Command Anti-Virus Review

This program is available directly from the vendor.

Vendor's antivirus software homepage:
http://www.commandsoftware.com

Pros - Command Anti-Virus:

• Low system impact. Requires only 8 MB of disk space and 16 MB of RAM
• One of the fastest virus scanners
• Uses the well-known F-prot antivirus engine
• Network management supported, can send warning by email to network administrators
• Includes the ability to create Administrator tasks that cannot be modified by users in Windows NT/2000/XP
• Extensive information available online. Large 309 pages manual included.
• Many options to schedule tasks
• DOS support included

• Virus removal is not as automated as in other antivirus programs.
• May occasionally hang/stop, especially on Win2000/XP
• Doesn't support any other email client than MS Outlook
• Log file could be better

• Fully automated updating not supported.

• MS Outlook (not Outlook Express)

Virus detection rate is great. It's not 100%, but Command Anti-Virus definitely performs better than most other programs. Command Anti-Virus has support for all common archive formats except CAB-files (windows installation files) and WinAce self-extracting files. The only area which Command Anti-Virus performs poorly is scanning ActiveX components.

The lowest aspect of Command Anti-Virus is the limited support for email monitoring. Command includes an Outlook plugin, but Outlook Express is not supported, nor is any other email clients. The Outlook plugin is not installed by default, you have to select Custom Install after you start the installation program, and then select the plugin option to install it.

Command Anti-Virus is lacking a lot when it comes to ease of use, and the program is regularly demanding the attention of the user. Command Anti-Virus do have the capability to automatically monitor and disinfect infected files, but every disinfection task is followed by a popup alert which you cannot turn off. Updating virus definition files is not automated, you have to manually initiate the update process. During this process you have to manually select a download site, and then supply a password to access those files. This should be unnecessary and we can only hope that the next release would be more streamlined.

Command Anti-Virus uses the F-Prot scan engine, wrapping it in an intuitive, useful interface that virtually guarantees user-friendliness. In turn, this translates into a product that's easy to use properly with little or no configuration required. With only 7Mb of install space needed and only the specifications dictated by the operating system, it is suitable for even older systems. Right-click scanning works on all files in any location, making scanning of downloaded files a breeze. With detection scores of 100% ITW and 99.31% Zoo (99.9% Zoo macros), Command Anti-Virus is a superb choice for protection
http://antivirus.about.com/library/ reviews/winscan/aaprcsav.htm

PcPlus UK
March 2002
Editors rating: 8 out of 10

Command Anti-Virus may not be a name you're familiar with, but the heritage behind this virus defence system is well known to anyone with a reasonable knowledge of virus history.