Panda Antivirus is one of the best free software for Windows XP, 7, 8.1 and eight computers/laptops. It includes limited but important features to keep your system free of malware and virus infections. The below review of free Panda antivirus will make you aware of its core features, necessary settings, and tools.
Free panda antivirus review
Installation: Once you download the free panda antivirus installer, double-click on it to run the installer. When the installer starts, you’ll be prompted to select a language.
Panda supports 10+ international languages. Thus, you can install it in any language of your choice. Once you have selected your preferred language, click on the next button. Now you’ll see a small window with the below checkboxes
- Install Panda security toolbar for browsers.
- Make Yahoo or mystart.com as the default homepage on web-browsers.
You’ll also see a location field to change the Panda antivirus installation folder. To initiate the installation, there’s an accept + install button too. Tick the checkboxes of your choice and click on accept button. The installation process will run for 30 to 40 seconds. It might take a long time on old computers or laptops.
Startup: After the installation is complete, Panda antivirus will be live in action. Unlike many other antivirus applications, you won’t be prompted to restart windows.
This app will scan your PC for virus infections immediately after its installation is complete. Once the file scanning task is complete, users will be prompted to register their email address with Panda’s official website. If you don’t want to register an account, you can skip it.
Once you’ve registered your account, you’ll see a beautiful interface (check the below screenshot). If you use Windows 8.1 or phone OS, you’ll find that UI of this software is similar to that of the OS. Below are the tools that you’ll find in the main window on this app:
Process monitor: This utility monitors each executing process that you can see in the task manager. If Panda antivirus finds any malicious apps or tasks, it will clean them automatically. The processes can be also blocked manually by the user. This tool also displays the processes that are using internet connection. It checks each URL that a process is trying to access.
Scanner: If you want to remove all viruses or malware that are degrading your PC/laptop’s performance or causing annoying problems on Windows, run the Panda antivirus scanner. This scanner window will display 3 options, custom or full scan and critical areas. If you want to make this software scan files stored in .rar, .zip archives, navigate to the settings window of Panda antivirus.
Firewall: If you want to use the firewall feature of this free antivirus, you’ll have to purchase an activation code. The valid code will upgrade the free Panda to Pro version. The pro version will unlock some new features. It will also make you eligible for online support.
USB Vaccine: This is a new feature introduced in Panda Antivirus 2015 edition. With this tool, you can make this software search for viruses and other infections on your USB Pendrive. Flash drives are one of the major reason why computers and laptops are infected with worms, malware, and viruses. Thus, adding the USB vaccine to this software is a good move by Panda security.
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Rescue Kit: If you have a feeling that you might be locked out from logging into Windows then this tool is for you. Rescue Kit will allow you to create a USB rescue disk. This disk will activate Panda’s cloud scanner on Windows startup. The cloud scanner will refer the latest Virus definition/database to disinfect your PC from all types of latest viruses and malware.
UI: The user interface of this software is customizable. You can change the location of home screen icons of this app. All you have to do is, click or tap (if you’re using a touchscreen laptop) on the icon and drag it to any position of your choice.
Other features of this software:
Scheduled scan: You can configure this antivirus to run a scan every day or in a month/week. You can add extensions, folders, and files that you want Panda to ignore.
Storage and RAM usage: This application used 120 MB storage on my computer. While scanning, it used just 50MB RAM. Thus, if you’re looking for a light-weight antivirus software you should try out the free Panda antivirus.
Issues: Panda antivirus reported the below error each time I closed the windows it generated.
These errors didn’t affect the performance of this software as they were thrown only after the processes finished executing their task.
