KAV based scanners... compare... again?

Since this kind of topic will never end...
..another question..

Many KAV based AVs are present in the market...
KAV/KAV pro itself, eScan (and its own variants), GDATA AVK, extendia AVK, F-secure .... and more

Can the past/present users rate them in order of...
1. Configuration options available
2. Resource usage under varied conditions
3. Ability to access "extended" databases
4. Quirks/annoyances

 

Defender Pro 5 in 1
Kav 5.0
can use extended databases
fairly configurable
didn't notice any quirks
seemed to work alright
ran surprisingly light on system

 

Hey no13,

I use eScan Internet Security Suite (one of the commercial editions), and from my experience, I'd say the following:-

1)Configurability:-

The Anti-Virus is fairly easy to configure, and has a good degree of depth too. Options include the scanning of Packed files, Archived files, System Areas (dunno what that means), Memory and Registry. Also you can set whether logs are prepared and the folder where you wish it to be prepared.

You can also configure it to warn if you have not updated in xx days or have not scanned your PC in xx days.

With the newer builds, there are some restrictions set for certain file types which you can remove from or you can add your own too (e.g. Size restriction for ZIP and CAB files, or Scan restriction for JAR files--->Scan restriction=will not be scanned fully I guess)

Configuring the Internet Security part of the program is VERY boring. The drab interface does not help at all. There is a mine field of options which you can see through (Content Administrator).

2)Resource usage of Internet Security Edition is about 20MB on my AMD64 3000+ 512MB, GeForce FX 5900 128MB and onboard sound with WinXP Home. It seemed to be a bit unstable on Windows Me.

When I had 256MB of RAM, it was slowing the PC just a bit (still noticeable), but later builds brought it down to a pretty good level. Now with 512MB RAM I feel little to no drop in performance.

3)eScan's latest build i.e 2.6.518.8 by default has the following bases enabled (alongwith default bases):

AdWare
PornWare
X-Files

You can enable Riskware bases by editing an INI file (Eupdate.ini in eScan directory).

4)Annoyances:- No cumulative program updates (If a new build releases, neither is there notification, and you still have to re-download the entire setup file to get the new build), Script Checker not enabled by default (enabled only for email scan by default)

Also certain bugs relating to the On Demand Scanner.

Hope that helped.

Cheers,
Firecat

 

I don't see why you would consider using anything but KAV itself, why use an "imitation" when you can have the original. There is a reason why so many other products use KAVs scanning engine, because it's the best, so why not stick with the actual maker of the product.... seems to me that they would know the product the best and produce the best end overall scanner.

 

For me I'd rate KAV Personal 5 the easiest and most reliable.

1. Configuration options available
A few but it's not bogged down with them like escan which is a nightmare to configure.
2. Resource usage under varied conditions
A lot lighter than previous versions.
3. Ability to access "extended" databases
YES, very easy.
4. Quirks/annoyances
None. It auto updates fine and deals with threats in an easy way. Take a trial and you'll see how good it is.

 

mnosteele,

The reason why some people go for KAV based scanners is because they can get KAV (or close to KAV, since updates are recieved later) detection rates at a price that can be LOT lower than KAV itself.

For example, Defender Pro 5-in-1 costs only USD 29.95, and gives you KAV 5 with all of its updates and malware detection, and also throws in Anti-Spam, Firewall, Popup blocker programs and other utilities.

eXtendia Single-Engine AVK costs only USD 9.95 and gives you a fully functional Anti-Virus using the word's most reputed engine. For USD 39.95 you can get a full-fledged security suite.

GDATA AVK also offers a double-engine Antivirus using KAV engine for less than KAV.

I consider F-Secure and eScan to be the bigger KAV clones. This is because both these AVs offer at least a bit more than KAV at the same price range, and also have daily updates made to the KAV engine (hourly for eScan), PLUS the main program is also updated occasionally.

And KAV costs USD 49.95 and offers ONLY an Anti-Virus, nothing more.

So, for many people, it makes sense to go for something KAV based, as it would provide them with reliable protection, and they would get some extra features too (increased value).

Please note that I did not intend to start any sort of war. If this message irritated you, I am truly sorry.

Cheers,
Firecat

 

There is generally a good reason why some of the KAV clones are seemingly a better cost option than KAV itself.

