Trend Micro - Top Choice in Antivirus Software Review

Trend Micro isn’t a complete security suite, and misses some of the features found in other multi-layered antivirus software. For more thorough protection, consider one of our higher ranked antivirus software. Or if you’re set on Trend Micro, look into their Internet Security suite or the all-in-one premium Internet Security Pro, which includes parental controls, PC tuning, and online backup.
Effectiveness:

Trend Micro is an effective antivirus solution, combining traditional signature-based security with real-time protection. Unfortunately, Trend Micro hasn’t incorporated advanced heuristics or a security network yet.

Trend Micro’s AntiVirus + AntiSpyware is approved and certified by the West Coast Labs as an effective solution for antivirus, antispyware, anti-trojan, and anti-malware.
Ease of Installation:

Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware also fell a bit behind on our test of installation time, taking 14 minutes and 1 restart (not bad, but not great).

Trend Micro is designed to work efficiently and effectively, and for the most part it does. However, while Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware isn’t technically a resource hog, you’ll want to look elsewhere for the quickest and most resource-conscious antivirus software. Our in-house test clocked Trend Micro with an idle footprint (resource use while not scanning) of over 22MB (compare with Norton’s 6.2MB), and a scan footprint of 31.5MB (compare with Vipre’s 9.8MB).
Ease of Use:

Trend Micro is relatively easy to use, and shouldn’t be a problem for security beginners. The main console is straightforward and provides access to all the essential features. AntiVirus + AntiSpyware is equipped to basically run by itself, scanning files on-access. Manual scans are easy to start, and include a quick scan or a more in-depth (longer) scan. If you have a particular file you want to scan, simply right click on it and you can send it to the Trend Micro scanner immediately.
Features:

AntiVirus + AntiSpyware from Trend Micro features advanced protection from malware spread in emails and IM (instant messages). The software scans incoming and outbound email (including webmail), so not only are you protected, but you won’t accidentally pass a virus on to your friends or coworkers.

Trend Micro’s antivirus software keeps an eye on your operating system and applications, preventing malicious attempts to change settings or mess with critical functions. The software (like most of the antivirus software we reviewed) includes a sterile quarantine, where suspicious files are kept while you decide what action (recover, delete) to take.

Unfortunately, Trend Micro is missing some nice features like laptop battery mode, web link scanner, or gamer mode (the best option for this is to manually set the notifications to “rarely” in the advanced settings).
Updates:

Antivirus signature updates are delivered to your computer to keep the virus protection up to date. Trend Micro delivers updates automatically. The default is to check for updates every 3 hours, but you can set it to run every hour. And in the rare case that an update causes a problem, Trend Micro makes it possible to revert to the previous working update.
Help & Support:

Trend Micro’s online support center consists of technical support via phone, email, or live chat. You can also search through the knowledge base, or FAQs section. Premium support is available (for a fee) to help with virus removal, file recovery, PC tune-up and more.
Summary:

Overall, Trend Micro’s AntiVirus + AntiSpyware is good, but not great. The level of protection isn’t as comprehensive as we’ve seen from competitors, and we’d like to see Trend Micro jump on board with some of the cutting edge security technology like heuristics and better internet protection. For now, Trend Micro AntiVirus + AntiSpyware is fine, but we recommend looking into one of our higher rated antivirus software.

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