAfee VirusScan 2006
• Performance: Superior
• Ease of Use: Very Good
• Features: Very Good
• Price when ranked: $40
•
Check latest prices
Relatively good heuristics help VirusScan provide solid protection. Phone support costs $3 per minute.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
3
Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0
Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0
• Performance: Superior
• Ease of Use: Good
• Features: Good
• Price when ranked: $40
•
Vendor's Web Site
Program had the fastest response to new malware outbreaks. Interface is clean but not exceptional.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2005)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
4
F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006
F-Secure Anti-Virus 2006
• Performance: Superior
• Ease of Use: Good
• Features: Good
• Price when ranked: $40
•
Check latest prices
Solid performer responded quickly in tests and provides best breaking news on malware outbreaks.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
5
Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2006
Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2006
• Performance: Good
• Ease of Use: Very Good
• Features: Very Good
• Price when ranked: $40
•
Check latest prices
Veteren utility offers solid threat detection and a nice interface. Phone support costs $30 per incident.
(Last Rated: January 26, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
6
Panda Software Panda Titanium 2006 Antivirus + Antispyware
Panda Software Panda Titanium 2006 Antivirus + Antispyware
• Performance: Very Good
• Ease of Use: Good
• Features: Very Good
• Price when ranked: $50
•
Check latest prices
This former Best Buy performed well, but not exceptionally, in our newest nonspyware tests.
(Last Rated: January 26, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
7
AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 6.32
AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 6.32
• Performance: Good
• Ease of Use: Good
• Features: Fair
• Price when ranked: Free
•
Vendor's Website
AntiVir performed the best of the free programs, although it failed to clean several old macro viruses.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
8
Alwil Software Avast Home Edition 4.6
Alwil Software Avast Home Edition 4.6
• Performance: Fair
• Ease of Use: Very Good
• Features: Good
• Price when ranked: Free
•
Vendor's Website
Free product has a slick media-player-style interface that hides some features. Scan speed was slow in tests.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
9
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security Security 2006
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security Security 2006
• Performance: Fair
• Ease of Use: Superior
• Features: Good
• Price when ranked: $50
•
Check latest prices
Former Best Buy performed poorly in heuristics and zoo tests but has the best interface of the bunch.
(Last Rated: January 26, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
10
Grisoft AVG Free Edition 7.1
Grisoft AVG Free Edition 7.1
• Performance: Fair
• Ease of Use: Fair
• Features: Fair
• Price when ranked: Free
•
Vendor's Website
Free program has subpar heuristics and one of the clunkier interfaces among the products we tested.
(Last Rated: January 25, 2006)
Full Review • Test Report
Pending
Compare
Use the Check Boxes to see a Side-by-Side Comparison
HOW WE TEST: We test rewritable DVD drives under Windows XP Home on PCs with 1.67-GHz Athlon XP 2000+ processors and 512MB of DDR SDRAM. To test each drive, we use the bundled DVD video authoring, mastering, and packet-writing software; we use vendor-supplied media or Verbatim media. Tests conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.
Next page: Top Antivirus Software (Page 2)

Today's Special Offers

Name City
Address 1 State Zip
Address 2 E-mail (optional)