A simple package that combines two detection engines for maximum efficacy

German security specialist G Data has been producing anti-virus software for over 20 years, but there’s nothing retro about anti virus 2008.

Open it up and you see a basic user interface giving direct access to the main functions (starting and scheduling scans and updates), as well as a few information panels. Click on “Options” and you can set some default behaviors  and toogle options like heuristics. As with Spyware Doctor . the emphasis is on practically.

G Data Anti Virus secret weapon is it “Double Scan” technology, which uses two independent detection engines to scan suspect files. They’re referred to simply as “Engine A” and “Engine B”, with Engine A described as the more effective but slightly more resource –heavy of the two. In reality, Engine A is a licensed implementation of Karspersky’s scanning engine, while Engine B is licensed from Avast. You can use both in combination or just one if you’re worried about resource usage we saw no penalty to using both engines, as per the default configuration.

This raises a potential concern: since G Data doesn’t own the scanning engines, it’s reliant on third parties to keep its libraries up to date. But the Karspersky engine has a great track record, and runs to a commendable hourly update schedule.

G Data supplements this with its own “Outbreak Shield” system, using data from email security specialists  Commtouch to identify traffic patterns that look like a virus outbreak. In theory, this lets it keep malicious emails off your system even before the threat is identified. It may be largely redundant in these days of web mail and hardened email clients, but it’s good to have.

Despite its multiple engines, G Data anti virus added just six seconds to our boot time (CPU spikes and hard drive activity continued for around 20 seconds afterward, though that’s always a hazard on a Vista system). It then occupied 46mb of RAM when idle-same as Kaspersky.

It was only to be expected that, in our tests, G Data anti virus would duplicate Karspersky’s excellent score. But, thanks to the Avast engine, it also flagged up the eGuardian chile-protection package that the Russian scanner considered harmless. That’s a very impressive performance.

G Data anti virus has its share of interface foibles. We’ve never known a product to provoke so many Vista UAC prompts-even anodyne actions such as opening the “options” window caused a system interrupt. And many windows( such as the virus scan details view) don’t appear in the taskbar, which can be confusing.

Another slight downside to G Data anti virus is its price. It isn’t extortionate by any means, but Karspersky 2009 can be found more cheaply online. Since the Russian offering is also more configurable , and gives practically identical protection, we’ll keep Karspersky as our A list choice.

But G Data anti virus is a simple, functional package, and when it comes to ppeace of mind it’s hard to fault its “belt and braces” approach to malware detection.

Spyware Doctor’s simple front end emphasizes manual scanning, rather than real –time detection. By default, it runs an automatic scan every week, but the schedule can be customized too.

You can run custom scans too, though it’s a pain; you have to navigate through a directory tree to choose the folders to scan. It’s not a package for tinkereres, but the few options you do get are perfectly practical: for example, you can tweak the scan priority, specify websites or files to ignore and optionally create a system restore point before acting on discovered threats.

Scan based protection is backed up by real-time “intelliguard” protection, using ten “guards” , each providing a distinctive sort of protection. File guard, for example, blocks known malicious applications, while network guard keeps an eye on your network settings. The guards can be individually toggled on and off , giving you direct control over exactly what the program watches over.

In practice, it proved a decent guardian. As soon as we clicked on an infected file-even without opening it=a requester leapt up warming us of danger ahead. It scans email as it arrives too, and a free downloadable browser defender add-on brings web protection.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor + Antivirus 2009 Version 6.0