Trend Micro Antivirus

Trend Micro Antivirus

Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware is a full featured and well equipped program that is geared towards keeping your home computer free of viruses and spyware. It is easy to configure for nearly any antivirus need. It causes significant computer slowdowns occasionally, but makes up for these issues with thorough scanning and frequent updates.


Ease of Use:
Trend Micro Antivirus plus AntiSpyware is extremely easy to use. Nearly all of the configuration options are set after the install is finished. Scanning and updating are as easy as clicking a button on the overview page within the program. Changing settings and configuring advanced settings is easy and each of the settings is clearly explained within the program.


Effectiveness:

Trend Micro has a history of producing effective products that have been used in homes and enterprises for years. The included virus scanner is well equipped and has a high success rate on par with many other high end antivirus programs.

Despite its high marks in scanning, Trend Micro Antivirus is slow when scanning and can cause problems with freezing and slowdowns. It also has a tendency to not play nice with Firefox and MSN Live Messenger.

Updates:
Updates can be done automatically or manually depending on your needs. Automatic updates default to being done every 3 hours. They are done in the background by default as well. The only time you will be notified of an update is if it requires a reboot for some reason. Take note that updates can take quite some time to complete depending on the size of the update.


Feature Set:
Trend Micro Antivirus plus AntiSpyware includes the antivirus scanner as well as the antispyware scanner noted in its name as well as including a utility to track unauthorized changes to your operating system or system files.


Ease of Installation:
Installing Trend Micro Antivirus plus AntiSpyware is as simple as reading a couple screens and hitting next a few times. The only problem we experienced was the initial update that the program gets after installation is finished. That update took nearly 30 minutes and required a reboot.


Help/Support:
Trend Micro has always been big on customer support. In this tradition they offer several support options. The most impressive is their guided knowledgebase. This is the first KB that has actually been useful in finding solutions to problems. If you are not able to get help for your issue through the KB, they also offer ticket based support as well as live chat and phone support. The phone support option is available at appropriate times in the USA, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.


Summary:
Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware is a solid solution for those that are looking for an antivirus program that is easy to configure and doesn't require much user interaction. It has a simple interface and some of the best customer support available in the antivirus market. The only thing that keeps Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware from being a top 3 product is the severe slowdowns that can occur while performing seemingly unrelated tasks.