Labs

McAfee is one of the biggest names in antivirus software, and still the one to beat.

Prevention

McAfee VirusScan was up and running from the moment we installed it, and ran the Automatic Update wizard - a very useful feature for most home users, who want protection with the minimum of fuss. The program offers the option to create a rescue disk from which the PC can boot - this is good, as some viruses cannot be eliminated while the operating system is running. Security was pretty tight, though. McAfee found most of the standard viruses that were hidden in e-mail attachments and on the hard disk, but struggled to find the viruses we'd hidden in compressed archive files. Another let down was the fact that the software failed to detect our Trojan and backdoor programs.

When it detects an infected file, McAfee gives you the option of cleaning it up or placing the file in quarantine. This helps you to keep track of which files you'll need to restore from a past backup. The new version of VirusScan includes a technology that McAfee

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calls 'Hostile Activity Watch Kernel' or HAWK. Basically, it's a fancy way of saying the program watches your computer for signs of virus-like activity, as well as detecting virus signatures in code. In theory, this addition should enhance a product's scanning capabilities, as it can detect unknown viruses by the way they behave - for instance, if they try to send e-mails to a large number of contacts in your address book

Ease of use

McAfee's interface is one of the easiest to use. Even the most inexperienced PC user will find it easy to understand which type of scan they need to perform, and carry it out. The program is also easy to access from within Windows, as it adds a little icon to the System Tray. Users can click this to scan files on demand. The ability to carry out one-click scanning and quarantine of any infected files makes the program a delight to use. The program's help file is fantastic, providing oodles of information on using the software. Another feature that sets McAfee apart from the competition is its 'Safe and Sound' technology, which creates backups of the files you're working on.

Overall

McAfee is easy to use, but let down by a few lapses in security. Its controls are well thought-out, enabling less technical users to perform advanced scans of their systems and files. McAfee also integrates well with Windows, and didn't slow our test machine down when performing scans. The main let-down was its inability to spot viruses concealed in common compressed archive formats. That said, security is fine for most users' needs. McAfee offers the best combination of vigilance and value.