Labs

We've been testing McAfee anti-virus software for years and, for a long time, VirusScan has looked much the same, save for a change of interface colour. However, the software has now been completely redesigned. It is much simpler to use and we're glad to see an end to the awkward registration system that plagued the earlier versions. It's slightly more expensive than it used to be, but currently you can buy it at half price from Amazon.co.uk. It includes anti-spyware protection and also comes with a firewall, which is a bonus.

It is no longer possible to buy a plain anti-virus program from McAfee. VirusScan Plus is the closest

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you can get, but you don't have to use the firewall. If you have another firewall that you prefer, you can choose to exclude McAfee's during the installation procedure.

The email virus detection rate of this software was, in our tests, average. It found 75 per cent of the viruses, which is a little worrying considering that this is one of the world's market-leading anti-virus products. What makes us even more concerned is that VirusScan's spyware protection was one of the least accurate in this group of products. It found just 16 per cent of the web-based threats. Only Panda Antivirus did worse and AVG, which is free, found over three times as many bad files.

Even with a reduced price of £20, McAfee's latest anti-virus program failed to impress us. Steganos costs the same and detects lots more viruses. If, for some reason, you are only willing to install a brand of security software that you recognise, bear in mind that Norton AntiVirus found nearly twice as many web-based threats as VirusScan. Neither is particularly good value for money, though, and we'd advise anyone who uses these products to consider a more accurate and less expensive alternative when it is time to renew the software's licence.