ClamWin Free Antivirus 0.96.4

Rated 20/50 by roj at Aug 18, 2010

No real-time scanner. The logic of getting the penicillin shot after having unprotected sex completely escapes this security analyst. This program only has any value when used with a REAL antivirus product that has real-time scanning - the concept is called "defense in depth". However, if you're going to go that route, you might as well use MalwareBytes Free. This is far more a virus remover than it is an antivirus; unlike this program, an actual antivirus program attempts to prevent you from getting infected int he first place. And yes anomoly, if you had more than ten minutes experience in this business it would be blatantly obvious (unless you were terminally braindead and on life support) that the average user DOES need to be protected from him / herself. It's also a poor choice for servers which also need real-time scanners even if they're file servers only (including ftp servers). Mail gateways and servers also need real-time scanning of attachments BEFORE they get to the user for reasons which I would think are crystalline clear. You want real-time scanning happening on a mail server because queueing mail to be processed by a script is an additional processing bottleneck at best on anything but a single user email server. The point is that you stop the incursion BEFORE it starts and you also have tools and processes to deal with it when it inevitably does before it escalates. If I have to explain that to you, you haven't wriggled out of the IT womb yet, let alone been fitted for diapers. TWO stars.

Rated 50/50 by ayaish at Sep 8, 2010

* Efficient in tracking viruses and threats* Low user of resources ( it consumes ram and processor about a quarter of norton internet security 2009 which I was previously using)* Good replacement for user of norton and other pricy things * its scan takes hours, but it detects threats thats a good thing about it* lack real time scan It is a free av and it is doing things better than other AVs. One need to use mozilla firefox for internet security and to avoid bad sites. It is a good addition to my netbook which was slowed down by norton, avg and mcafee . This av promises a good future if it maintains the present commitment to quality.

Rated 10/50 by dotnetnightmare at Sep 18, 2010

Why would you use this second rate antivirus? Scanning an individual file is soooo slooooow! Avast Free has an option during install called "custom installation" in that you can unselect all "shields" and then install it. Now you have a world class on demand antivirus that scans quickly and has a HELL of ALOT better detection rate!

Rated 50/50 by hexram at Oct 5, 2010

simple user interface, frequent virus signatures update, active development slow, even crawling sometimes Best bang for your buck is in the dynamic open-source development cycle of this product: updates, upgrades, problem solving, all is live, as-we-talk, directly from the user to the developers and back

Rated 30/50 by anazamalek at Oct 16, 2010

SIMPLE , SMALL , ...........& FREE....! UGLY LOOKS , A BIT SLOW . IF U. R. BORED WITH OLD HEAVY GIANTS , TRY THIS LITTLE LAD...........

Rated 30/50 by genaldar at Nov 15, 2010

Lightweight, not the slowest scanning I've seen. No real time scanner. They try to make up for it with a scheduler but it's not the same. So unless you want to manually scan every new file before you run it you should use something else.

Rated 50/50 by anomoly at Nov 19, 2010

Perfect for people who don't feel threatened by the big bad internet. I love it cuase it never runs, never finds anything when it does, and I never get virus's to begin with, Go figure.

Rated 20/50 by roj at Nov 19, 2010

OK, let's get one thing clear: This product needs to be renamed. It is NOT an antivirus. An antivirus PREVENTS infection and to that end has as a key feature called Real Time Scanning. This software is incapable of real time scanning. It attempts to shut the stable door after the horse has already bolted and as with all such designs, fails - you'll already be infected. It is at best an malware removal tool or passive scanner. Even as an anti-malware removal tool it remains second rate. MalwareBytes chews it and spits out the bones. In short, I really can't see a use for this other than as a backup for something like MalwareBytes. Run Microsoft Security Essentials - you'll be FAR better off. TWO stars.

Rated 10/50 by JackRegan at Nov 19, 2010

At last i can agree with roj about something.

Rated 50/50 by anomoly at Nov 19, 2010

Perfect for people who don't feel threatened by the big bad internet. I love it cuase it never runs, never finds anything when it does, and I never get virus's to begin with, Go figure. Only idiots post just to say they don't use it as if they were not already aware of how it works. Both of your reviews are like used TP. WGAF morons. Roj, nobody gaf what you think about name schemes or anything else jagoff, You don't even use it. Jack must be your boyfriend no doubt. You should probably tell the creator of hiren's boot cd that he should rename the av software on it too just for you.

Rated 20/50 by roj at Nov 19, 2010

OK, let's get one thing clear: This product needs to be renamed. It is NOT an antivirus. An antivirus PREVENTS infection and to that end has as a key feature something called Real Time Scanning. This software is incapable of real time scanning. It attempts to shut the stable door after the horse has already bolted and as with all such designs, fails - you'll already be infected. It is at best a malware removal tool or passive scanner. Even as an anti-malware removal tool it remains second rate. MalwareBytes chews it and spits out the bones. In short, I really can't see a use for this other than as a backup for something like MalwareBytes. Run Microsoft Security Essentials - you'll be FAR better off. TWO stars. anomoly: It's not about being threatened by the big bad internet. It's about prudence, intelligence and foresight. Based on your comments you're an epic fail on all of the above.

