G DATA Antivirus 2008

G DATA Antivirus

G DATA Antivirus, formerly AntiVirusKit, is a simple and effective antivirus solution. It doesn't include many perks, but does include the basics as well as a couple extras that have come to be expected in the antivirus market. Overall, it is an easy to use product that will keep your computer protected.

Ease of Use:

G DATA Antivirus is very simple to use. The main configuration and information page has most of the functions that you will need. If there is an option on that page that you can't find, there is an Options page that includes some more advanced configuration options for each section of the program.

The beauty of G DATA Antivirus is that there isn't much user intervention needed. The default configuration is sufficient for most home users and if you set the scans to a time when you are not using your computer there is little chance you will even notice the program running at all.

Effectiveness:
While slow, the antivirus engine within G DATA is very thorough. It is also nice that it doesn't eat up many resources while scanning. This gives you the ability to work in other applications while the scanner is running.


Updates:
Updates for G DATA Antivirus are downloaded every hour by default. You can change the schedule if you wish, but there shouldn't be any need to change this.


Feature Set:
G DATA Antivirus doesn't come with a whole slew of extra features. It does include a two part antivirus scanner that is rated very high as well as including an email scanner and a heuristic scanner.


Ease of Installation:
Installing G DATA Antivirus is as simple as following the prompts and letting it run. After you are finished with the installation, there is a significant update to the software that needs to be downloaded. At the time of this review, the size was about 15 Megabytes. This isn't done by the program during the install phase, so you will have to either do it manually or wait for the scheduled update an hour from the end of the installation.


Help/Support:
Support for G DATA Antivirus 2008 is a little bit anemic. All that is included at this point is an incomplete FAQ and a support request form on their website.


Summary:
In the overall scheme of things, G DATA Antivirus is a simple and effective antivirus product. It includes only the virus scanner, email scanner, and heuristic scanner. These all work well together to make G DATA Antivirus one of the most light weight in the market while still remaining very effective.