CA Antivirus

CA Anti-Virus Plus Anti-Spyware 2010 is a great software which provides business and security solutions. The consumer level desktop solutions of this software are also very good. The sleek interface of this antivirus software is very attractive but there is very high scanning footprint which unfortunate. The security of this antivirus is among one of the best but it uses heavy resources which kept it from the top of the list.

The standout features of CA Anti-Virus Plus Anti-Spyware include heuristic and real-time detection, 2GB free online backup and Parental control.

Scope of Protection

CA antivirus can provide protection to your computer both online and offline and it is fairly encompassing. There are parental controls included in this software which are available only premium security suites or upgraded internet security suites. There is protection from viruses, spyware, Trojans, worms and malware. There is real time scanning available in this software in which all files are checked on access when opened, saved or closed. The virus protection is made possible before they attack the signature dataset with the help of proactive heuristic scanning. This software also provides comprehensive desktop security solutions.

Effectiveness

There is effective protection available from number of malware in this CA antivirus. The VirusBulletin VB 100% of this software and it effectively located and blocked 100% of in-the-wild viruses. The combined reactive/proactive score was 33.2% which was very low as compared to AVG’s 80.6%. Most of the VB 100% tests were failed for this software.

Ease of Installation

The installation of this software takes only 6 minutes and requires only one restart. This installation process is simple and straightforward and you can choose standard or customized installation. This software is not as resources efficient as it could be. The idle footprint of this antivirus is 15MB while in-scan footprint is 76MB which is slightly higher than other competing antivirus software. The resource use will be noticeable on lower end computer while using this software.

Ease of Use

The interface of CA antivirus software is graphically impressive and sleek. The use of this software is very easy and simple. You can perform manual scans or updates very as well as tweak settings or setup schedule scans very easily in this software. The maintenance of this software is also very simple. CA is set to run on its own and it requires very little or no user interaction. The files are scanned by CA when they are accessed and your computer will not slow down during scanning. There is smart auto-scheduling feature included in this software which can perform scan automatically when your computer is idle.

Features

There are numbers of unique features included in this software. There is 2GB free online storage available from Mozy and you need to sign up with Mozy in order to get 2GB of storage. There is right-click scanning in this software which is simple but very useful feature. You can very easily scan the specific file with the right click as well as whitelist the file very easily. But we would like to see more features like antiphishing protection, intrusion blocking and silent gamer mode in this software.

Updates

CA checks automatically updates everyday and you can also set specific schedule for updates. There are no “push” updates available in CA which can be delivered to users immediately as needed.

Help and Support

There is help available for the users online as well as directly in the program. There are number of help resources available online and phone help also available. There is community forum for users as well. There is help file/manual included in the software as well as help files and video tutorials.

Summary

CA antivirus is good software which has several good features like online storage and parental controls which you might not see in other base level antivirus applications. But there is high amount of resource usage and low level of protection which is a setback. The modern interface of this software is very good you need to look into an internet security suite or other antivirus software for better security software.