*NEW!*
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010 hasn't made any significant changes since last year's version. The user interface is nice and easy to use, but the actual antivirus and antispyware functions still need a major overhaul.
To begin with, the antivirus real-time protection only identified and captured approximately 50% of all incoming virus and malware attacks.
The antispyware results were just as poor. While the software detected all spyware, it was only able to remove about 66%.
IMPROVED FEATURES
Lighter resource use
Nice user interface
Easy installation
While we're always glad to see an Internet security software vendor working to improve resource usage, as Trend did this year, we weren't glad to see, rather mysteriously, that manual scanning actually missed the majority of known threats we tested with!
Overall, Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010 needs some major improvement before they can contend with other antivirus software applications.
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010 Features
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- Real-time Protection
Protects your PC in real-time against viruses, spyware, and malware. This means the software is always scanning for potential threats on your PC.
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- Infected File Removal
Scans and removes infected files. Files that are infected are removed and prevented from further infection.
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- Spyware Removal
Scans and removes spyware threats. Removes and protects against spyware in a similar manner as it protects against viruses.
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- Email Protection
Scans and protects incoming and outgoing email. Email is still one of the most common virus delivery methods, so emails are scanned before they get to your inbox or sent from your computer.
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- Web Mail Protection
Scans and protects incoming and outgoing email. Even though most popular webmail services like GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo!, and AOL all include antivirus scanning, a second layer of defense is smart.
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- Instant Messaging Protection
Scans and protects IM conversations. Helps to keep malicious files from being transferred to your PC.
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- System Change Protection
Helps ensure no unwanted system changes are made to your PC or its configuration including:
- startup changes
- browser changes
- shell modifications
- system modifications
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- Scan Schedules
Lets you set specific times to scan your system automatically. It's a good idea to set a regular schedule time to do a full system scan, perhaps late at night when your PC is less active.
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010 Assessment
Here we've listed a breakdown of each category we've tested for Trend Micro AntiVirus Software 2010. Each category was given a percentage rating based on those tests.
Antivirus Installation: 85%
The total download time is only about 5 minutes (for instant download after purchase).
After the download is complete, the installation process was simple with no major hang-ups. During the install, Trend Micro will require you to create a new user account in order to continue.
This isn't a big deal, but it's unnecessary. It seems like a thinly veiled ploy to continue marketing to you later.
Once the installation is complete, current antivirus and antispyware definitions will be downloaded by default. Overall, an easy and clean installation process.
Total time was only about 15 minutes from download to complete installation.
Trend Micro Antivirus Installation Screenshots
Un-installation: 90%
If you ever decide to uninstall Trend Micro AntiVirus, you can either do it through the standard ADD/REMOVE Programs menu in Windows, or through the self-uninstall that Trend Micro provides.
There's an optional survey to complete if you choose.
Even though all major registry and program items were cleanly removed, a few harmless references to Trend Micro were left behind.
These items shouldn't present any problems for your computer and can be ignored. It's just sloppy.
Un-installation was fast, taking about 1 minute total.
User Interface: 85%
The Trend Micro UI (user interface) was very easy to use and navigate. There's a "help" link on each settings page that shows you information about each feature.
Many of the settings pages have an "advanced" button which separates the "regular" settings from the more advanced. A helpful distinction.
There's no distracting or pointless splash screen with Trend Micro AntiVirus each time you start your PC. That's a nice omission.
The Control panel has brief, top-level descriptions which expand then collapse when selected. This helps to keep the interface clean and easy to read.
The advanced and detailed settings options open in their own dedicated window making it easy to examine and change settings when needed.
Trend Micro Antivirus User Interface Screenshots
Real-time Protection: 55%
Trend Micro's real-time antivirus, spyware, and malware protection is not very impressive this year.
Our testing showed Trend Micro's antivirus software took up to 5 minutes sometimes to find and deal with several known virus and spyware installers.
Most antivirus programs will recognize infected files as soon as they infect your PC. Trend Micro, however, allowed many of these malicious programs to download and run with no immediate alerts. Only after a few minutes were the files finally seen as a threat.
About 50% of the virus and spyware samples didn't trigger an immediate alert when they were downloaded or installed.
Some of the spyware we removed required a reboot to complete the removal. This is not unusual. However, there was no indication that the spyware had been successfully removed after the reboot.
