It still doesn't have the brand trust of competitors such as Avast!, Avira, and AVG but it’s now certainly an antivirus to be reckoned with. Right now, it’s a solid app, with impressive detection rates, a slick Windows 8 modeled interface with all the basic options. In all, we’re impressed by Adaware's addition of BitDefender to the antivirus suite, and we’re looking forward to trying it over time and seeing what future updates bring. Under Adaware's Main Options, there are various settings related to the basic operation, updates and an explanation of Gaming Mode (although this can be quickly toggled in the main interface and from the taskbar). Under Protection Settings, you’ll be able to tweak the real-time protection and browsing options, although Safe Browsing can only be enabled and disabled, and not customized. The rest of Adaware Antivirus Free options are divided into two parts – the ones under Protection Settings (top right-hand corner) and under Options. LavaSoft have beefed-up the power of the anti-virus engine by introducing the award-winning BitDefender to version 11 of AdAware.

Scans aren’t particularly quick but can be paused if you find they are slowing down your system too much. You can also schedule scans, a must-have option for a modern antivirus.

The Custom option is particularly nice, allowing you to completely customize the scan with easy checkbox inclusions. There are 3 initial scan options, Quick, Full, and Custom. You can skip this if you like and you're presented with a clean interface that's clearly divided into separate functions along the left-hand side, namely Home, Scan Computer, RealTime Protections, Web Protection, Network Protection, App Management.Īd-Aware offers lots of scan options, making things very flexible for the user. Installation is fast although it does try to launch a scan upon start-up. Adaware Antivirus Free looks clean and simple, taking advantage of the streamlined look of Windows 8.

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