From TNPC issue #4.25...

Evaluating Anti-virus Software for Ease of Use: Panda Antivirus 6.0 Platinum

by Lee Hudspeth
December 13, 2001

I wrote about my recent daily update subscription problems with Symantec's Norton AntiVirus in our previous issue.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/425/tr.cgi?lee1

Since then, I've come up with what I consider to be the most important "where the rubber meets the road" aspects of anti-virus package ease of use for folks like you and me trying to sandbag against the rising tide of malware assaults. It boils down to this: we trust anti-virus software vendors to be facile at intercepting the old--and the newest--threats, but how do their products fair when installing, upgrading, and especially maintaining their engines and virus definition files? That's the focus of this article, and I evaluate these factors for Panda Antivirus 6.0 Platinum ("PAV 6.0").

* Installation time? 2 HOURS 25 MINUTES. Criteria: This involves a full install plus these tasks: register; run an "update cycle" after install; create and test a rescue disk set; scan the entire system for viruses after install; schedule weekly scans; and schedule daily updates.

* Easy to automatically register on-line during installation? (range: very easy, easy, average, difficult, very difficult) NOT POSSIBLE. PAV 6.0's box included a sheet of paper that explained (I'm paraphrasing), "We've changed our registration process to be different from what's on the CD. When the installer asks you to register, say no, finish the install, then register manually online." The installer never asked if I wanted to register, so I had to register manually on the Web site anyway. Also, as part of the installation process, PAV 6.0 didn't automatically attempt to update itself, perhaps due to my then unregistered status. When I attempted to register using Internet Explorer v5.0 SP2, it generated a debug message; this I eventually fixed by shutting down the browser and trying again.

Panda staff tell me that when you buy the product online in the electronic download format, you must register at that time and will receive your user id and password by email within two hours or less. When I registered a physical CD version manually on the Web site I received my user id and password six hours later. This manual registration process is confusing and inconvenient; as you know, I believe an anti-virus program should provide automated, online, and virtually instantaneous registration.

* Easy to automatically connect for updates? DIFFICULT. The "Update time" field in which you tell PAV 6.0 when to run a daily automatic update appears to have no AM/PM selector, and since it isn't in military time, at first glance you can't tell if it's AM or PM. Turns out that the control is too narrow, thereby hiding the AM/PM sub-field. Tip: to see/ change the sub-field, click into the "Update time" field and right-arrow to access it.

There's no UI for displaying when your subscription expires. The UI does tell you how current your virus definition files are, but in a counter-intuitive way. In the main screen's lower left corner is a green field and a number in the format "x days" where x represents the number of days that have elapsed since those files were updated; thus, a 0 is good.

* Easy to contact technical support about bugs? UNKNOWN. I'm waiting to receive an email response on an inquiry I posted just before this issue went to press; so this is an open item. Tip: for domestic U.S. customers, there are two different email addresses you can write to, either techsupport@pandasecurity.com or techsupport.usa@pandasoftware.com. My test phone call to Panda's non-toll-free technical support phone on a weekday mid- morning resulted in a 20 minute wait that could have gone longer, but I didn't hang around to find out.

Tip: To see a list of PAV 6.0 FAQs, visit Panda's U.S.-based Web site at http://www.pandasecurity.com, click on the mid-page link "Panda Antivirus Platinum", then click the "FAQs" button.

* Easy to contact technical support about subscription problems? SEE ABOVE.

* Is the CD bootable into a set of recovery tools? NO.

* Easy to configure overall? AVERAGE. Criteria: See my article on optimal anti-virus settings, written so its checklist can be used with any anti-virus package.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/425/tr.cgi?lee5

* How easy is it to view the package's virus list? VERY EASY (UI: click the "Virus List" button).

* How does it handle the EICAR standard anti-virus test file? PASSES ALL. Criteria: See my article on how to safely test your anti-virus package with the EICAR test file.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/425/tr.cgi?lee6

In summary, Panda Antivirus 6.0 Platinum's user interface is less polished than competitor Norton's product, but it certainly can protect your system from malware. The key to your success with any anti-virus vendor's product is to use it, and use it aggressively.

To see my evaluation of these anti-virus products--and more to come in future issues--in a table format, refer to my supplemental page:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/425/tr.cgi?lee2

Here's where to buy a copy of Panda Antivirus 6.0 Platinum:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/425/tr.cgi?lee3

You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

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