Kaspersky AntiVirus 2011 Download:
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Review of Kaspersky AntiVirus 2011:By Jay Andrew Allen When people talk about Antivirus applications, "Kaspersky" isn't usually one of the first names to roll off of their tongues. But this stalwart, known colloquially as KAV, has been drawing accolades since 2007 for its fast scan times, and high virus detection rates. Unfortunately, our benchmarks found that KAV 2011 lags behind other major antivirus programs in key performance metrics.1) Installation: 4/5 Kaspersky AntiVirus 2011 installed in 1 minute and 52 seconds on our reference computer*. The installation was a typical Windows MSI package that produces multiple user prompts, making it less of a worry-free install than some of its competitors. If you've downloaded an older trial version of Kaspersky off of a site like CNet.com, Kaspersky will ask if you wish to download and install the latest version instead - a handy feature that ensures you're obtaining the latest Kaspersky technology immediately. This will, however, significantly increase your installation time, as Kaspersky downloads the latest installer in full, as opposed to downloading an update or a patch. *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: 8.5/10 Like most antivirus programs, Kaspersky runs silently in the background if you leave it alone with default settings. The Kaspersky AntiVirus 2011 Dashboard provides a running tally of the latest background scans in its lower-right corner. A large icon at the top of the Dashboard gives your current virus scanning status, and indicates whether there are any active threats. ![]() View Larger Kaspersky Screenshots Kaspersky aims to protect its users from a wide range of malware and adware. Its Proactive Defense feature scans for "zero day defect" viruses that are not yet listed in the virus definition database. Kaspersky contains some interesting add-on tools, such as a virus-aware System Restore. The best tool in its bag of tricks is the Vulnerability Scan, which examines your computer for known security holes in installed applications that may be exploited by malicious computer code. By finding these vulnerabilities pro-actively, Kaspersky helps you eliminate security holes before a malware application attempts to exploit them. Sadly, this feature doesn't appear fully baked: clicking on a reported vulnerable application's Details button results in a "404 Not Found" error on the site SecureList.com. ![]() View Larger Kaspersky Screenshots New Features: 3) Virus Scanner: 3/5 On a Windows 7 computer, Kaspersky scans at a pace of 26.1 MB per second - scanning our 1.0GB test files in 39.3 seconds. This was the 9th fastest antivirus program we tested this year - right in the middle of the pack (15 total programs), but less than half the scanning speed of top-rated NOD32 Antivirus. ![]() View Larger Kaspersky Screenshots One nice touch with Kaspersky's virus scanner is its new drag and drop scanning feature - which lets you click on any file and "drag" it to be quickly scanned by Kaspersky. This is especially nice if you have one or two files that seem suspicious. Updates: It was disappointing to see that the Kaspersky virus definition database was still two and a half months out of date about half an hour after installation. Why this wasn't updated immediately after install is a mystery. In general, Kaspersky only updates itself an average of 6.7 times per day - far less than the industry leader Norton AntiVirus, which clocks an average of over 200 updates over the same period. 4) Performance Testing: 5/10
5) Effectiveness: (Virus/Malware Detection) 12.5/15 ![]() 6) Help & Support: 3/5 Kaspersky's Help & Support options are a mixed bag. The Help section is very thorough, but many of the topics sound stilted and wooden. The Support link at the bottom of the Dashboard was frustrating. One of the links (KnowledgeBase) results in a "404 Not Found" error. Also, there is no obvious way to contact a Kaspersky support professional directly from the interface. Kaspersky's Support options all point to online resources, such as its FastTrack interactive knowledgebase and its user forums. (Hint: You have to click on My Kaspersky Account - you can then log a new support ticket with Kaspersky from your online dashboard.) What makes this even more frustrating is that Kaspersky offers Live Chat support - but you have to dig through their Support website to find the link. CONCLUSION: For the last 2 years we've seen each successive version of Kaspersky get slightly worse than its predecessor. Kaspersky AntiVirus 2011 continues this trend as this year's version has some major Performance issues that our Antivirus Testing found. Kaspersky is a shadow of its former self when it was one of the best performing antivirus programs on the market just 5 years ago - now it's near the bottom. If Kaspersky doesn't address these issues soon, we may stop recommending it. But for now Kaspersky still is one of the better antivirus programs available, so if you have a
good enough computer that can handle Kaspersky's performance shortcomings then carry on with Kaspersky. Otherwise, read our other Antivirus Software Reviews for a less obtrusive alternative.
Misc Info:
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
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Kaspersky Antivirus 2011 Screenshots ![]() *See Screenshots of Kaspersky AntiVirus 2012 |
Kaspersky Antivirus 2011 System Requirements:
Supported Operating Systems:
Windows 7: Starter / Home Basic / Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate (32-bit & 64-bit versions)
Windows Vista: Home Basic / Home Premium / Business / Ultimate / Enterprise Editions (32 bit & 64 bit)
Microsoft Windows XP: Home Edition / Professional / Pro 64-bit (Service Pack 2 or higher)
Minimum Requirements:
1 GHz or better processor, 1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
650 MB available hard-drive space
CD-ROM or DVD drive (if not installing via Download)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher (for updates)
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Best AntiVirus Software:
Norton AntiVirus 2012 NOD32 Antivirus Version 5
Kaspersky AntiVirus 2012
Avast! AntiVirus Pro 6.0
Avira AntiVir Premium Version 10
Advanced Protection:
Norton Internet Security 2011 Kaspersky Internet Security 2012
Avast! Internet Security 6
ESET Smart Security 4
Norton 360
Antivirus Reviews
Internet Security
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When people talk about Antivirus applications, "Kaspersky" isn't usually one of the first names to roll off of their tongues. But this stalwart, known colloquially as KAV, has been drawing accolades since 2007 for its fast scan times, and high virus detection rates. Unfortunately, our benchmarks found that KAV 2011 lags behind other major antivirus programs in key performance metrics.




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