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 F-Prot Antivirus Review
April 11, 2005 - Part II
by Andrew Cooper
Virus scan
Before getting down to testing the program and seeing how it detects viruses, here's a list of preparatory steps I made:
- After disabling F-StopW, I copied the original virus package to a backup folder. That folder includes 5,760 files stored in 3,442 folders, making it a pretty serious test for the antivirus to take.
- Created a special folder for the program to move any files it fails to disinfect
- Configured the program to check for viruses according to the following:
- The folder that should be scanned: D:\malware here!
- The folder the program should place files it fails to disinfect: D:\ moved viruses
- The files to scan: All, including compressed files and boot sectors
- Action to take when an infected file is found: Disinfect automatically, if disinfection fails—move infected file to d:\ moved viruses
- Heuristics analysis enabled, alert display enabled
And now we're ready to scan...here it goes!
While the scanner did its thing, I made a couple of observations I should tell you about:
The module used roughly 11 Mbs of system memory and strained the central processor to its fullest. On the other hand, I had no problem working in Word despite an ongoing virus check—something that would've been impossible with my old NAV 2005. The program ticked off suspicious objects by the dozen, and it was nice to see that the corresponding window was concrete and to the point:
A look at the results
Ok, when the virus scan was completed, a report window popped up displaying this:
From these figures we can come to some important conclusions:
The "virus presence" rate, which can be calculated from the Scan Result window, is 66,4 percent, (4,633 virus objects found from a total of 6,975). What this means is that the program flagged 66,4 percent of the total number of objects it scanned as viruses. Now, how correct this result is, I still don't know. As a matter of fact, I really don't how many of those files were actually viruses and malware. If we assume that all of them really were, then the program's catch rate would tally this 66,4% exactly. If there were any benign files in there, erroneously flagged by my friend as malware, then the program's virus catch rate would definitely go up.
I've got an Antivirus Roundup in the works for an upcoming article, where I will test top antiviruses with an expanded virus package, so don't forget to check back for those results.
Standouts and letdowns
Pros: great solid product that is persistent in its mission and loyal to its user. Doesn't take much system resources, and is easy to set up, run, and maintain. Real-time virus monitoring and scheduling features are impressive. Command-line support is poised to help people who cannot log into Windows GUI to cure their stricken PCs.
Cons: doesn't provide for checking email. F-Prot antivirus update monitor (that can be switched off through the Windows Services console) takes up a couple megabytes of extra RAM.
Verdict
A nice little program definitely worth looking at. Priced way below the competition, but nevertheless very potent at performing its fundamental task—locating and disinfecting viruses on a computer. A participant of our Antivirus Roundup survey, with a projected "Above Average" rating.
Developer's web site: www.f-prot.com
Download link: F-Prot Antivirus for Windows (trial version)
Read next:
Back to Part I
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