In some cases ( eXtendia AVK, Defender Pro ) no future engine upgrades are available, only malware definitions. In other cases, daily definitions are available only at extra cost ( GDATA). And with most of the clones, support can be very patchy (eXtendia, GDATA).

Overall, some of these KAV-engined AV's are very good value, but the total package available needs to be closely looked at before a decision is made.

 

By your description it look like that KAV clones using and KAV updates. I tought that they just use engine and their own definitions...

Its because I see that Escan, Gdata and Extendia do not make that good score as KAV on all testings... no logic..

Also F-secure make very often and better score than KAV.

 

The cost of KAV is not as much as most people think. I just became a reseller and it's only about $40 for a 1 year license and about 30% of that for a renewal. You just need to look for a reseller rather than buy direct.

Also, KAV offers up to 50% off for educational institutions, government and non-profit organizations.

The problem with using a KAV "clone" is that it's not truly KAV and from many test comparisons it's not quite as good. I'm not tying to push KAV, I feel this way about any type of "clone" product. If you want the best, use the original, not a "knock-off".

 

I don't know if I agree with you on that respect, I am staunch supporter of GData's products, I have tried KAV 4.5 and 5.0 and neither of them are without quirks, and system lag, where as a GData's version 2004 and now 2005 are much better with system resources and have another engine(BD) for the same price or less depending on where you get KAV from, and in any test I have seen score the same as KAV.

 

hmm...
Let's see...
I think having more options to configure is nice [which is why I'd recommend KAV Pro 4.5 over the other KAV originals]
Also, I don't see how people can live with the kind of performance drag KAV personal 5 gives [the last guy who bought a license around here has switched back to Norton, of all things]
And F-secure 2005 [I've tried it myself... a 3 month trial from a Magazine cd... didn't see many config options] is THE WORST offender I know of... even worse than KAV AND NAV running at the same time!
I think eScan and GDATA are looking like better alternatives... especially since I find better and faster support for all software right here on www and WSF !!!
Anyway... again, this has been a personal opinion, and ~may not~ represent facts correctly.

 

If GDaata's AVK Pro cannot scan archives as well as KAV, then I would assume KAV is a better buy...

If GData's AVK Pro cannot use the "extended" database of KAV (the one that includes adware, pornware, etc), KAV is probably a better deal... (Unless Bitdefender's dtatbase makes up for this)...

If GData's AVK Pro is faster at startup and in general, with as good heuristics of at least KAV... and can detect virii in passsword protected archives, then perhaps GData's AVK is better..

What about the "IStreams".. Does AVK Pro have them too? Then if not, AVK Pro would be a better buy..

I heard support of AVK Pro sucks....

Decisions, decisions...LOL....

 

That's due to the user setting it up improperly. I have installed KAV on many different pc setups and never seen a noticeable performance hit, for example, I just installed it on a clients old 700mhz Celeron with 128MB or RAM running 98SE. She previously had Norton AV 2004 just installed by a "computer tech" and complained about how slow her pc was now, I uninstalled Norton and setup KAV Personal 5 - properly - and it found 24 viruses that Norton never did and her pc is running faster than ever.

 

In re to Straight Shooter;
1. The resident scanner has a file size of 300kb for compressed archives as default, this can be increased, here in may lay the misconception, you need to increase the size to catch them all the fastest.

2. They mention a new Anti-Dialer and other "riskware" module, don't know which engine this comes from.

3. GDatas AVK is loaded extremely quick the only lagging is with the information widget thing that can be omitted during the install. Use custom.

4. So far as I know I don't believe Istreams are used, although I have not taken a process watcher to it yet.

5. As stated in another they now have an english support email adress that you when you register so this will help out IMO, it won't be poor Mr. Zimmer getting bombarded, but the questions above are going to be emailed so we will see how much has(not) changed.

 

no13,

As far as support is concerned, I would say that F-Secure and eScan have the best support. Both support teams are very very responsive. eXtendia does have nice support, but sometimes the answers may just frustrate you, or it may not be satisfactory.

For example, eXtendia AVK is not compatible with Windows Security Center in XP SP2. And what eXtendia said at the time was that IF they could not fix it, there is no need to worry as they can be sure that eXtendia still works. I do not know whether this bug still exists.