Some of the spyware was able to change the default settings to iexplore.exe with no alert despite the fact that the Trend Micro control panel has a setting to protect against this!
Overall, real-time protection alerts were sporadic, sometimes only after the spyware or virus had been running, and sometimes only after a reboot.
There were usually no alerts about suspicious use of IE or explorer.exe which is a common tactic of spyware and adware.
Potentially harmful websites were successfully blocked, but it didn't prevent the download or installation of files from those sites if the block was circumvented.
While many harmful sites were blocked successfully, you could only go around this block by disabling the "Protection Against Web Threats" feature.
But there was no way to disable this feature from the webpage itself. A bit of a hassle if you want to view a site you know is safe but has been inappropriately labeled.
Virus, spyware, and adware removal was not nearly as reliable as it should have been.
Only 50% - 66% were successfully removed. Some spyware appeared to "break" the scan process, as it would never fully complete the scan. Or it would attempt to remove Trend Micro antivirus altogether.
A terrible real-time protection performance overall.
Manual Scan: 60%
During a manual scan on an already infected computer, all viruses and spyware were successfully detected.
However, 55% of the test samples were not removed. And it could get worse. The test samples wound up being listed more than once in the quarantine section, most likely because they had reinstalled themselves.
After the manual scan completed, we were prompted to reboot the computer to finalize the removal. After the reboot, there was no notification that Trend Micro had finished the removal.
The quick scan took only 10 min, while the full-system scan took 35 min.
Overall, not very good results for Trend Micro antivirus.
McAfee Antivirus Manual Scan Screenshots
Resource Usage: 70%
Trend Micro's resource usage is a mixed bag. During a full-system manual scan Trend Micro Antivirus used 50% - 60% of CPU which isn't that bad. However, we experienced moments of sluggish overall PC performance despite this.
During real-time usage, approx 5.5% of overall memory was used.
The software had a massive memory peak at 250MB during a manual scan. Much too high.
When compared to other antivirus software, Trend Micro tends to be too inconsistent for average use.
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010
Antivirus Scanning Resource Usage
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| Real-Time Memory |
5.5% |
| Manual Scan Memory |
250MB |
| Manual Scan CPU |
60% |
Note: These are the average results we found during our testing.
Every PC is different, of course, so your results may vary, but we expect these results to be fairly representative.
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Trend Micro used 5.5% memory during real-time protection.
Trend Micro used 250MB of memory during a manual scan.
Trend Micro used 60% of CPU during a manual scan.
Spyware/Adware Protection: 55%
While all adware and spyware were successfully detected, only 66% were removed.
We also received error message from spyware programs where the files were partially removed and were trying to reinstall and fix themselves. This is a sign that the spyware was not fully removed from the system.
Trend Micro really needs to improve their spyware and adware removal system.
Pre-infected Machine: 55%
We installed Trend Micro antivirus on to a pre-infected PC to see how it would respond. None of the dangerous files were detected during the installation, and the removal rate was only about 66%.
The pre-scan during Custom installation did not download new definition files prior to the scan, which is vital in the fast moving world of antivirus.
Not a very good result for Trend Micro.
Email Protection: 70%
Trend Micro includes a toolbar that can be installed on Outlook as an add-on with adjustable settings. Incoming and outgoing emails are checked for viruses or potentially dangerous emails.
Trend Micro can't scan files over 5MB, so scan time isn't noticeable.
The email filer can scan the body of incoming emails for possible threats: like links to viruses, adware, or spyware sites.
Harmful incoming emails are given a warning, then renamed with a .txt or .doc extension for safety.
IMAP, one of the most widely used protocols for receiving email, is not supported.
Harmful files can only be removed and not quarantined.
No significant time-lags were noticed while scanning attachments or email body content.
IM Protection: 75%
The Instant Messaging (IM) protection worked just fine at blocking files that it deemed dangerous. However, no notice or alert was given to let us know anything was blocked.
The only way we knew it was blocked was the fact that the file transfer simply failed.
Antivirus Definition Updates: 65%
Antivirus and antispyware definition updates are available every three hours by default, but can be set to update 1 - 24 house apart in one hour intervals.
However, in today's minute-by-minute threat environment, virus and spyware definitions need to be updated more quickly. So, we recommend you set your update frequency to one hour.
