Does anyone Use Kaspersky personal 5

[AnthonyG]

Hi,

I was just enquiring has anyone tried Kaspersky personal antivirus 5

as in the comparison charts of antiviruses it has the best detection rates, but ive been reading some awful things about version 4.5 (cant find anything on 5 yet) saying that it freezes the computer, stops the computer from booting up, pevents connection to the internet, and slows system resorces down to a crawl.

So im very reluctant to give it a go, but like i say ive read no reviews on version 5 so it may have now been fixed.

So how is it as an antivirus overall. Should i get it. or will it ruin my computer like people are saying.

One place that slated it was download.com, it got a score of 33% which is awful (but like i say thats version 4.5).

Any comments would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Mongol]

Actually version 4.5 seems to get raves in these forums, its tried and tested. Version 5 is the one that seems to be buggering people. Theres lots of Kaspersky users here so you will get lots of responses yet. As for me and my 'puter its DrWEB...cheers

[Eldar]

I bought KAV 5.0 recently and I really like the interface. Easy to use, not like 4.5, which I also tried. I didn't like that version, too complicated interface. Also takes more resources.
OK, I'm not a computer expert, so I don't understand why some prefer that version. Most users are like me and they need something simple.
Updates are really frequent and I almost never see it happen.
Support on my question was answered the next day, so that's really something to take into account.
I'm very happy to have bought KAV. IMO

[tazdevl]

FYI, it's generally a good idea to run a search before you post on a topic that has a good chance of already being answered/brought up.

I suggest you run a search with "Kaspersky" or "Kav". Should find all the information you need.

[Blackcat]

Originally Posted by Anthony1uk

Hi, I was just enquiring has anyone tried Kaspersky personal antivirus 5.

In the comparison charts of antiviruses it has the best detection rates, but ive been reading some awful things about version 4.5 saying that it freezes the computer, stops the computer from booting up, prevents connection to the internet, and slows system resorces down to a crawl.

So how is it as an antivirus overall. Should i get it. or will it ruin my computer like people are saying.

One place that slated it was download.com, it got a score of 33% which is awful (but like i say thats version 4.5).
Thanks

I would take the comments over at Cnet with a pinch of salt. The early KAV 4 versions were troublesome but most people who complained about the resource/memory usage of Kav 4.5 had never tried it.!! And the later versions of KAV 4.5 were very stable.

It is worthwhile, as Tasdevl states in carrying out a search here, on KAV. In addition you can look at their unofficial forum over at ICE; http://forums.useice.com/cgi-bin/iko...fff;act=SC;c=1 where a number of us also lurk and post!

There are some teething problems with KAV 5 as it has only recently been released. These include system restore and ADS tagged files. However, the key-file which Kaspersky sends to its users can be used with both versions.

IF KAV runs well on your system without any conflicts, then it is the best AV for YOUR system. It is recommended, particularly for malware detection rates, support and definition updates every 3 hours. But the choice is up to you.

PS If Norton was your previous AV, make sure that it is COMPLETELY uninstalled before trying another AV, particularly KAV.

I use KAV 5 personal and dont have any complaints except the fact you have to occasionally check to see if any new build has been released which you then have to update manually. When I used AntiVir the new builds were updated automatically which was more convenient, but of course AntiVir isnt in the same class as KAV at least not yet.

[Arin]

AntiVir has a long way to go but also consider that it is provided for free. the updating system is definately way behind Kaspersky. 33% sounds real awful but those tests they conduct are totally obfuscated. no need to pay much heed to it. i use the latest KAV and happy with it. my machine is not that strong Celeron 850MHz with 256MB SDRAM but KAV 5 is doing good in it.

[juppy]

I am using Kaspersky personal 5 and have had no problems.
I am not an IT buff but this programme was easy to install and set up.
I use it with Kaspersky AntiHacker and TDS.
I also use Ad-aware 6.0 and Spybot Search and Destroy
They all work well and I have had no conflicts.

[sard]

KAV 5 seemed a bit dumbed down to me. I can understand the need for a simple interface, but it wouldn't hurt to put an advanced menu somewhere.

[Blackcat]

Dumbed down compared only to Version 4.5. The latter version was too complicated for most Home Users but ideal for those of us who like to tweak!

