Ez Software Review

An Ez Software Review of
McAfee VirusScan 9.0

Rating: ****  (4/5)

McAfee’s newest virus scan protection program (9.0) improves on its ability to detect and delete spyware programs. Those familiar with McAfee will appreciate the east to use interface. If you’re seriously considering McAfee for your virus scan program, it is strongly recommended that you also use their Personal Firewall for security protection. Currently, VirusScan does not have a firewall.

Installing and setting up VirusScan is quick and easy. The lack of virus scans before or after installation is something McAfee should address. This would facilitate the use of the program by first time users. However, you can and should run a scan using the Security Center.

When opening the Security Center, the 10-point security indexes at the top of the screen show the safety level for your PC. The tabs along the left side of the Security Center window make configuring the program very simple and easy to use. VirusScan automatically scans both inbound and outbound email.

McAfee VirusScan automatically runs in the background carefully screening downloads, instant messages, and email attachments for viruses and other security program risks. If you didn’t know VirusScan was installed, you would hardly know the program was working. It requires very little of your computers resources. This is good, because other similar programs can really slow down your PC. VirusScan is quicker on smaller scans, but somewhat slower on longer scans than its competitors.

McAfee’s e-mail and chat VirusScan support is quite good. They typically respond quickly and professionally within an hour or less. McAfee promises to respond to emails within 24 hours, but they usually are much faster. McAfee provides effective and easy to use online support is available at their VirusScan site. The only drawback is phone support. Like Symantec, it is rather costly at $2.95 per minute after the first two minutes or $39 per incident.

In summary, McAfee VirusScan is a very powerful and easy to use security protection program for your PC. The one component it lacks is a firewall. It is strongly recommended that you also use their Personal Firewall program in conjunction with their VirusScan program for maximum protection.

© 2005 Ez Software Review. All Rights Reserved.