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  eScan Antivirus Tool Kit

  , Sep 21, 2003 0000 hrs IST

  The eScan Antivirus Tool kit utility promises to give basic protection against virus attacks.

  Small utility, Quick scanning

  No live shield protection, Lacks email scanning, Feels unprofessional

  Expert Rating :

  

  

My PC is infected, there's a virus in my PC? What do I do? Am I going to lose data? These were the kinds of questions that one used to come across when virus threat was a distant possibility four years ago. Welcome to the age of viruses; W32.Sobig.F, W32.Blaster.Worm and W32.Welchia.Worm, these are the latest super heroes from the world of computer viruses. Virus threat has become a commonly accepted fact of life and every PC user is aware of it. These days they come in all shapes and sizes and their names keep getting better.

There is always some good to every bad, this time the "good" comes in terms of business opportunity for anti-virus software, companies providing anti-virus solutions are raking-in substantial amount of business, and "Security" is selling like hot cakes. There are giants like Norton and MacAfee who are involved in providing dedicated network security to all those who need it the most. The average home user would say, I want something that's simple, efficient and for free! This gives birth to the concept of free anti-virus software. These freewares are meant to give the user all the basic protection they need to protect their PCs from virus attacks. The eScan Antivirus Tool kit utility from Microworld is such software, which promises to give basic protection against virus attacks.

Features and performance
The eScan Antivirus tool kit scans your hard drive for viruses and worms; on detection it promptly repairs the affected area. Other than the hard drive, the utility also informs the user about the viruses and other illegal dialers and processes running in the memory. This tool also cleans your registry and other system areas of the damage that a virus could have done. The interface is very simple and perhaps too basic; it lacks the "feel good" factor. Personally speaking, the interface has become a vital part of any software and any negligence towards the interface is unforgivable.

The scanning process is fast and while doing its job, it does inform the user about the exact location of the scan and give complete file details. There is no support for email scan in this free utility, the paid version, however, supports email scan. There isn't a virus protection shield, meaning there is no provision for live detection of viruses. So if you get a virus sitting pretty in your mailbox or the outlook express, rest assured it won't be detected. If a virus is trying to creep inside your machine, while you are online, it will again go unnoticed. Basically the software does not protect your computer; it detects the virus after it's made an entry in your machine. This software is way behind my favourite free anti-virus software i.e. the AVG anti-virus software. The AVG anti-virus does offer mail-scan and the protection shield feature as a standard part of the free package.

Conclusion
The small size of download, the simple interface and fast virus scanning is a big plus for anyone looking for a quick scan. No support for email scan and absence of shield protection is a big draw back. With anti-virus tools offering more features for free, this software is certainly lacking in many departments. I would conveniently give this one a skip, so unless you fall in love with the name "eScan" I don't see any other reason to download this one. Till then, happy virus hunting!

Web site: www.mwti.net

Download: MWAV

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