The new Personal Pro should offer more configuration options

[wings]

My experiences with KAV 5 are very positive. It's stable, easy to use and it recognizes more freaky things that any other scanner I've tested (and I used thousands of viruses to test with). There will always be a scanner that is stronger in one area, whether it will be dialers, worm, trojans, macros, etc, but on average KAV scores very good in every area. Don't be surpirsed to find tests that show 100% detection rates in some areas.

KAV is slow, but;

a) my system is slow (PIII 1 GHZ)
b) KAV doesn't make the use of Photoshop CS, Office, Explorer, Cinema 4D any slower (at least not noticable, only when I start the programs) and isn't that all what counts.
c) KAV creates ADS tags. Morons have written horrors stories about it, but they really don't know what streams are and that this little tag (it's nothing more than that) will never screw up your system!

I have said more about KAV in this thread:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=44275

I've tried KAV 4.5 Pro, but

a) it is damn ugly (don't ask me why, but I always avoid really ugly programs; they give me the impression that the program itself is not polished either)
b) it's confusing
c) should be slower than Kav 5 (according to Kav Labs)
d) is old

Btw, don't believe some of these stories saying that KAV hangs or is getting extremely (!) slow. A lot of these articles are old or the comments of others are based on these same old articles. KAV 5 has been updated several times since then and is a very stable product!

[lynchknot]

Originally Posted by wings

c) KAV creates ADS tags. Morons have written horrors stories about it

I guess those "morons" don't appreciate 65,000 worthless 80-100kb ADS tags left in place after uninstalling and the massive fragmentation/defragmentation issue with sytem restore.

[sard]

Originally Posted by Blackcat

The new Personal Pro should offer more configuration options

At twice the price!

[Mele20]

It is ignorance that makes some users like KAV 5.0. Or it is being used on W98 which is unaffected by many of the problems. I too was ignorant as I use another AV but I have become more and more dissatisfied with it and my license has three months to go so I started looking at other av. I had not tried KAV for four years and know of its excellent reputation so I decided to trial it. 5.0 personal had been out for about a month when I decided to download it. I hated it from the first moment I saw that it had no configurability to speak of and has no quarantine! That is extremely important. I have never heard of AV not having quarantine. Then I noticed that the log files were basically worthless and that too is important. I used it about a week. I got this XP Pro box last November and have needed to defrag only two times since then. One of those defrags was just before installing 5.0. After installing 5.0, and running a full scan, to my surprise, the XP defragger informed me that I had a severely fragmented drive. Huh? I had just defragged. I had no idea then what was causing the severe fragmentation so fast. I tried to defrag only to learn that I could not until I totally6 disabled KAV 5.0. Defragging still took an extremely long time which had never been the case before installing 5.0. When I ran a full scan again about a week later the same thing happened. I also, during this time, tried to use System Restore to restore to an earlier point. I could not. I was desperate so I tried every single restore point I had which was about 90 going back three months. All restore points were corrupted!

I uninstalled 5.0 and have not needed to defrag at all since that time which has been about two months. My restore points made after 5.0 was uninstalled work. Of course, now I know that KAV 5.0 cannot be used on an XP box that uses System Restore. This brings me to the other big problem that KAV 5.0 leaves behind when uninstalled. KAV 5.0 is currently incapable of being fully uninstalled. It is far worse than NAV in this respect. It leaves behind Alternate Data Stream tags on every single file on your computer. These tags are placed by 5.0 withOUT asking the user's permission and without any mention whatsoever of them in the Help file. These tags are placed only on NT based systems and are placed when 5.0 does its first full scan. They are intended to make subsequent scanning faster because the tags allow 5.0 to not have to scan files that haven't changed since the last full scan. That sounds great. It is perhaps in theory. In practice what apparently happens is that these tags cause havoc in System Restore. Plus, KAV 5.0 doesn't remove them when it is uninstalled and ADS tags are known to interfere with other applications. Currently, in order to remove them, you must subject your system to overheating for many, many hours unless you first uninstall any version of KAV on your system (even 4.5 which does not use the tags). Then you must run a confusing application in command line safe mode to remove the tags. Even after hours of running this not all tags are removed. You must then download (if you don't already own) a copy of TDS_3 and using it hand remove the remaining KAVICH tags.

