McAfee VirusScan Review

This program is available directly from the vendor.

Vendor's antivirus software homepage:

Pros - McAfee VirusScan:

• Excellent virus detection record, almost as good as Kaspersky
• One of the better heuristic engines
• New version way better than previous
• Very good user guide (PDF format)
• Annual subscription fee only $5
• Performs well under disk-intensive work
• Pocket PC support

• Can be difficult to install
• Doesn't scan email streams, messages are only scanned if you open or try to save them to disk
• No support for Outlook Express, Eudora or Netscape mail
• Large download, 43 MB
• Scanner gets slower for each instance of virus found when doing a large scan
• Includes a less useful firewall (US and Canada only)
• Not as user-friendly as Norton, but easier to uninstall
• Users have reported stability problems with CD version

• Some problems disinfecting infected files
• Poor archive support. No support for WinAce, WinRar or any of the popular Unix formats.

• Outlook (not Outlook Express)
• Lotus CC mail

Update: Recently Network Associates has taken steps to reacquire McAfee VirusScanOnline. If they are successful these two products may end up being merged into one.

It's our opinion that McAfee VirusScan is far from as good as you could get the impression of by reading some reviews, where McAfee VirusScan often trails Norton Anti-Virus. We believe McAfee VirusScan suffers from many of the flaws of Norton Anti-Virus. Those are instability, difficult to install, difficult to uninstall, and just generally lacking many of the features that we want in a good antivirus program.

Just as Norton Anti-Virus, McAfee VirusScan offers poor archive support and is vulnerable to attacks. Also beware of the fact that many users has experienced trouble with the CD version of this release. The good thing is that McAfee VirusScan has an excellent detection record, but that's just not enough since the program doesn't scan all types of files. It also fails to remove many viruses.

With new computer viruses hitting the streets about every other day, keeping your computer safe from nasties--such as Trojan horses, worms hidden within e-mail, and viruses that chew up important files--is more than just a good idea. One of the least-expensive ways to keep yourself covered is to install $39.95 VirusScan 6.0, available from McAfee. However, its so-so performance with real-world viruses knocks VirusScan off our list for everyone except McAfee's current users, who should spring for the $29.95 upgrade.
http://www.cnet.com/software/ 0-806174-1205-6297013.html?tag=dir-rev

PCPlus, summer 2002
Editors rating: 8 out of 10

This new version of VirusScan offers some fantastic new features in a bid to be the market leader ... Casting some of our previous criticisms of past releases of McAfee's home virus defence solution aside for a while, VirusScan Pro is shaping up very nicely indeed. The program offers full compatibility with Windows XP, and boasts an odd blue, white and red colour scheme.