The minimalist look is becoming more and more popular in antivirus products. Showing the user exactly what's necessary and no more can make for a more pleasant experience. BullGuard Antivirus Plus 2013 actually has one more button on its main screen than last year's edition. That brings the total to two, though, so it definitely qualifies as minimalist. More importantly, it scored better than last year's edition in a number of areas.
One of BullGuard's big buttons is an icon that reflects overall system status. A green check means everything's fine. An orange i indicates there's some information you need to act on. And if you see a red X, something's wrong. In each case clicking the button gets you more detail and, when the status isn't green, a list of action items. The other button gives you the choice of launching a quick or full antivirus scan.
In addition to the simplicity of its interface, BullGuard also defaults to quiet mode, which means it does its job silently, keeping popups and notifications to a minimum. You can reconfigure it to let you know what it's doing, but many users will prefer the default set-and-forget protection.
Installation Problems Solved Remotely
As is often the case, installing this antivirus on several of my test systems proved difficult. One system is only functional in Safe Mode, and BullGuard won't install in Safe Mode. A tech support agent remotely controlled that system, located the threat that prevented booting into regular Windows, and neutralized it manually.
Malware on two other systems I use for testing actively prevents Internet connections to known security sites, including BullGuard's. Normally the tiny BullGuard installer checks your language and operating system and downloads the correct installation modules. With no connection possible, the install failed.
Tech support supplied an offline installer, which worked. However, because I could not activate the product over the Internet it wouldn't run. Once more tech support had a solution?a special command line to run a scan without requiring activation. If you bought BullGuard to clean up an infested system, the same thing could happen to you.
After I ran a full scan, one of these two systems still couldn't connect with BullGuard for activation or updates. Tech support launched a lengthy remote control session and ended up using a third-party tool called ComboFix to solve the problem. The same combination of remote control and ComboFix straightened out another system where BullGuard just wouldn't install.
After cleanup, one of the test systems rebooted but didn't display the desktop. I brought up Task Manager and tried using it to launch Windows Explorer, only to find it was gone. Fortunately I managed to launch BullGuard's support system via Task Manager. The support agent restored Windows Explorer and got the system working again.
The biggest problem happened after a seemingly successful scan and clean operation. After the required reboot, Windows kept logging on and off indefinitely. Tech support eventually solved this one by using a still-in-testing CD-based bootable environment to replace an essential Windows file that had been whacked by the antivirus scan.
I was definitely impressed by the skill and persistence of BullGuard tech support, but less impressed that I needed their services so much. Half of the twelve systems I used to test BullGuard needed tech support intervention to install, to scan, or to repair collateral damage after a scan. I have to assume that means a fair number of regular users would face the same challenge when using BullGuard to clean up an existing malware problem.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/JQDbOpHLN2M/0,2817,2410871,00.asp
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