ClamAV is an open source antivirus solution that features a command line interface for scanning files, updating the virus definitions, and a daemon for faster scanning needed on high performance systems. Unlike most antivirus products, ClamAV requires no yearly subscription fee, and is completely free with source code to anyone who wishes to use it. Because it is released under the GPL v2 license, you must follow all license requirements if you modify the ClamAV source code, or use it in your own projects.
Rated 20/50 by -Lord- at Feb 21, 2008
Sometimes has a very poor detection rate, and has no option to run resident. While I agree that some resident programs may hinder the performance of a system, they don't all do that, and sometimes it's necessary. i.e. when going to a webpage, even by accident, sometimes there is malware written into the code of the webpage. With no active scanning your system can get infected or even hijacked. Maybe the software can be written to enable/disable resident services.
Rated 10/50 by ssb at Feb 21, 2008
The AV with one of the lowest detection rates. I was using it as part of my FreeBSD server mail filtering but ditched it after it failed detecting most of the infected attachments. Now I'm using McAfee command-line virusscan for BSD. It works great, using much less cpu and memory resources and has excellent performance and detection rate.
Rated 50/50 by ArKay74 at Feb 21, 2008
It's the only anti-virus solution I have on my computer. I don't want to use a resident scanner since those always slow down the computer considerably and I have bad experiences with removal of such programs (they integrate themselves completely in the filesystem and TCP/IP stack and the uninstallers are not always able to remove everything which can leave you with a non-working OS). All I do is to scan ALL of my downloads to make sure that no virus gets installed and I've been virus-free for years.
Rated 10/50 by shicaca at Apr 21, 2008
16mb for a program that doesn't even run resident? Are you serious?? I understand people don't want to have non-resident programs "b/c they slow the system down", but if you're computer is connected to the Internet you NEED a resident scanner. If you don't have one, it's like asking for hackers and viruses to infect you anywhere. It's people like you that make viruses viable and feasible. Get out of the 1990's and get a real virus scanner. Avast antivirus is FREE for home use, so is AVG. I use Avast b/c it seems to run a bit smoother, but that's my opinion. Get something worth using, people, or you're asking for trouble. Lose your data once to a virus, or worse yet hose your entire PC, and you'll learn the importance of having a nice antivirus that RUNS RESIDENT. I, personally, don't have any virus codes running amok around my computer, so I can't necessarily test the claims that it "doesn't detect" as well as others, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit.
Rated 50/50 by Klaus_1250 at Apr 22, 2008
ClamAV is NOT a resident scanner. It was NOT designed to be, nor is that its purpose. It was also never intended to be run on Windows based hardware. People who rate/review here should take that in consideration. ClamAV's purpose is to be a scanner for incoming file's a on *nix platforms. It is not intended to be used for scanning of live environments (can be done, and it may find something, but again, it isn't build for that), especially not Windows environments (again, it is possible to use it this way, but the results will be awfull, and it was specifically not designed to do that.) So people, please, base your reviews on what ClamAV is and what it is supposed to be. Not what you want or expect (without reading their website apparently) it to be.
Rated 30/50 by darkpepe at Apr 22, 2008
It DOES offer resident protection if you install winpooch along.
Rated 40/50 by drog42 at Apr 30, 2008
not a bad on demand scanner has a tendency to false positive a tad.example: i have uci chess engines on my pc, and clam av detected one as a threat,avast pro said otherwise,sent the same file to a friend for analysis running nod 32,same result no threat,these 2 av scanners nod and avast pro incorporate multiple level protection, spyware,malware and root kit detection,
Rated 40/50 by Krody at May 6, 2008
Good antivirus. There is also a version which runs in usb pen drives. So it is useful in order to check a lot of computers. It is slower than other anti-virus software, but is free. A year ago, I used it at the first time on GNU/Linux (this is the guide, I followed, to install it on "penguin" http://www.valent-blog.e...07/04/02/clam-antivirus/ ). Virus signatures come quickly than other competitors, so it was love from the first byte :)
Rated 10/50 by ballyhairs at Jul 11, 2008
@robmanic44 I couldnt say that better, totally agree
Rated 20/50 by robmanic44 at Jul 11, 2008
I'm a bit tired of people who equate free with good. This isn't in the same league as NOD32. The fact that it's free changes nothing. I've tried just about every AV out there and NOD32 crushes the competition. Smaller footprint, greater frequency of updates, and built-in antispyware.
Rated 50/50 by odellkevin at Jul 12, 2008
"ballyhairs & robmanic44" Uhhhhh......is that suppose to be a review for ClamAV or NOD32? I'm a bit tired of people who write a "review" by saying how much they love another product, that's not a review. If you don't like ClamAV, say so and why, if you love NOD32 so much, go write a review on that page. I think ClamAV is a great, free AV product. I keep the portable version on my thumbdrive and use it to check "strange" computers (ie. hotels, libraries, cafes, etc), before I use them.
Rated 20/50 by Fresh Fruit From France at Jul 14, 2008
It's great that it's free, but Avira AntiVir is lonely at the top in AV-land.
Rated 30/50 by Kylde at Jan 6, 2009
wow, NOD32 2.70 claims MULTIPLE infiltrations of this download?
Rated 20/50 by sn0wflake at Mar 10, 2009
Couldn't agree more with Fresh Fruit From France.
Rated 20/50 by Strange91 at Mar 14, 2009
Poor Detection but less resource usage
Rated 50/50 by anomoly at Feb 9, 2011
I don't use anything but portable clamwin and it only runs when I tell it to. It must absolutely suck to be someone who actually needs av software always running. I suggest if that is the case to get a better fw.
Rated 40/50 by Input Overload at Feb 10, 2011
Worth dowloading as a backup check with other bloated Anti-Malware scanners. it's free too!. Malwarebytes, NIS 2011, Super Anti-Spyware or Hitman found no malware in this application