Customer Support: 80%
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010
Premium Support Pricing1,2 |
| Service |
Price |
| Virus & Spyware Removal |
$49.95 |
| Security Health Check |
$64.95 |
| Premium Installation |
$49.95 |
1 Pricing current as of the writing of this review and subject to change by the antivirus manufacturer without notice.
2 Premium support is available 24 x 7. |
Help forums, FAQs, and a knowledge base are easy to find, but you may need to dig to find other support options.
Basic phone support is free for purchasing problems, installation, activation, and usage issues. But any other tech support beyond that will be charged according to "Premium Service" charges.
It's good to see a decent knowledgebase, forums, and free email and chat support, but full phone tech support should be free in our opinion.
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010
Review Conclusions
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Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010 Scores
|
|
Antivirus
|
$39.95
|
| Overall Antivirus Protection |
62 |
| Real-time Antivirus Protection |
55 |
| Manual Antivirus Scanning |
60 |
| Antivirus Resource Utlization |
70 |
| Virus Removal (Pre-infected Machine) |
55 |
| Antivirus Definition Updates |
65 |
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Additional Internet Security Features
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| Spyware/Adware Protection |
55 |
| Email Protection |
70 |
| Anti-Spam Protection |
40 |
| Firewall Software |
|
| Parental Controls Software |
|
| IM/Instant Message Protection |
75 |
| Anti-Phishing Protection |
|
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Other Antivirus Software Ratings
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| Installation |
85 |
| Un-installation |
90 |
| User Interface |
85 |
| Customer Technical Support |
80 |
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Today's virus, spyware, and malware threats are more potent than ever, and Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware 2010 isn't up to the task this year.
With poor antivirus protection, poor spyware removal, Trend Micro isn't able to face serious threats.
A pleasant user interface, and easy installation are always nice touches, but real antivirus and antispyware protection-power is what really counts.
- Poor antivirus protection
- Poor spyware and adware protection
- Good user interface
- Decent IM protection
- Better resource usage
- Average customer support
Our testing showed poor results in catching viruses, spyware, and other malware threats. Resource usage was decent, and email protection was not optimal.
Even though no antivirus software is 100% accurate, Trend Micro falls far below expectations this year.
For loyal Trend Micro users, this antivirus software may be enough to suit your needs. But if you're looking for a more powerful antivirus option this year, we highly recommend one of our top software picks this year instead.
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010
XP System Requirements
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher.
Mozilla Firefox 2 or higher
CD-ROM drive (NOT required for installation via the Internet)
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| Software
|
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
(Service Pack 2)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
(Service Pack 2)
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| Processor/CPU
|
Intel Pentium processor 350 MHz or faster
(or compatible)
|
| System Memory/RAM
|
256 MB
|
| Free Disk Space
|
400 MB
|
| Email
|
- Microsoft Outlook 2000
- Microsoft Outlook 2002
- Microsoft Outlook 2003
- Microsoft Outlook 2007
- Microsoft Outlook Express 6 (SP2)
- MSN Hotmail
- Windows Live Mail
- AOL Mail
- Google GMail
- Yahoo! Mail (YMail)
- Mozilla Thunderbird
|
| Instant Messaging
|
- AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) 5.9
- ICQ 5.1, 6.0, 6.5
- ICQ Lite
- MSN Messenger 7.5
- Windows Live Messenger 8.0, 8.5, or 9.0
- Yahoo! Messenger 8.1
|
Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware 2010
Windows 7 / Vista System Requirements
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher.
Mozilla Firefox 2 or higher
CD-ROM drive (NOT required for installation via the Internet)
|
Software
(32/64 bit)
|
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows 7
|
| Processor/CPU
|
Intel Pentium processor 800MHz or faster
32 bit (x86)/64 bit (x64)[or compatible]
|
| System Memory/RAM
|
512 MB
|
| Free Disk Space
|
400 MB
|
| Email
|
- Microsoft Outlook 2000
- Microsoft Outlook 2002
- Microsoft Outlook 2003
- Microsoft Outlook 2007
- Microsoft Outlook Express 6 (SP2)
- MSN Hotmail
- Windows Live Mail
- Windows Mail
- AOL Mail
- Google GMail
- Yahoo! Mail (YMail)
- Mozilla Thunderbird
|
| Instant Messaging
|
- AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) 5.9
- ICQ 5.1, 6.0, 6.5
- ICQ Lite
- Windows Live Messenger 8.0, 8.5, or 9.0
- Yahoo! Messenger 8.1
|
