eScan Anti-Virus 11 Download:

VERSION:  Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2000, Single User PRICE:  $29.95 [Buy Download] Other Versions:  eScan Internet Security Suite 11 download Rating: Fair

Information Below:  Review, Screenshots, System Requirements

Review of eScan AntiVirus Version 11.0:     By Jay Andrew Allen eScan AntiVirus 11, a virus protection platform from MicroWorld Technologies, comes equipped with a nice feature set, but falls far short of the leading anti-virus applications in both performance and usability. 1) Installation:  3/5 Installation on our reference machine* required 2 minutes and 52 seconds, with one reboot required. That time, however, includes a preliminary Quick Scan of the system for infections. Subsequent tests revealed that Quick Scan accounts for around 90 seconds of the total installation time. (See Installation Time Comparison Graph) *Reference Computer: Windows 7 Home Premium running on a Toshiba Pentium Dual-Core T4200, with 3GB of RAM and a 210GB hard drive. 2) Features & Ease of Use:  6/10 The eScan Dashboard provides a Macintosh Finder-style interface at the bottom of the screen for navigating among its four major security options: File, Mail, Anti-Spam, and Firewall. Each separate Dashboard window contains a Settings dialog for the specified protection service. The Dashboard is accessible through a system tray icon; right-clicking the icon provides quick access to critical eScan features. eScan 11 Dashboard: View Larger eScan Screenshots In terms of features, eScan AntiVirus offers everything you'd expect from a commercial antivirus package. Gaming Mode - the ability to suspend antivirus scanning while playing games or watching videos - is available from the system tray context menu. The Scan window in the Dashboard supports scanning not only hard drives, but CDs and USB drives as well. A Scheduler provides a highly flexible dialog for automating custom virus scans. Some features proved more hassle than help. eScan includes a Malware detector that scans scripts from Web sites, and blocks any Javascript files it identifies as malicious. While using eScan, we noticed that it was blocking access to Javascript files from english.aljazeera.net. Tried as we might, we couldn't find a screen in the Dashboard where we could whitelist this site. Adding english.aljazeera.net as a Trusted Site didn't work, either. We contacted eScan Support for assistance (see Section 6 below), but were unable to obtain any satisfactory guidance. 3) Virus Scanner:  2/5 eScan supports a number of scanning options, including: full computer scan; quick scan of memory, registry entries, and services; USB drive scan; CD-ROM scan; and custom scan. eScan Virus Scanner: View Larger eScan Screenshots Speed: While eScan's scanning options are rich, its performance leaves much to be desired. On our reference system (see above), eScan was slower than any antivirus package we've reviewed to date: it scans a meager 4.2MB per second. At this rate, it required eScan 4 minutes and 5 seconds to chew through our 1GB test file matrix. (See Scan Speed Comparison Graph) Updates: eScan is virtuous about updates: it refreshes its virus definitions an average of 6.5 times per day, this places eScan right in the middle of AV programs for number of updates. (See Updates Per Day Comparison Graph) 4) Performance Testing:  6.5/10 A good antivirus program should not only protect your computer from viruses but also not slow down the Performance of your computer too much by using up your computer's resources. We run each antivirus program through a set of Performance Tests to see the impact it has on the computer. View the results below of our antivirus testing for eScan 11... • Memory Use: eScan 11 uses 14.3 MB of system memory. #4 rated of the 15 antivirus programs we tested. • Reboot Time: eScan added 15.4 seconds to our test computer's reboot time. #5 rated program we tested this year. • Installation Size: eScan AntiVirus 11 requires 621 MB of hard-drive space for installation. #13 rated program we tested - one of the largest programs we reviewed this year. • Initial Scan Speed: eScan AntiVirus scans files the first time at a speed of 4.2 MB/s. #15 rated program we tested. • Subsequent Scan Speed: eScan performs subsequent scans at a speed of 10.6 MB/s. #15 rated program we tested. Yet another disappointing last-place finish for eScan in our Performance tests. • Initial Application Launch: eScan 11 added 0.100s to launch a web browser for the first time after a reboot. #1 rated program we tested. • Subsequent Application Launch: eScan added 0.152s on average for subsequent web browser launches. This was the #5 rated program we tested. • File Conversion Time: eScan added 0.23s on average to convert a MP3 file to four other file types. #2 rated program we tested. • System Impact Score: The "System Impact Score" is a comparative score tallied from the above 8 Antivirus tests. eScan 11 scored a total of 68 out of 120 points when compared to the other antivirus programs tested. This ranked eScan as the #5 rated antivirus program we tested this year behind Norton 2011, NOD32, Avira, and Avast. This is a fairly decent showing in our Performance testing, however, eScan's two last-place test results (and one nearly last-place result) are worrisome. • View graphs of the above Antivirus Performance Tests. 