Effective, System Resource Lite, Easy to Use Antiviral Protection
There are a few basic criteria for any antivirus software:
- Works - no brainer. It HAS to stop viruses.
- Resource Lite - it can’t hog a bunch of system resources nor cause software conflicts nor slowdown the OS.
- Intuitive - Beginners should be able to manage it easily.
My recommendation for personal antivirus software protection that meets these criteria is NOD32 by ESET.
Who the heck is ESET and what is NOD32? These are names not generally thrown around when antivirus software is discussed. Keep in mind that there are far more players in the antivirus world than what is found on the shelf of your local big box computer store. Think outside the box!
Please keep in mind that this is a matter of my own personal opinion. I have done a lot of reading and comparison shopping and installing of the software itself before I recommend it. However, I do not have a lab to test every kind of software, let alone the kind of tools it would take to test antivirus software. I, like you, have to rely on others. At the bottom of this recommendation are links to other reviews and resources, plus links to two other antivirus programs that beginners should consider.
I came across NOD32 by happenstance. Upon visiting their site, I noticed right away that they took a different approach than other antivirus protection providers. NOD32 does not focus exclusively on virus signatures (though it does include this), but rather focuses on heuristics which is a big fancy word for creating a means of proactive detection when the “signature” of the malware is unknown.
I found the interface to be simple. A single small panel contains the general options. Clicking on an option opens a window next to the panel with more detail. Throughout, NOD32 tries to remain lightweight and unobtrusive.
THe NOD32 Control Center is very easy to use. It consists of fours sections:
- Threat Protection Modules
- Update
- Logs
- NOD32 System Tools
Update and Logs are easily understandable. The former accesses updates to the software while the latter provides access to the Event, Threat and Scanner logs.
System Tools provide for various means of configuration. NOD32 has been criticized for providing too many options that overwhelm the user, especially the beginner. Note to beginners: simply don’t change any settings, the default ones will suit you just fine.
The meat of NOD32 exists in the Threat Protection Modules of which there are five (5).
- AMON - file system monitor - provides settings for overall virus protection
- DMON - MS Office Document monitor
- EMON - MS Outlook email monitor (NOD32 emphasizes protection of Office and Outlook since these programs are often the specific targets for virus designers.)
- IMON - Internet Monitoring - checks all email whether Outlook is used or not
- NOD32 - the actual on demand virus scanner
The on-demand scanner is where the action is. It is here that users start/stop virus scanning.
There are four options
- Local - scans memory and proceeds to scan all local disks with minimum settings
- Run NOD32 - scans memory then gives the users options to scan particular targets
- In-depth analysis - scans memory and proceeds to scan all local drives with all maximum settings
- Diskettes - scans memory and tries to scan the A:/ drive
I would make two improvements to the user interface. The options above need to be relabeled/consolidated in order to make it easier for beginners to understand. The other is to rename AMON, DMON, etc. These names mean nothing to the user, though I’m sure they were chosen to conserve space.
A Local scan of my system took around 16 minutes and checked just under 65,000 files. The in-depth analysis checked around 287,000 files and took around one hour or so.
While I do think ESET needs to relabeled a few of their features, I still think the software is very usable by the novice. As always, if someone tries it out and gets stuck, email me and I will try to help.
Other Reviews
Pro-Networks
Network Computing
AV Comparatives
Tests, Scores and Compares antivirus software.
ESET NOD32 gained their Retrospective/ProActive Test rank of Advanced Plus. They also gained their
On-demand comparative rank of Advanced Plus.
Virus Bulletin
Other AV software considerations:
Kaspersky
Bit Defender
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