This is absolutely awful and inexcusable that such a highly regarding av vendor would put out a version that cannot even remove itself properly when uninstalled and which forces a W2000 or XP user to purchase some type of software for imaging because System Restore is rendered useless by the av. Kaspersky has very recently promised to make a proper tool for removal of 5.0 and hopefully abandon the use of ADS tagging entirely so that those who use System Restore can continue to do so and also use KAV 5.0.

In addition to the above problems with 5.0, it has almost no configurability and has lost important protections that are in 4.5. It has been said that 5.0 Pro will have the configurabilty but at a very high price. 5.0 personal is a big step backwards for Kaspersky. Had I known about the problems with 5.0 I would never have trialled it. I put 4.5 trial on this box and I not only was impressed but I found that 4.5 did not slow my box at all whereas 5.0 did. I do have a powerful box and I imagine 4.5 might slow my older W98SE box but I would not put it on that box anyhow. That box needs something like NOD32 or others that are known to be light on resources. But for KAV 5.0 to noticeably slow my nine month old XP Pro 3.0GHz box with 1024 RAM whereas 4.5 configured to the maximum did not slow it in the slightest suggests that something may be really wrong with 5.0 beyond the big problems I mentioned above.

I do think that what would be ideal would be a GUI and configuration choices inbetween 4.5 and 5.0. 4.5 has almost too many configuration choices and I like choices. 5.0 has almost none. Why could Kaspersky have not come out with something inbetween? As for the GUI, I especially wish 4.5 had a way to enlarge the font as I can barely read it whereas 5.0 has way too gigantic cartoonish like buttons and too large a font and that horrible slider. Again, I think something inbetween the two would be much better with the KAV 4.5 GUI retained but some minor choices eliminated and the font be enlarged.

[Eldar]

Originally Posted by Mele20

It is ignorance that makes some users like KAV 5.0.

Then you can call me also ignorant, because I like that interface.

I hated it from the first moment I saw that it had no configurability to speak of and has no quarantine! That is extremely important. I have never heard of AV not having quarantine.

What do you call this?

[Clowny]

Originally Posted by sard

KAV 5 seemed a bit dumbed down to me. I can understand the need for a simple interface, but it wouldn't hurt to put an advanced menu somewhere.

I don't know why Kaspersky did this, but you have to click troubleshooting for advanced options.

[Mele20]

Yes quarantine is there but it doesn't work properly in 5.0 and that is a known issue which Kaspersky has said they are going to fix. As for using "troubleshooting" to reach advanced configuration that misleading word is going to be changed for one thing. The so called advanced configuration that is there under the misleading "troubleshooting" is a laugh. That's not much real configuration choices. 5.0 personal should have the configuration available that is in 4.5.

5.0 personal was developed for the newbie and the not well educated (regarding avs) average user. That is a huge change from 4.5 which appealed to those who want an elite av. that is highly configurable which is what persons quite knowledgable about av want. 5.0 will not win over the NOD32 crowd and that is who Eugene wants to beat. 5.0 was developed for the OEM Home user market so it had to be dumbed down for the newbie and average persons who make up most of the OEM home market.

My objection is that unless KAV actually does allow 5.0 users to have all the configurability of 5.0 Pro without extra payment (just not allowing the extra features in the Pro version) then this dumbing down of 5.0 is unfair and will ensure that most knowledgeable users will stay with 4.5 personal. The Pro edition has features that many home users don't need and is too expensive. So, if KAV does allow 5.0 users to access the configurability of 5.0 Pro for free that will be really good....assuming of course that the ADS tagging system is done away with (or at least made toggleble so users can turn it off if they want) in 5.0 personal because knowledgeble users don't want all those tags on their files and assuming the System Restore problem is fixed. KAV 5.0 is not going to have OEMs putting it on Dells, for instance, if Dell has to tell the buyer that they must turn off System Restore and purchase expensive third party imaging software instead.

5.0 Personal was rushed out and has serious problems. Kaspersky has said most if not all issues will be addressed in an October update.

