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Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky ANTI-VIRUS 6.0

85

Very Good
  • Pros
  • Excellent virus detection
  • Fast signature updates
  • Cons
  • Expensive
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PC World Editor's Review

by Ryan Naraine

This effective but expensive program has solid malware detection and the fastest outbreak-response time among currently tested competitors.

Our Best Buy stand-alone antivirus program, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6, shines for its top-notch malware detection and disinfection rates. It boasts a 96 percent detection rate, and cleaned 86 percent of all items in our disinfection tests. It is also the fastest at delivering new signatures out of the eight tested programs, with an average response time of 0 to 2 hours.

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You'll pay for this stellar performance, however. At $50 for the downloaded product, it was the most expensive program we tested in our antivirus roundup, though renewals drop to $35 per year. Also, its proactive protection was only middling, catching just about half of 200 new malware samples when tested using a one-month-old signature database.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 has a polished interface that makes it easy to schedule scans. Clearly labeled, one-click drill-downs make finding and setting up advanced features a breeze.

For e-mail and news traffic, the program scans incoming and outgoing data over the POP3, SMTP, IMAP, and NNTP protocols. It monitors HTTP traffic for Web-borne threats as well. However, it doesn't set up a default scheduled scan--you'll need to set one up yourself.

Built-in antiphishing protection can block scam e-mail, and a "proactive defense" module looks for the hidden processes and Registry changes that can signal malware hidden with a rootkit.

If you buy this program, do so online--the download is $10 cheaper than the retail box. If you want the Vista-compatible flavor, you'll have to download the program in any case. Just be sure to download the right version; it's easy to click the wrong link among the many others on the download page.

You get free phone and e-mail support during business hours from Monday through Friday, though the phone number isn't toll-free. The company says that it will answer support calls placed after hours on weekdays and throughout the weekend, on what it calls a "best-effort" basis.

We tested the Vista version of Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 for our "Virus Stoppers" roundup. An XP version of the software is also available.

Ryan Naraine

User Reviews for Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky ANTI-VIRUS 6.0

  • Reviewed by: Rdaneel28

    Duration of ownership: 1 Month

    Strengths: Very good protection, quick scanning, low use of system resources.

    Weaknesses: Expensive, $59.95 (download or CD)in 2008. Does not work with Zone Alarm

    Overall Evaluation: I downloaded the trial version. When I started the install, a window said I had to uninstall my copy of Zone Alarm Internet Suite. I decided to try it on my WindowsXP pc anyway. I found the suite to be somewhat of a resource hog and not be very user friendly. When I built my Vista machine, I decided to try just the antivirus product. During the install it I got the same request to uninstall my copy of Zone Alarm Internet Suite. What's up with that? Instead of working with ZA, they would rather have you purchase their firewall product or suite. Did anybody else have other problems with software compatibility? I don't like being forced to use certain software and I have never had this problem with any other software product I've used. How come no one at PC World noticed this problem?

  • Reviewed by: vijer

    Duration of ownership: 1 Day

    Strengths: So far it has worked great on my system. I'll update this review after using the product awhile longer.

    Weaknesses: Training the firewall will make most people turn the product off.

    Overall Evaluation: If you want your computer secure Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 is a great product. But I wouldn't install it on any friends or family computers it just asks too much from the non technical user. The training mode for the firewall really can get tireing. Otherwise a great product.

See all user reviews

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