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Anti-Virus Software Terms and Definitions

Several unique terms and phrases describe the features of software we review on this site, some easier to grasp than others. This list briefly defines terms relevant to Antivirus Software.

Ease of Use
Is the product easy to use even for a novice? How easy is it to navigate through the product?

Effectiveness
How effective is the application at protecting your computer from harmful viruses or worms?

Feature Set
The feature set of a software is the amount of different features that the product has. Does the product contain all the features that are required to perform its function?

Ease of Installation
How easy is the program to install? Were there many errors that occurred? Is the complete program in one package or do you have to download additional parts off the Internet.

Help/Support
Is the Help documentation helpful or does it still leave unanswered questions? Is it easy to find yourself around the help document.

ICSA 2007 Certified
The ICSA is an independent organization that has a set criteria for certifying anti–virus software. To find out more about the criteria that is being test or the organization, click here.

VB100% 2007 Certified
The Virus Bulletin 100% is an award given to antivirus software that detects all current “in the wild” viruses during both on–demand and on–access scanning in Virus Bulletin’s comparative tests and generates no false positives when scanning a set of clean files.

W.C.L Level 1 Certified
The West Coast Labs Checkmark level 1 & 2 certifications are given to antivirus software that detects all current “in the wild” viruses, generates no false positives, prevents virus replication and disinfects all of the viruses that can be disinfected.

W.C.L Level 2 Certified
The West Coast Labs Checkmark level 1 & 2 certifications are given to antivirus software that detects all current “in the wild” viruses, generates no false positives, prevents virus replication and disinfects all of the viruses that can be disinfected.

On-access Scanning
Your files are scanned when you receive them and when you try to access them.

Realtime Scanning
Your computer will scan for new viruses every few minutes.

On-demand Scanning
You can determine which files and when to scan for viruses. It’s like manual scanning but you can be more specific and scan a file at a particular time. Simply right–click on the filename.

Scheduled Scanning
A scheduler allows you to set a schedule for when and possibly how the program is going to scan your hard drive for viruses.

Heuristic Scanning
Heuristic scanning is used to detect newly-made viruses. In other words viruses that have recently been released.

Manual Scanning
Manual Scanning is the ability to start a scan of your hard drive at any time.

Script Blocking
Script Blocking technology monitors Java and VBS scripts and alerts users of virus-like behavior. They stop these viruses before they can infect a system without needing virus definitions.

Scan Compressed Files
Scans zipped (.zip) or other compressed files that are usually obtained through emails or downloaded from the web.

Auto-Clean Infected Files
The anti-virus program will automatically clean or fix files that are infected.

Quarantines Infected Files
If a file is suspected of being infected with a virus, it moves the file to a “quarantine” area where you cannot accidentally access it.

Email POP3 Protection
The anti-virus software scans files received through incoming emails on a POP3 account?

Instant Messaging Protection
The anti-virus software scans files received through instant messaging (MSN Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger)?

WebMail Protection
The anti-virus software scans files received through webmail (AOL.com, MSN.com, Hotmail.com, Yahoo.com, etc..)?

Automatic Definition Updates
The program automatically updates virus definitions or DAT files. A virus definition is basically the formula that the software uses to determine if a file is infected by a specific virus.

Automatic Program Updates
The program automatically checks and installs software updates.

Manual Definition Updates
You can manually check for virus definition updates.

Manual Program Updates
You can manually check for software updates.

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