McAfee Antivirus Plus Review

Laptop Mag Verdict

Although McAfee is one of the better antivirus products, there are better options.

Pros

  • +

    McAfee is tested by independent test labs including AV-Test, Virus Bulletin 100, ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs.

Cons

  • -

    McAfee does not support the creation of a bootable rescue CD.

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McAfee is one of the best names in antivirus software. McAfee AntiVirus Plus protects against all sorts of threats such as viruses, worms, spyware, Trojans and rootkits. It also protects against attacks from hackers, phishing scams, dialers, adware and malicious scripts. It is one of the only antivirus software products in our review to include a two-way firewall. McAfee AntiVirus Plus protects your PC from threats regardless of the source: network threats, online scams, malicious websites, risky downloads and files shared through email or instant messages.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus is quite easy to install and configure. Even as it installs itself, it goes about finding and eliminating any threats it may discover. The process of scheduling scans and adjusting settings within McAfee AntiVirus Plus is easy as can be. All the functionality of the software is accessible from the main console. McAfee AntiVirus Plus doesn't demand your constant attention to make decisions. It protects your PC in real time as you access files or browse the internet. McAfee is quite unobtrusive. There are popup alerts; however, you can turn off nonessential notifications. You can schedule scans to happen when you won't be using the PC. If you're on a laptop, you can preserve battery power by telling McAfee not to update itself unless you are plugged in. This antivirus software has a digital file shredder that removes sensitive files in such a way that nobody can recover them, ever.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus has no problem maintaining the current version because it updates automatically. McAfee updates often enough to stay on top of the newest threats but waits for an opportune time to run an update so that it doesn't intrude on your work.

McAfee's online support center includes technical support and customer support with a knowledgebase and frequently asked questions. You can get personalized help via online chat, email or phone. You can also avail yourself of product-specific user forums. There is a self-help tool, McAfee Virtual Technician, which checks your computer and walks you through the fixing process.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus is among the top 10 antivirus products available on the market. It effectively protects against known and unknown threats. However, it is not the very best at disinfecting or repairing a PC that is already compromised. Nevertheless, it has great features, such as the ability to warn you about phishing sites and the ability to scan compressed files. Notwithstanding the strong points of McAfee AntiVirus Plus, there are competing products that are better at protecting against incoming threats and removing malware that has already established residence.

McAfee AntiVirus Plus Specs

Disk Space500 MB
PlatformsWindows
Required Processor1 GHz
Required RAM512 MB for XP; 2 GB RAM for Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1
Software Required OS:Windows XP SP3 or higher (32-bit); Windows Vista SP1 (32- and 64-bit); Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit); Windows 8 (32- and 64-bit); Windows 8.1 (32- and 64-bit)
Software TypeSecurity
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