Rated 10/50 by Hilbert at Nov 20, 2010

To those arguing below, let's get this straight: THIS PRODUCT, CLAMWIN, IS ABSOLUTELY USELESS, EXCEPT FOR TWO EXCEPTIONS: 1. Wasting the time of testers in comparative anti-virus software tests, and; 2. Fooling the gullible into believing that they've actually AV software running when they've not. ...And ClamWin performs these exceptions with flying colors. Knockers on a bull would have more use (at least they'd have novelty value). (I won't bore you with the number of times I've been made to look a fool in front of my colleagues by insisting that we actually include ClamWin in comparative/evaluative tests of anti-virus software. (In my defense I once admitted to a forlorn hope that open AV software might have been able to cut it with the big boys. Eventually the realization dawned that even mentioning ClamWin was as useful as flogging a dead horse.))

Rated 20/50 by benistheman at Nov 30, 2010

Great name. Great icon. At first I was sold. But I didn't let the program run a full scan. I quit soon after starting it up. The weird graphics creeped me out. Looked very amateurish so I decided to abort the scan and uninstall the program. Presentation is important. Something might taste great but if it looks like poo nobody is going to eat it. This software looked like it was taking a poo, dropping files downward, and then a big cyborg boob started scanning my files with laser beams. There are lots of programs that claim to scan your files for free. No need for anybody to use one that looks like someone designed the interface in a solitary drunken afternoon.

Rated 10/50 by gnjoseraul at Dec 2, 2010

none as i did not get to use the product. none as i did not get to use the product. i had to uninstall this product...not a good thing!

Rated 50/50 by MikuHatsune at Dec 3, 2010

This is antivirs and nothing more - no additional trash.It's run fast, dynamic memory usage, spends as much memory as is currently required for scanning files. Once the file has finished scanning the memory in use is released. No real-time protection. Download Clam Sentinel (http://sourceforge.net/projects/clamsentinel/) and with this program you will get Real-Time Protection with Clam Antivirus.I'm using Clam Antivirus + Clam Sentinel for whole year and i have no problems with viruses.

Rated 50/50 by bellgamin at Dec 8, 2010

For ClamAV WITH a real-time monitor get ClamAV for Windows. Using in-the-cloud technology PLUS ClamAV's adequate (NOT great) database of malware sigs PLUS community cross-feeds, ClamAV for Windows offers excellent protection. Feather-light (because it's in-the-cloud), stable, stringently maintained -- I recommend you give it a try.

Rated 40/50 by LRN at Dec 8, 2010

-1 for not having real-time protection. But only -1. Remember, that viruses don't just pop up from nowhere, they come through various directions called "attack vectors". ClamWin IS capable of countering them even without real-time protection. It WILL scan files Firefox downloads. It WILL scan e-mails you get in Thunderbird. It CAN BE integrated into most applications that acquire files for you (browsers, e-mail clients, p2p clients, ftp clients etc). It WILL NOT protect you if some piece of buggy software on your PC is vulnerable and downloads-and-executes malicious files. It WILL NOT protect your if some piece of buggy software on your PC is vulnerable to buffer overflows and executes malicious code at remote attacker's whim (and no AV software will protect you from that kind of attack, by the way). It WILL NOT protect you from your own stupidity (such as having AutoRun enabled for external storage devices). Without RT protection this software is made for smart people. Not for dummies, who think that running some magical application will make them safe. P.S. ClamWin is a port of Clam to Windows (and GNU/Linux version of Clam is much more capable). Therefore slandering Clam in particular and free security software in general is something only a fool would do.

Rated 10/50 by roj at Dec 8, 2010

I'm with Hilbert and JackRegan on this one. Garbage. ONE star until Real Time Protection is developed and implemented. At that point it will actually be worth a proper evaluation against other products. For the record: The average user IS a dummy. "oh I like that " Click. Like. INFECT. "Oh that looks neat" Download. INFECT. "Oh that site looks cool" Click. INFECTION BY DRIVE-BY. "Oh this product isn't for dumb users". Click. "OH, I'm a SERIOUS dummy for even thinking that stupidity in today's user environment".

Rated 50/50 by Assirius at Feb 17, 2011

I don't understand why people that are afraid of viruses and get viruses all the time despise this program . It is a great program , free , and that is not heavy for the computer processes . THE BEST ANTIVIRUS IS THE HUMAN BRAIN ... ah I forgot , for who owns one... ^^