5) Effectiveness: (Virus/Malware Detection)  12.5/15 The most important function of an antivirus program is to keep your computer free from Viruses and other Malware. Below we'll take a look at some of the industry's top Virus/Malware Detection testing and certification. a) AV Comparatives is an independent antivirus testing lab in Austria providing some of the most trusted virus detection tests in the industry. They have 2 major virus/malware tests that they perform. In the most recent test in November, the Proactive Test, eScan was rated 3 out of 3 Stars. In the 2nd test last August, the On Demand Detection Test, eScan also received a 3-Star rating. Overall, a great set of results for these very important detection tests.     b) AV-Test is another major antivirus testing lab which is located in Germany. In their recent antivirus testing in 2010, eScan received a 12 / 18 score on the Windows Vista platform. Unfortunately, eScan wasn't included in the Windows 7 and Windows XP testing. eScan's score meant it received AV-Test's Certification level. But since 12 points are needed for certification, eScan barely received certification. Despite these tests being run on eScan's Internet Security software, they are useful when evaluating eScan's more basic antivirus program since they test the software's Protection and Repair capabilities against Viruses and Malware.  Win Vista: c) ICSA Labs Desktop Anti-Virus Certified. ICSA is an independent organization that sets standards for security products and certifies anti-virus software. d) Virus Bulletin's VB 100% Certified. eScan passed the most recent April 2011 test, and has passed 9 of the 11 Windows-based tests dating back to January 2009. The VB 100% award is given to antivirus software that detects all viruses "in the wild." e) West Coast Labs' Checkmark Anti-Virus Desktop Certification received for eScan 11.0. WCL specializes in functionality testing, performance validation and Checkmark Certification of security products. 6) Help & Support:  3/5 »Inline Assistance: The help text provided inline in the application is generally good, although the Dashboard suffers from a lack of tooltips. Hovering over a scanning option, for example, fails to provide a detailed explanation of what each scan accomplishes. »Local Help: The eScan Help manual is available online; see below for more details. »Online Support: eScan offers Live Chat support for paying customers, an Online Help Manual, and a user forum. We used the Live Chat option to resolve the script-malware problem described above. It took a representative 10 minutes to gather our information, and about 26 minutes to offer a potential solution to the problem. The solution - a hotfix we downloaded from the eScan Web site - didn't fix the issue. The online manual, while decently written, has an awkward search function; perusing and searching the manual didn't yield any insights into our problem. »Quick Support Links:      • Tech Support Request      • Online Help Manual      • User Forums CONCLUSION: Not many individuals may have heard of eScan AntiVirus, but it has quietly climbed the ranks of antivirus programs since its launch back in 1993 in India. While eScan may have some impressive results in virus detection testing, it falls short with its interface's usability, and with its sub-standard virus scanner and average System Impact Score. Despite these drawbacks, eScan has proven it can do what a top antivirus program should do - prevent viruses. And it does this very well. Overall Rating: Good    (Total Score: 33 / 50 = 3.5 Stars) Misc Info:     • Version Tested: 11.0.1139.855     • Release Date:     • Review Date:     • Last Updated: April 27, 2011     • Previous Version: eScan AntiVirus 10     • Other eScan Software: eScan Internet Security Suite 11 Useful Articles:     • Summary of the Best Antivirus Software of 2011     • What is a Computer Virus?     • Antivirus vs. Internet Security software - Which is right for me?     • Differences between Viruses, Trojans, Worms & Spyware     • More Articles... Top 5 Antivirus Programs: 1) Norton AntiVirus 2012 Review 2) NOD32 AntiVirus 5 Review 3) Kaspersky AntiVirus 2012 Review 4) Avast! AntiVirus Pro 6 Review 5) Avira AntiVir Version 10 Review  - Rating:   Excellent  - Rating:   Excellent  - Rating:   Very Good  - Rating:   Very Good  - Rating:   Good << Top of Page

eScan AntiVirus Screenshots

eScan AntiVirus 11 System Requirements:

Operating Systems:

    • Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit editions)
    • Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit)
    • Windows XP (32 and 64 bit)
    • Windows 2000 (Workstation)

Minimum Requirements:

    • Pentium II 200 MHz or better processor
    • 256 MB of RAM memory (512 MB recommended)
    • 500 MB available hard-drive space
    • CD-ROM / DVD drive (if not installing via download)


<< Top of Page