The Spanish Panda Security is a global player in computer security, but still less known here. A free antivirus should help get more exposure and users. Free Antivirus 2016 should certainly succeed.
Panda Free Antivirus 2016
Language
Dutch
OS
Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10
Website
www.pandasecurity.com
9 Score 90- Pros
- Ease of use
- Good performance security
- Functionality
- USB vaccination
- Negatives
- popups
- No scheduled scans
- MyStart and Yahoo on installation
Panda Free Antivirus 2016 offers protection against viruses and spyware including real-time protection. Furthermore, there is cloud-based url and web filtering for automatic protection while surfing. All other features such as Wi-Fi protection, parental controls, private data protection, backup, a password manager, file encryption, the ability to truly delete files permanently and also Tuneup system utilities are only available as part of a paid version of Panda.
Panda does not host its free antivirus on its own servers, but delivers it via download.com, which raises eyebrows, is this good? For example, during installation you can choose to activate additional identity protection and if opt-out, Yahoo will be set as the new default search engine. MyStart is also optionally installed, also from Yahoo.
Windows
The interface of Panda Free Antivirus is clear and the program is fully Dutch. Only pro functions are present and, if you select them anyway, will take you directly to the Panda webshop. The amount of advertising is limited to a banner and that is less successful, a popup when starting Windows that unfortunately has to be closed with the mouse. Panda has been scoring very good results in the various antivirus tests for years and has hardly any impact on the performance on our PC. Panda security products use cloud technology, without an internet connection they are much less usable, at the same time the risk of infection is much lower. In case your PC does get infected, you can prepare a rescue disk or USB stick for offline scanning. The Panda Cloud Cleaner used for this can also be installed from Panda Free Antivirus as an additional add-on. The settings can be protected with a password.
Conclusion
Even though most antivirus programs allow you to create your own boot CD, with three engines and its user-friendliness, the FixMeStick is simply better. But as a virus scanner, Panda's freeware performs excellently.
