'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
VirusScan 6.0
McAfee VirusScan 6.0
pros and cons
- New XP-style interface first antivirus application to contain a firewall Costs less than the competition.
- Lacks sophisticated tools such as script protection historically poor performance detecting in-the-wild viruses doesn't automatically repair infected files.
- Editors' review
- Specs
With new computer viruses hitting the streets almost every other day, keeping your computer safe from nasties -- such as Trojan horses, worms hidden within email 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 McAfee's £35.25 (inc. VAT) VirusScan 6.0. However, its moderate performance with real-world viruses knocks VirusScan off our list for everyone except McAfee's current users.
Although this update costs slightly more than its predecessor, the extra cash buys you extra protection. VirusScan's anti-virus software now comes bundled with a basic personal firewall to make your machine invisible to hackers. That way, if the worst does occur, it'll block a Trojan horse's signals and keep it from taking control of your PC. No other standalone anti-virus package includes this additional protection. McAfee's firewall is good but doesn't offer anything you can't get free from the likes of ZoneAlarm.
VirusScan now shields your computer from viruses better than before. It guards against all kinds of intruders, including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and -- on the Web -- ActiveX Controls or Java applets, which can execute malicious commands without your knowledge. When it detects an anomaly, VirusScan pops up an alert and gives you a chance to either delete or fix the infected file or quarantine it in a lockbox where it can't make mischief. Unfortunately, you have to drop what you're doing to handle the intrusion. VirusScan should steal an idea from Norton AntiVirus and simply eradicate the virus without your intervention.
Spend some time with version 6.0, and you'll discover a number of new anti-virus weapons. Tops on our list is HAWK (for Hostile Activity Watch Kernel). It monitors Outlook -- the Typhoid Mary of computer virus carriers -- for suspicious behaviour, then warns you when, for instance, an email message is about to be sent to more than 40 recipients. It's a clever way to detect and stop mass-mailing worms such as I Love You and SirCam. VirusScan also protects your PC against nasties that might sneak onto your desktop from your Palm or Windows CE handheld during synchronisation. Still, VirusScan lags behind Norton AntiVirus in some key areas, such as monitoring active scripts for Visual Basic or JavaScript for possible mischief.
Overall, once-tough-to-use VirusScan is now srtaightforward, thanks to its top-to-bottom interface redesign. Its browser-like look features left-hand links to primary tasks, such as running a virus scan or checking your current virus protection status. The main display panel, also on the left, sports Back and Forward buttons that let you navigate as if you were on a Web site. But VirusScan isn't perfect yet. Scheduling a scan for when you'll be away from your machine means tackling a complex dialogue box, rather than stepping through a simple wizard such as Norton AntiVirus's. At least VirusScan's automatic virus definition updater matches Norton's. You set VirusScan's version to automatically detect, download and install new definitions without bothering you.
How well does it all work? Our tests show that VirusScan identifies viruses in ZIP files before they hit the hard drive, which is something that Norton AntiVirus can't do. Although VirusScan caught zipped viruses, however, a true virus killer must deal well with overall definitions, giving it a long-term ability to identify hundreds of in-the-wild viruses as they come up. That's why we pay attention to Virus Bulletin's VB100% award, which is given only to anti-virus programs that detect every current virus. Here, VirusScan's performance is suspect. Of the last six exams (dating back to July 2000), VirusScan scored a perfect 100 only once.
At £35.25 (inc. VAT), McAfee's VirusScan is a bargain for a complete antivirus package. However, its moderate performance with real-world viruses knocks this program off our must-get list for everyone except current VirusScan users. But if you really want a firewall alongside your anti-virus program, spend £33.54 (inc. VAT) for Norton AntiVirus 2002 and install a free firewall such as ZoneAlarm.