Product Reviews

Anti-Virus Personal 5 is Kaspersky's latest release of its anti-virus software for home users. The company did very well in our recent tests, its software excelling at detecting viruses even under difficult conditions. This latest release uses the same, strong engine for discovering and removing digital nasties as Personal 4.5, but similarities between the two products end there.

While we've been very impressed with Kaspersky's virus-fighting efforts in the past, its products always seemed a little clunky to use, particularly when compared to well-established ranges from McAfee and Symantec. But the function-over-form interface of the previous versions is no more, and this release is a positive pleasure to use.

Previously, you had to set up your options using menu systems that had little in common with Windows conventions, but now you simply move two sliders to change the software's behaviour. One is for the real-time detection settings, the other for the on-demand scanner. Each has three positions: Maximum, Recommended and High Speed. The Recommended option is the default in both cases. You can also decide what actions will be taken when a virus is detected.

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The default is a sensible choice that blocks the file and asks if you want to delete it.

When set to Maximum, the real-time settings check incoming and outgoing email, although even if you don't use this security level the software will still detect infected mail attachments and prevent you from opening them. Using the Maximum setting for the on-demand scanner is best saved for when you think your mail folders or .Zip files on your disk already contain viruses, otherwise it can take a long time to complete. That said, Anti-Virus Personal 5 is much faster than previous home user versions because it needs to scan every file on your hard disk only once. It then remembers which files were safe and, when it's time to do a full system scan again, it won't check those files as long as they haven't been changed. This feature was previously available only in Anti-Virus Personal Pro 4.5.

Kaspersky has a reputation for developing very accurate anti-virus software. This latest version is no exception and performed immaculately in our tests, detecting every one of our viruses, harmful scripts and Trojan files. A quarantine feature is available for holding suspect files safely while you decide their fate. A password feature is available too, enabling you to lock the program.

Registered users of previous versions can upgrade to version 5 for free, and a licence to continue using the product for a further year once the current one has expired costs £19.70. This makes continued use of Kaspersky Anti-Virus good value, although McAfee and Symantec charge £10 and £14 respectively for annual renewals of their personal products. However, they're not as good at detecting viruses, so we'd advise you to pay a bit more to get the best protection.