[Blackcat]

Originally Posted by Mele20

5.0 personal was developed for the newbie and the not well educated (regarding avs) average user.

As this is the MAJORITY of computer users, I see no problem with this. Kaspersky is in the business to make money!

That is a huge change from 4.5 which appealed to those who want an elite av.

Again a Minority of normal computer users!

5.0 will not win over the NOD32 crowd.

Does not need to, as in this case, a very, very small minority of computer users.

5.0 Personal was rushed out and has serious problems.

Your own PERSONAL view.

Kaspersky is a commercial AV company and therefore it needs products which appeal to the masses. It needs to consider their needs over the tiny proportion of people, like ourselves, who frequent Security Forums. We will not keep Kaspersky afloat!!!!!

KAV is not perfect, no AV is. Your search goes on!!!!

[Don Pelotas]

Hi Mele20

First off, kaspersky 5.0 personal, was designed to be less confusing (regarding the gui), and easy'er to configure to 99% of user's and not the 1% (you and me) than 4.5, i liked 4.5, as you do, but like 5.0 also. Call me ignorant.

Regarding ADS, it's a non-issue for me, because i don't use system restore (i like formatting better ),but i do agree that kaspersky should have communicated what ADS are used fore, better to the user's.

Defragging on my computer (850 Duron) takes 10-12 minuttes, 3-4 if i shutdown kav, that's not long in my mind.

You say, "But for KAV 5.0 to noticeably slow my nine month old XP Pro 3.0GHz box with 1024 RAM whereas 4.5 configured to the maximum did not slow it in the slightest suggests that something may be really wrong with 5.0 beyond the big problems I mentioned above.". I have a 850 Duron with 256MB ram, and certainly don't notice a slowdown infact the opposite (using max protection).

Igor Kurzin from kaspersky have said that 5.0 pro can be used with a key bought for the personal version. Of course office plugin's etc, will be "greyedout".

And as you said, the problem's that some are having will be addressed in the sep/oct update.

Oh, and bye the way it's a very good malware detector.

[sard]

Originally Posted by Don Pelotas

Igor Kurzin from kaspersky have said that 5.0 pro can be used with a key bought for the personal version. Of course office plugin's etc, will be "greyedout".

Very interesting. I can't find a trial for the pro version on the Kaspersky website though

[Mele20]

I agree KAV is an excellent malware detector.

As for where you can download 5.0 Pro, you can't yet. It hasn't been released. Coming, I believe, in September.

I didn't realize Igor has said that 5.0 personal users can use their key to get the extra configuration of 5.0 Pro. It had been speculated that this would be the case but I had not seen any employee of Kaspersky state for sure that users would be allowed to do this. That is great news. Good timing also as I will probably keep my current av until much closer to the end of my license and KAV 5.0 Pro will be out by then and hopefully the 5.0 System Restore and ADS tags problems will have been satisfactorily addressed by then and I may be able to purchase version 5.0 personal and use the configuration from the pro version.

[Don Pelotas]

Originally Posted by sard

Very interesting. I can't find a trial for the pro version on the Kaspersky website though

I just knew i would a mistake , ready in sep/oct i believe.

[Blackcat]

Originally Posted by Don Pelotas

Igor Kurzin from kaspersky have said that 5.0 pro can be used with a key bought for the personal version. Of course office plugin's etc, will be "greyed -out"

I think you will find that Igor did not actually state this. Over at the ICE forums he stated that this MAY be an option.

Further, about a month ago, UK support confirmed to me that yes it MAY well be an option but no definite decision had been made. I guess we will know nearer to the release of the PRO version!

[Don Pelotas]

Originally Posted by Blackcat

I think you will find that Igor did not actually state this. Over at the ICE forums he stated that this MAY be an option.

Further, about a month ago, UK support confirmed to me that yes it MAY well be an option but no definite decision had been made. I guess we will know nearer to the release of the PRO version!

That's where i thought i read it. I apologize for my mistake, that will never happen again (i hope ), from now on i will check what my memory is telling me, as my integrity is at stake.

Regards

[Blackcat]

No Problem. This was not a mistake just a little wishful thinking on your (our)part

I am hoping to get an up to-date answer from Kaspersky on this asap!