ClamWin is a free antivirus software based on ClamAV engine. It uses GNU General Public License by the Free Software Foundation. It supports Microsoft Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP / Me / 2000 / 98 and Windows Server 2012, 2008 and 2003.
ClamWin Free Antivirus is one of the best-known among free protection software. It’s used by more than 600,000 users worldwide on a daily basis. As you can guess, it’s perfect for novice users: it comes with an easy installer and open source code. After you download it, you can run it free of charge forever.
Maybe it’s not the best choice, but nonetheless ClamAV is an excellent tool that assures a scanning scheduler that lets you set the frequency of the scan (hourly, daily, workdays or weekly), the time and the location of the folder you want to be checked, automatic downloads of regularly updated Virus Database, high detection rates for viruses and spyware; a Standalone virus scanner and right-click menu integration to the browser, and an add-on to Microsoft Outlook to remove virus-infected attachments automatically. In the settings menu, we can also find dedicated tools for proxy servers, Internet updates, and reports.
Talking about downsides, we must notice ClamWin Free Antivirus doesn’t provide real-time protection: to detect a virus or spyware, you have to scan manually a file and manually remove the virus.The scanning process is quite fast, but the software needs a moderate amount of computer resources.
Conclusion
ClamWin is a basic but reasonable alternative to the subscription-based premium tools, but it’s best for infrequently used machines as second PCs or for a temporary period.
| Usability: 6.5 /10 | Speed: 6 /10 | Features: 7 /10 | Support: 6 /10 | Price: 10 /10 |
Usability
8.5
Speed
10
Features
6
Support
9
Pricing
10
Found many viruses that Avast failed to find, much lighter weight. It does not feature real time protection because it is a minimalist program, Clam Sentinel is available however, so for me at least this is not an issue. It’s UI is crusty and old, but if it’s between that or installing spyware/adware that muscles out the other spyware/adware, or having a pretty application, I’ll take the ladder. Also, it’s open source, which is wonderful.
Usability
9.5
Speed
2.7
Features
4.3
Support
8.1
Pricing
9.6
Clamwin is very simple to use and I like it. My only complaint is it’s very slow, takes several hours on my computer. I also use a spyware program with it. Warning make sure you click on tools, preferences and tell it to delete or quarantine.
Usability
0
Speed
0
Features
0
Support
0
Pricing
0
Many false positives. In distant past I found it picked up some malware missed by commercial and free products, but no more. After having given up and not using for a few years, I downloaded the newest iteration, 0.99.1. No improvement and I updated 7 times in response to their pop-up saying the definitions were “>5 days old”. I found a forum entry on their site referring to a ruinous problem that was obviously not affecting me alone, and went to lengths (5+ hours) of trying to make it work and answering their technical questions posted on that forum. I wrote it up and joined their forum. I was accepted and when I tried to post, I received a denial of access for posting on their forum. I went to their “contact us” and was again denied access and couldn’t send them a message on their server. I ran the program manually, the scheduled scan having failed to execute. It identified a commercial major brand disk burner as having imbedded malware in two areas, as it had years ago – still finding the same false positives. It still failed the final report as in the past. I assume that these problems will not be fixed, as they refuse to receive reports answering questions about the glitches they are having. Clamwin is free, but not worth the cost.