Showing posts with label pc security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pc security. Show all posts

Trend Micro Internet Security Review

Trend Micro Internet Security
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
As an IT professional with years of experience in consumer support I feel it's almost a duty to review security software such as TrendMicro's Internet Security suite. But in order to properly understand my review I need to explain that I have some pretty strict criteria for my evaluation.
1. Ease of use, installation and maintenance: the application suite must be easy for the average user to install maintain, and use. Ideally the product should be out of sight out of mind as much as possible, simply performing its job in the background.
2. Lack of interference in daily use of the PC: the application suite should not slow down a modern PC with reasonable hardware specifications; it should not bother the user with pop-ups about what it is doing nor with minor "threats" such as cookies.
3. Level of threat protection : the user's PC should be protected against network (attacks used by worms), web (attacks used by hackers on the web) and file system attacks (malicious file downloads).
4. Ease of customization when required: if something is blocked that should not be, a reasonably proficient user should not need to seek professional help configuring the application.
ThrendMicro is, in my opinion, one of the best producers of security software available. In "ease of use and maintenance" they score very highly. Any user who is able to install software and actually understand the process will be able to install a consumer product produced by Trend. ***** so five stars for category one.
However they still only score three stars for lack of interference. The software does NOT slow down the PC (Pentium D, with 2GB RAM, not a high end machine) but companies like Trend, Symantec, and McAfee need to understand that if I can manually put the window from a scan to run invisibly in the background, maybe it should just run there anyway. I also don't care that Trend has deleted the cookies from my computer. I don't want to be told about the removal of threats of the most minimal risk level. I have also found several legit sites that were blocked that annoyed me. For example, I tried to watch streaming video from FOX's web site and it was blocked. ***-- for category two.
Five stars, though, for threat protection. If your system is up-to-date, Trend is up-to-date and you do not disable it you will almost certainly not get infected. The problem arises when the user participates in high-risk behaviors like file sharing (bit-torrent, eMule, etc) and then disables the software to access something they shouldn't. This is the surest way to 0wn3d, to use a technical term. *****
I have to give them credit on ease of customization. Unlike Symantec's Endpoint Protection (which was a nightmare for nearly all categories) Trend's products have always had a simple, easy to understand interface. They use intuitive names like "web protection" for their services enabling even unsophisticated users to understand where to click when they need to find something.
4 ½ overall score. Not bad! I highly recommend this software to protect your PC.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Trend Micro Internet Security

With Trend Micro Internet Security, you no longer need to choose between computer performance and maximum protection. Get smart, proven security that never sleeps, guarding your PC from the latest threats while giving you the freedom to browse and shop online. Safeguard your PC and your personal information without compromise. Smart security features in Trend Micro Internet Security protect the computers in your home as you email and browse online. Enhanced parental controls help you take charge of where and when your children go online. Protection for up to 3 PCs per household.

Buy Now

Click here for more information about Trend Micro Internet Security

Read More...

BitDefender Total Security 2011 Value Edition - 3 PC/2 year Review

BitDefender Total Security 2011 Value Edition - 3 PC/2 year
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
I had heard great things about bitdefender from my parents, who have it on their computer and have had no major issues with it, so I decided to give it a try. This was the worst decision I've ever made when it comes to anti virus software. I have had Norton, Mcafee, PC Security Shield, and Kaspersky. All of which have been pretty friendly to my pc. Bitdefender was not so kind.
I started off by trying to install it onto my computer (run on Windows xp-32 bit). Once it scanned and I got things going it suggested that I remove all my other antivirus software, ok. I proceeded to hit next to allow it to remove the software for me and all of the sudden error messages began popping up. It kept saying things like bitdefender has encountered an error and must close, you must restart your computer. I restarted only to come to a blue error screen saying my computer has shut down to prevent further damage. I restarted and hit f8 to run in safe mode, did a system restore, and tried again. Same result.
So I gave up on my computer and went to my wife's laptop with Vista. Same error messages same prompts to restart etc. Once I finally got her computer to accept the software I restarted and now faced the problem of NOTHING working. Her entire computer froze, nothing would open or do anything. I even had a hard time getting the task manager to open. So by this time I'm already frustrated and I give up on her pc and go back to mine. I did another system restore and left my computer run without protection.
I hadn't completed the full registration of my product so I had to contact customer service via email. It took them 4 days to get back to me with my problem only to instruct me to do a system dump of my information so they could analyze it. I did what they asked and waited another 4-5 days. Another email. I followed the instructions exactly in the email and encountered the same exact issues, I just took different steps to get there.
I decided to give it one more chance. I went through with the complete registration and confirmed through my email, so I could at least earn the privelage of contacting them by phone!! This wasn't much better. All 3 times I called I spoke with someone I could barely understand and had to ask "what?" several times. I followed through with everything they told me to do in the first phone call.....computer crash. So I call back again....crash. So I call back again, they tell me to do the same things again, like I didn't hear them the first time, and treat me like I'm computer illiterate.
Finally I decided to just try things on my own again using the files they had given me to download and install. I tried one more time to install the product and ignored all the error messages and the computer prompts to restart my computer. I completed the installation and ran all the clean ups through bit defender, got everything turned on and updated, and then I closed out of everything and restarted my computer manually. SUCCESS!! So far so good, I have restarted 5 times successfully and have not had any major issues.
THIS HAS BEEN A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE. I've read reviews online about how awesome BitDefender's customer service is. I beg to differ. I should have stuck with Kaspersky. I now have a 3 PC package that cost me almost 70 dollars that I barely got to work on one Computer. I'm not even going to try to go through this again on my wife's laptop.
I hope this helps anyone considering buying this product. I would definitely not reccommend.

Click Here to see more reviews about: BitDefender Total Security 2011 Value Edition - 3 PC/2 year


BitDefender Total Security 2011 gives 3 PCs two years of maximum protection against viruses, spyware, hackers, spam and other e-threats… without slowing them down! Features: Firewall; iPhone-friendly Parental Controls, for monitoring and controlling what websites your kids visit and who they IM with; QuickScan, to detect viruses in just 60 seconds; IM Encryption; Video Tutorials; a customizable dashboard that lets you choose how much or how little you want to see; system maintenance tools; File Encryption, for protecting sensitive files; File Shredder (eliminates all traces of deleted files); Laptop Mode, to prolong battery life; automatic hourly updates; and more!
Choose between basic, intermediate, and expert views.

Buy Now

Click here for more information about BitDefender Total Security 2011 Value Edition - 3 PC/2 year

Read More...