The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group McAfee QuickClean 3.0, VirusScan 7.0 and Firewall 4.0 Jim Maunder |
I should not have been surprised when I was asked to review these McAfee virus
protection, firewall and Internet protection packages. After all, I had posted a
few messages on the Melb PC newsgroups about some trouble I had with viruses
last year, and also about some software that somehow got into my home computer,
installed itself and generated a lot of Internet traffic whenever I used
Internet Explorer with Melb PC. Another time I related my experiences with
setting up and using another brand of antivirus software. Our reviews editor
reads the newsgroups, I've noticed.
McAfee QuickClean 3.0, VirusScan 7.0 and Firewall 4.0 can be used individually,
or together as a suite of programs, to keep your computer tidy and protected
from virus and Internet threats. They are modest in size, well presented and
easy enough to configure and operate. They have some shared modules, and
integrate to a certain extent when used together.
What You Get
Each red box has a slim but useful manual which seems to cover most
eventualities, including preparing for installation, installation problems that
might occur and how to get around them, and a warning about upgrading to Windows
XP if you already have McAfee software installed. There are few illustrations in
the manuals. The boxes also contain a licence booklet, a pamphlet about where to
get help, and of course the installation CD-ROMs.
Installation
Installation is simply a matter of putting the CD-ROM in the drive and selecting
the relevant product from the menu when it comes up. There are options to
install support software such as Acrobat Reader and demos of some of the other
McAfee products (See Figure 1). Installation is quick in each case. It is a good
idea to select the 'Custom Installation' option in each case so that you get
only the software you want. For instance the standard installation of VirusScan
also installs 'Firewall' and 'Safe and Sound' without asking, and that's a bit
impolite in my opinion (See Figure 2).
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What They Do
Program removal was not trouble free, in fact it seemed to lock up the machine
on several tries (Task Manager showed that part of the program was not
responding). I reinstalled QuickClean and it was no better. Maybe I was not
patient enough, although I waited a couple of minutes for something to happen.
In any case, if QuickClean was busy doing something in preparation to removing
the files, it should have provided me with some reassuring messages about its
progress. When I waited, it eventually did the job. I did not contact McAfee
about this, because I don't think an ordinary user should have this kind of
problem - the software should always work. Options in the Advanced Tasks section
allow a user to archive a program if it is only used rarely, and restore it from
archive when needed.
After installation a full scan (See Figure 7) with the default settings took ages -
best left to run overnight. It seems much slower than VET for instance, but
maybe it's doing a more comprehensive scan. When the resident scanner detects a
virus (See Figure 8) it asks what to do with the file - clean, delete, quarantine
or exclude. The resident scanner can be set to take any of these actions by
default - I tried the 'delete' option, and found that it deleted my test file
quicker than the dialogue box came up. Even in the default setting it prevented
access to the file instantly.
FireWall 4.0 Each option is explained carefully, and if more guidance about the
settings is needed, then links to easy to understand but comprehensive help are
available. When I had the Internet intrusion last year (the W32/Opaserv worm) I
fumbled with ZoneAlarm trying to track down the problem, and now I think
Firewall would have been easier to live with. Like VirusScan this software works
well with the standard settings (See Figure 11), but these can be fine tuned using
the Advanced Filtering Rules available for most options (See Figure 12). These
settings are not for fiddling with, and should only be used if you know what it
all means (I do not) or you are prepared to have no Internet access because
you've filtered it all out!
Conclusion
QuickClean 3.0
When QuickClean is first run it spends a few minutes examining the system and
building a database of the files that belong to all of the software already
installed, so that it can delete them if asked to uninstall a program later on.
It then shows a menu (See Figure 3) for the various tasks it is able to do, namely
Figure 3. QuickClean options.
Figure 4. Selecting a program to remove.
Remove a Program
This option shows an Explorer style window used to select a program to remove
(See Figure 4), then if the program already has an uninstall routine, choose to let QuickClean make use of that, after which it would offer to clean up any leftover
files at the end (See Figure 5). It successfully removed a couple of programs, one
selected from the Start Menu, and another selected from a desktop shortcut, but
not without some trouble. I tried to get it to remove the Novell Client we use
to connect to the school network, but it would not, maybe because the client is
more of a system program than an application program. With the software it could
remove, it also asked if it could remove any related data files it found. It
also gave the option to make a backup of the program in case I changed my mind.
Figure 5. QuickClean cleans up after itself.
Figure 6. Sorting through the junk with QuickClean Lite.
QuickClean Lite, one of the menu options, removes temporary and other 'junk',
and lets you select the sort of files you want removed - recycle bin files,
temporary files, orphaned shortcuts, Internet files and so on. In contrast to
the program removal function, this works well, giving useful messages as it does
its work (See Figure 6). For some people these tasks would be the most useful,
helping them with routine housekeeping, and if they wanted, obliterating all
evidence about what they had been doing on the Internet.
VirusScan 7.0
Figure 7. VirusScan scanning.
Figure 8. We've got hostiles!
The default settings work perfectly, but can be easily changed if you want to
tailor it to your way of working (see Figure 9).
Figure 9. Some VirusScan settings.
Figure 10. Firewall is helpful from the start.
Although this is probably the most complex program of the three, it is quite
easy to set up and use. When it is first run, Firewall goes through a set up
stage (See Fig 10), prompting the user to set options for Internet traffic
filtering, whether to load Firewall at start up (suggesting that you only need
to do this if you have permanent connection), whether or not the computer allows
shares or accesses shares, and which installed programs are allowed to access
the Internet.
Figure 11. Maybe Netscape is dodgey ...
Figure 12. ... but the filter can be fine tuned if you
know what it means.
Firstly I should state my position on "utility software". I do not buy "third
party" utilities, memory managers, crash stoppers and the like, mainly because I
am fairly satisfied with the system utilities that come with DOS and Windows. I
try to follow the adage 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', and I'd rather spend
my money on, things like food, petrol and holidays. Computers are my work, not
my hobby, although I have to admit that I am quite fond of playing games on
them.
I would classify QuickClean as 'utility software', and would not use it on
my own computers because I can manage without it, mostly anyway. OK, I'll admit
to using this kind of software to clean the registry on a few computers, but
that was before I found out about SCANREG. I know many people do use this kind
of software because they are not confident about installing software or are wary
about the effects new software might have on their computer, or are anxious
about the 'health' of their computer, and for them QuickClean would be a good
choice, particularly the 'QuickClean Lite' module.
I liked McAfee VirusScan and Firewall, and these could easily find a place on my
computer if my employer did not already provide similar protection.
Under the Hood
Reviewed on a Toshiba Satellite 1800 laptop Celeron 900 MHz, 256 Mb RAM, Windows
98SE
Minimum System Requirements
Windows XP Home or Pro, Windows 2000 Pro, Windows ME, 98 and 98SE
Internet 5.01 or later browser.
Pentium 100 MHz or higher
32 MB RAM, 65 MB free hard disk space for VirusScan, 35 MB for the others, and
Internet access for some features
Cost and Availability
Available from most software retailers
Green Guide prices: About $70 for QuickClean, $75 for VirusScan and $45 for
Firewall.
Reprinted from the April 2003 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC
User Group, Australia
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