My review of ArcaVir 2005....

OK guys this is my review of ArcaVir 2005 (It is also my first ever complete review of an AV product):

1)Installation:

It was a very easy process with not much to it. Just enter the serial key, tell the program whether you want to configure the Updater after installation, tell which folder you want to install into, click 'next' and thats all.

2)Resource Usage/Slowdowns:

While I did see a slight slowdown during bootup times, this faded after a minute or so.

The program places these processes in memory:

ABRegMon.exe - ArcaBit Registry Monitor
avmonsv.exe - ArcaVir Monitor
netmonsv.exe - ArcaBit NetMonitor
arcascan.exe and arcaserv.exe - Unknown (arcascan.exe is similar to KAVSS.exe in KAV i.e. actual scanning of files is done by arcascan.exe)
abmenu.exe - Probably related to UI

In total it takes about 53MB of memory, but I see no noticeable slowdown in PC performance whatsoever.

EDIT:- The processes only ACTUALLY take up about 10MB of memory, and the remaining is put into 'virtual memory' i.e. page file. I was unsure of this so I waited for confirmation from Mariusz *see his post here*

3)Malware detection:

I gotta hand it over to ArcaVir. When I made the switch from eScan, I thought there would be no AV which would match KAV for detection. While that may still be true, it is not for me.

ArcaVir, so far, has caught every piece of adware and trojans I threw at it (I threw only a few though, IstBar Adware, HotBar Adware, Briss Keylogger)

The heuristics engine has not given me any FPs so far even when set at max heuristics (very high).

4)Other details:

On-Demand Scanning speed is noticeably faster than eScan, although I wouldn't say its a bullet train at this.

Features:- ArcaVir comes with a Firewall and registry monitor alongside an Anti-Malware program. It also has a quarantine.

Both tools work very well, and I've had no problems at all using any of them.

Updates:- I get an update everyday except for weekends. Fine enough.

On a scale of 100, I would award Arcavir a 94.

Comparitively, I would award eScan - 84, KAV 5 - 90, McAfee 2005 - 92 and Norton 2005 - 89

Hope this review helped.

Best Regards,
Firecat


ADDENDUM TO THIS REVIEW:- This edit was done to give my opinion on their tech support. I find their support very very responsive, though the only person I've spoken to is stormbyte right here (he replied when I sent support an email) and their solutions are quick and fast and informed too. I got a reply in less than a day for my query!

Stormbyte said he'd give me the betas for testing as and when it comes....so I'm a tester now!

 

Nice reveiw there Firecat...would definitely keep an eye on its development

 

BTW Firecat..how do u compare it with the likes Kav Pro...Mc Afee Enterprise & Nod 32 with its heuristics?

 

The heuristics engine has not given me any FPs so far even when set at max heuristics (very high).

You may occasionally get a false positive, especially with some gaming software as noted at stormbyte forum, but if you will submit it to Arcavir, they are very responsive to fixing it and notifying you of the status, NOW, That is TECH SUPPORT!

 

Nice review. I will have to check this one out.

 

Great job! And very correct I have used many AV's as well and this one is outstanding.

This is true I submitted some likely false positive files just now that ArcaVir detected and within 2 minutes Mariusz responded back letting me know they got them and will check them out. That is almost unheard of in this industry.

Thanks,

Chris

 

53MB?.. nah thats not true.
Ok guys, its time to clear this up.

ArcaVir uses less then 10mb of ram, rest is just stored in a "page file".

Screen from the "Memory Washer" utility
http://arcaupdate.stormbyte.com/memoryusage.JPG

Mariusz

 

Once again support at it's finest

Thanks,

Chris

 

I had doubts about that....But he's right guys, basically It uses about 10MB and the rest is stored in virtual memory (i.e. the page file). Because I calculated my processes and saw that the amount of free space in memory was more than it should be, so I figured maybe ArcaVir is putting in Page File....

 

See...I'm a bad reviewer *sticks tongue at myself*

 

Not a bad reviewer. We all make mistakes. I was just commenting on how fast Mariusz responded.

Definately no offense @ you Firecat.

Thanks,

Chris

 

would this antivirus run ok on a 466 mhz celeron cpu

 

Don't worry, almost everyone made this mistake. You did good
And I don't know if anyone noticed one process on the picture that has something to do with ArcaVir but only about 5 have it on their computer

Mariusz

 

In my opinion it would run on a DX2 Just kidding but it should be fine in my opinion. If I am wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.

Thanks,

Chris

 

It all depends on many things. The best way to find out is by installing a trial version.

 

Yes...considering it uses only 10MB RAM realtime ArcaVir would run real good on your Celeron 466....I would recommend 64MB RAM though.

As stormbyte said, you'd better try it first.

 

No offense taken.

 

Does it have script checker like KaV or Imon in NOD....i would download the trail tonight & would give a shot at it Thx Firecat & Mariuz for the reveiws

 

Thanks. Do they have any Oscars for the best "supporting technician"?

Mariusz

 

If they did have you would win it!

Thanks,

Chris

 

Denpends what scripts. ArcaVir does detect many different types of maleware: viruses, spyware, adware, dialers, trojans etc. but of course not all of them.

Mariusz

 

The ArcaVir monitor detects all sorts of malware as Mariusz said. Yes, it has something like IMON - It will scan all your emails and script checking is done too, infections are tackled before they reach your inbox.

 

Stormbyte,

Concerning the above, are you talking about the ArcaBit\ArcaBackup process?

Thanks,

Bill

 

Yeap, thats a new backup utility coming soon to a computer near you
Mariusz

 

Nope...cant find that process!