So far in our series about free anti-virus utilities we've covered AVG, Avast, AntiVir and ClamWin, and today we're going to show you PC Tools AntiVirus, by the same people that made the well-known Spyware Doctor anti-spyware utility.
Installing PC Tools AntiVirus
Installation of PC Tools could not be easier, in fact I had everything installed and updated in less than 2 minutes. As of this writing the current version is 5.0.
PC Tools Anti-Virus uses an update feature called Smart Updates. This comes up right away during installation to get the latest database updates right away.
The user interface is attractive and easy to use. Every setting and action for PC Tools Anti-Virus can be accessed here.
For my first scan I used the Intelli-Scan feature which was enabled by default. Wow! A scan in under one minute? Well, according to the scan report (which is generated after every scan) turns out only 1,288 files were scanned. Intelli-Scan scans only the critical areas of your PC and looks for active threats.
Then I tested out a full system scan, and it completed in under 15 minutes which is the fastest out of any utility we have covered.
There is a feature to schedule scans as well. Daily, Weekly, or Monthly and at specific times during the day.
You can do a full system scan, Intelli-Scan, or a custom scan where you choose the files and directories.
Conclusion
PC Tools Anti-Virus Free Edition seems like a decent choice for an anti-virus utility since the features available are comparable, but they are not as abundant as others and are not enabled by default. There is also a real-time protection feature called Intelli-Guard. For $49.95 you'll get the entire security suite which includes Spam and Spyware protection.
We are getting close to wrapping up our free anti-virus utility series. If there are any you use or would like covered definitely leave a comment or contact us and we will see what we can do.