Review Of ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5

Continuing with my ongoing series of 2012 antivirus reviews I am, today, looking at ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5.

The Good:

• Clean, simple interface
• Scores well in independent tests
• Low system resource usage

The Bad:

• Rescue CD requires prior installation of Microsoft’s Automated Installation Kit (AIK)
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Installation and first impression
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 is another best antivirus program 2012 that is very quick to install. After downloading the initial file that is only a few megs in size you will run it and the program proper will be downloaded. This is only 48.9 MB in size and took just about a minute on my connection.

Firing up the program for the first time will present you with the interface as seen in the image below. You will note straight away that ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 has a very clean and uncluttered interface. I for one appreciate this approach and I know many of you do too.

Surprisingly, the first thing I noticed is that the program was notifying me that my Windows installation was not up to date. After examining that claim further I found that a Windows automatic update had failed a few weeks ago. That means that none of the other antivirus or internet security programs I’ve looked at recently have picked up on that fact. A good start for ESET then.
Features
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5, despite the minimalist look of the dashboard, contains all the features you would normally expect to find in an antivirus program 2012. These are arranged under main category headings that can be found on the left hand side of the program’s screen.

The Home option is just the main screen seen which gives you a small amount of pertinent information at a glance. The next category is Computer scan which allows you to choose on demand smart or custom scans or the ability to set up a scheduled scan. You can also build your exception list here via the Computer scan setup link.

The next option is the Update link which, as the name suggests, allows you to update the virus signature database. This is also the area in which you can activate the product if or when necessary.

Through Setup you have access to

• Real-time system protection
• HIPS
• Gamer mode
• Web access protection
• Email client protection

By default, gamer mode is disabled and the other four options are enabled. From this screen you can turn each of these options on or off.
You can also Enter advanced setup from here too though it is the same screen you can access through the Computer scan page.

The Tools link opens up far more further options than any of the other options above. These are:

• Log Files
• Protection statistics
• Watch activity
• Running processes
• Scheduler
• Quarantine
• ESET SysInspector
• Submit file for analysis
• ESET SysRescue

You can see a little more on each of these options in the video a little further down the page.

Lastly, we come to Help and Support.
System Requirements
ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 has the following system requirements -

• i386 (Intel 80386), amd64 (x86-64) processor
• Windows XP / 2000 / Vista / Home Server / 7
• 400 MB or more of free hard drive space
• 100 MB or more of memory

Effectiveness
If you have a look around some of the independent test labs you will see that ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 fares rather well in terms of detecting and blocking malware. The program performed okay with the tests at AV-Test.org and very well indeed with AV-Comparitives.org.
It also fared well in what I consider to be an important test of my own, namely resource usage. You expect an antivirus program to leave a footprint and maybe even slow your computer a little when running a full scan but you don’t want a program that will render your PC unusable whilst it is in operation. Thankfully, ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 is very light, using both a small amount of memory and a relatively low amount of CPU time whilst running a scan. Working on other things whilst this program is installed is no problem at all.

+ Plus Points

• Clean, simple interface
• Scores well in independent tests
• Low system resource usage

- Minus Points

• Rescue CD requires prior installation of Microsoft’s Automated Installation Kit (AIK)
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Conclusion
There is very little to dislike about ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5. The only negative point I came across whilst using it was to do with the Rescue CD. Why it needs to rely upon the Microsoft AIK being installed I really don’t know – I’m sure there must be a better, seamless solution that that, especially as other security vendors don’t make you jump through such hoops.
But, beyond that, I don’t have a bad word to say. ESET NOD32 Antivirus 5 is an effective program that is easy to use and very light on resource usage. For someone who uses their computer like I do it would be an excellent security solution to have for the next 12 months.
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Read my other reviews of free 2012 antivirus software.
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