F-Secure, eScan and GDATA AVK were all updated to be compatible with the Security Center. GDATA has decent tech support but often it takes a lot of time to get a reply (upto a week or more)

MicroWorld (eScan) has really good tech support. Just go around these forums and search a bit and you'll see what I mean. They are, however, best at online chat rather than email (you may have to wait a day or two if you put email).

EDIT:- Most email queries of eScan are answered in less than 24 hours most of the time (I just tested it and recieved a response within 11 hours. In normal cases, response times can be between 4-24 hours. In special cases, it can take upto 48 hours from my experience. Believe me, I sit all my free time doing R&D on this product and sending bug reports if any--->most have been fixed now, to MicroWorld, so I know.)

Dunno about F-Secure, though. Hope this helped a bit.

Cheers,
Firecat

 

why go for KAV?

kaspersky gets the new viruses first, thats a fact.. you can test this for yourself, its very easy:
find a new undetected virus. send the sample to one of the clones. check when the detection of it is added to kav, and when to the clone in question

 

Straight Shooter...
Wait a couple of weeks... KAV Pro will have the options you desire.

Hmm... What kind of configurability, pray tell, does KAV personal offer?
Remember, I'm really paranoid and I like to scan ALL files and use ALL databases (including the extended AND Super databases), like any other person would.

Firecat...
do the eScan ppl. offer student discounts? A couple of friends in a Northern Univ. [I think its IPU, Delhi] wanted discounted AVs But they failed to get any in the local markets and took NAV

Yes... I'll do that, and then we can go eat the sea of tranquility.... ok?
gosh, where do you suppose I'll get an ITW sample, man? I don't have ANY contacts like that!!!
And where exactly is S.A.V.O.?

 

no13,

Unfortunately, I asked MicroWorld about this and they do not have a special students license yet. They have started working with Microsoft on the Protect Your PC programme, which should have some discounted prices in the near future. If your friends want something very cheap then they can go for eScan Anti-Virus edition which costs about USD 24.95 or in India would be around Rs.1500 including taxes. The Antivirus edition includes a realtime monitor, the netbios firewall, ondemand scanner and email scanner(I think).

Hope that helped and have a nice day.

BTW:- Where do you live? Please don't mind

Cheers,
Firecat

 

S.A.V.O, or let's call it Savonia, is the most mysterious part or Finland. The largest city of Savonian's is Helsinki, with it's suburban area, about 200 000 Savonians live there, the second largest City is Kuopio, about 120 000 Savonian inhabitants including the suburban area.

Officially, about 20 % of the total territory of Finland belongs to the Savonia (= Eastern part of Finland), but if you are asking that from a member of Savonian clan, the answer is about 60...90 % (there have to be a small territory left to those Swedish talking people and the Laplanders) of the total Finnish territory.

You just can't get a proper answer to your question from a Savonian man. When the Savonians speaks, the liability tranfers to the listener.

My family has lived only about 350 years in Savonia, but even I just can't call me a pure Savonian man, it takes about 500 years from your family to be a full member of Savonian clan. That's why I remigrated to the South-Finland 20 years ago, I just couldn't wait those 150 years anymore.

In this picture, a typical Savonian man is going to work with his Kick-Mobile. Note, the decisive glance of this man.

Best regards,
Firefighter!

 

and hence your sig. makes NO sense at ALL !!!
mein gott... deez Finns... dey zhall drive us krazy...
But FF, what is your opinion on this matter?

[off topic]
PS: I just saw the weirdest thing... my friend's dad works in this MNC, so he got McAfee VSE 8.0i (I won't pretend to understand these version numbers...honest)
But on a Xp SP1a fresh install... VSE started terminating ALL windows processes [lsass.exe, services.exe and a couple more, initiating a shutdown]
Any clues? I guess I'll start a new topic if he can't do it on his own.
[/off topic]

 

Firecat...
clickity click click
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/member.php?u=23745
muahahahahahaha.....

 

no13,

err.... I did not get you? What's the laughing for? You are a student (so probably a college anyhow....I'm still in school haha). But which city, may I ask?

Firecat

 

Thanks a lot Ronjor!
Firecat

 

ROFL


cheers Heimoveli!