Panda Antivirus Titanium

Panda Antivirus Titanium is an anti virus product meant for home users. Lately, it has been recognized in several computer magazines as being one of the be best AV solutions out there. This products has been awarded quality certificates from the most prestigious IT security industry watchdogs such as: Virus Bulletin, International Computer Security Association and CheckMark. As I mentioned in the “Sophos Anti-Virus for Unix” review earlier, we won’t go into rigorous comparative testing of the software, but will guide the readers through the product’s functionality.

Panda Titanium CD

The installation CD is greatly done. The nifty Flash opening gives the user a possibility of choosing one from fifteen, mainly European, languages. After clicking the desired language, several options are presented:

• Install Panda Antivirus Titanium
• Watch Multimedia Presentation
• Install Screensavers
• Browse the CD

While all the options are self descriptive, I must really praise the multimedia part of the installation as it really provides an informative and nicely done walk through the history of Panda Software, its products and the situation with viruses in general. As a trivia snippet from the presentation, Panda Software was created 12 years ago in a small apartment located in Bilbao, Spain. Combining the good initial product and successful company management, they became one of the leading anti virus solution providers.

Installation Procedure

The installation procedure goes like it should go – smooth and fast. As a standard installation, you can choose the directory paths and after clicking a few ‘next’ buttons, Panda Antivirus Titanium gets its place on your computer. After installing the software, a windows message box opens saying you should register your copy on the Panda Software web site. This makes your Panda Antivirus client eligible for virus signatures updates and able to use some additional services bundled up in the program.

Titanium in action

The current version (last updated on 11 December 2002) has 65123 virus signatures and the updates can be automated, making end users safe from worrying if the latest virus definitions have been deployed. Easily accessed program status bar offers information on the previously preformed scans. As an addition, Virus List function contains a list of all malware files that the product detects. The database of pests doesn’t hold all the behavior information, but the basic categorization and characteristics are a nice supplement.

Automated signature updating	Virus List database

There are several ways of scanning your computer – “My Computer”, “All Hard Disks”, “All E-Mail”, “Floppy Disk” and “Other Items”. Scanning ‘other items’ offers user a choice of scanning a separate partition, folder, file, memory and even Outlook and Outlook Express data. In an advanced mode, configuration offers you to set the file types that will be included in the “permanent protection mode”. This mode, if enabled, scans for files that user is currently using, including messages and files that are being transmitted from the Internet.

Titanium’s permanent protection	Scan “other items” screen

Virus scan complete notification	Detailed scan report log

Usage of the Panda Antivirus Titanium can’t be easier. Maybe the quote from Panda Software’s January press release explains it better: “Panda Antivirus Titanium is an ‘install and forget’ antivirus, designed with simplicity and transparency in mind. It is the ideal solution for those without expert knowledge or who simply don’t have time to carry out complicated maintenance tasks.” Incorporated in the program’s layout, exists a selection of frequently asked questions which deals with the program usage. Another nice thing for the novice users is that the FAQs can be printed directly from the software GUI.

The bottom line is, Panda Antivirus Titanium is a well done anti virus product, that combines great looks and simplicity with a powerful scanning engine.