With all the excitement about the new viruses and worms or Trojans, or whatever you want to call them since the experts can't seem to all agree on this one, I thought I'd take a look at an anti-virus. Since Norton has already shown us how dependable their solution is, and since Sophos just recently trashed perfectly good files, by the hundreds in an attempt to protect users from a worm that is not even 'in the wild' and which is nearly impossible to get unless you actively seek it out, I figured I'd take a look at some less 'professional' and expensive alternatives.
One program that kept getting mentioned on various community sites as being a good anti-virus alternative to the corporate 'solutions' was clamXav.
ClamXAV keeps threats at bay and puts you firmly in charge of your Mac’s security. Scan a specific file or your entire hard drive. Set it to scan automatically or run instant checks on suspicious files. It’s entirely up to you. Nov 12, 2018 it is the best protection for mac I like ClamXav and think that it is the best protection for mac. It saves your computer from antiviruses and various malwares. I use it few years and have no complaints. S killer feature is simple: price. The program doesn't come out ahead if you compare its features, speed, or usability with commercial antivirus programs that cost a lot more, but it.
ImpartialityIt is a sad day when one has to take such things into account, but, with all the FUD that has been going around lately, the community at large is beginning to question the security experts and solution providers. This program is a free, GPL solution, and is offered as a service to the community. As such many feel it is more trustworthy than the alternatives out there.
It uses no helper applications, which have been criticized by the community, and is about as transparent as a program can get.
What it does?Much like you would expect from an anti-virus program, it scans your files for possible viruses and then attempts to deal with them.
Clamxav Reviews For Mac
The program uses an interface that is almost simplistic, all the controls being located in one central window. The preferences contain some controls and options but for the most part, everything you need is located in the main window.
Scanning your filesclamXav can be pointed in the direction of one of your drives or folders in order to scan the contents for any possible virus. It will also search your e-mail boxes for any attachments that contain worms, viruses and the likes.
Scanning is as easy as selecting the drive, or folder, which you want scanned and hitting the start button. At this point it will begin going through the files one by one until it has scanned them all. Throughout the process, it will display the file it is currently at, and any infected files found. The larger the files, the longer the time it takes to scan them, and in all truthfulness, the program is not the fastest in the world, scanning 5GB of data in a little over 30 minutes.
One of the biggest limitations of the program is how it handles the scanning of mail inboxes. It will report that a mailbox is infected, but it doesn't tell you which exact mail in that inbox is infected, leaving you to go through a trial and error procedure to identify the culprit.
Another issue is that of automation, it doesn't like scheduling tasks, and even if you were to attempt a 'manual automation' by having it start scanning everything before you went away from the computer, it still wouldn't work. This is because it can only scan one volume at any given time, meaning that, unless you have only one volume, you would have to start the process several times. Download digital check usb devices driver.
Infected filesIn this respect, clamXav is unlike other similar programs. It cannot clean or disinfect the files, but it will however quarantine them. From the preferences you can set a quarantine folder, where infected files will be moved. This approach does have its merits. For one thing you cannot loose any data unless you delete it yourself. However, it also means that those files are largely unusable because they will remain infected and you would have to use some other tool to clean them.
Another important issue is that of the mail handling. If it finds a virus in one of your mail inboxes, it will not remove just the offending mail, but will place the entire inbox file in quarantine, meaning that the quarantine option and the scanning of mail inboxes are somewhat incompatible. Still, the program will warn you when it finds an infected file that also happens to be a mail inbox that possible mail loss may occur if it is quarantined and also mentions this in the preferences.
Clamxav For Windows 10
Compared to other anti-virus programs out there, this one might seem like a joke, especially to PC users who have their similar products running at all times, scanning everything. ClamXav has no such abilities and only scans when you tell it to by clicking the button, but, in all fairness, despite the bomb threats of last week, the Mac platform is still virus free from the point of view of many Mac users, and virus scanning is still more of a courtesy to Windows users than a need to actually protect ourselves.
The GoodFree, impartial, and easy to use. It will not do anything harmful by itself, it will not delete any files and will not cause more problems than it solves.
The BadLack of scheduling and the ability to scan the entire computer in one go.
The TruthPerhaps not the best anti-virus software out there, but definitely one of the better ones? despite the lack of bells and whistles. It is constantly being updated and the definitions seem to be kept very up to date, especially considering this is a free program.
Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:
* Toolbar
* SourceList
* Infection Listing
* Console
* PositionRegion
The toolbar at thebestof your window permitsquickaccess to regularlyperformed actions – it could be customised from theSee menu.
The supplychecklistto the left hand sideenables you to maintain a record of favourite items to scan.
The infection checklistaround the upper correct hand facetshowsparticulars of any contaminated files discoveredin the course of a scan. Download easyset driver.
The console areato thereduceappropriatefrom the window provides verbose output about what ClamXav is doing.
The positionregionis the bar in thequite bottom of your window. Originally, it displays the model of ClamXav as well as yourcurrent ClamAV scanning engine set up. It modificationsin the course of a scan to indicate which file is currently becoming examined. To the correct of this is really a progress bar to present an indication of how several files in yourvariety are nonetheless waiting to be scanned.
1st Scan
* Make certainyou’reconnected to the web and click “Update Definitions” in the toolbar. ClamXav will attempt to connect to the ClamAV site to obtain and set up new Virus definitions containall thedatarequired to allow ClamXav to recognise viruses.virus definitions.
* Wait till you see “Update Finished” seeminside the console regionat the bottom from the window.
* Select an merchandise to scan in thesupplycheckliston the left or click the plus (+) button in the bottom to add a various file or folder to thechecklist. Alternatively, drag a file or folder into the window from the Finder to scan it instantly.
* Click the “Start Scan” button. A scan may be aborted safely at any stage.
If an contaminated file is discovered, the identifyof your file along with thenameof your infection it contains will beshownin the “Infection List” within thebestfifty percentof the window.
Dealing withInfected Files
Virus Discovered
Virus Found
If a file exhibits up in the Infection Listing, don’tbe concerned. You will findnumerousoptions avilable to you.
Select the infected file from thelist and then go to the File menu » Infection Checklist and decide on1from thealternatives:
* DisplayPath
* Reveal in Finder
* Quarantine
* Delete
Be reallycautiouswith the Quarantine and Delete choices as eachof those will move the file on yourhard disk. In the event the file in questionis definitely ane mail or componentof a mailbox, you possiblydon’tdesire to delete or quarantine it.
Click here to download ClamXav