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- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP
- Date added: November 10, 2009
- Total Downloads: 614,412
- Downloads last week: 150,947
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 142 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: Seth Rosenblatt on November 09, 2009
Panda Cloud Antivirus is notable as a free security solution for two reasons: Panda is a reputable security vendor making its first foray into the realm of freeware security, and the program's goal of freeing up system resources by putting much of the program's heavy lifting in the cloud is definitely attained.
When you open Cloud Antivirus, the main window lets you know whether you're safe or not with a big red or green icon. Cloud Antivirus works as other antivirus solutions do, offering a Quick Scan and a Custom scan for specific folder, files, and drives, but its ancillary features are exceptionally light. You can opt out of contributing anonymous data to the cloud, but that also opts you out of automatic threat management. There's a network connection proxy option should you need it, and a reporting feature that will show you what kind of threats have been detected and removed from your computer. You can filter the report by All, Last 24 hours, Last Week, or Last Month, and there's a Recycle Bin pane from which you can recover a false positive, should you need it. Unfortunately, the Recycle Bin is hidden behind an obnoxious "flipping" screen that cheesily rotates when you need to access it.
Despite lacking some of the customization heft that even other free antivirus solutions have, most glaringly a scheduler, the program is not necessarily a bad choice for a stripped-down antivirus. It runs at less than 10MB of RAM when idle, and around 60MB when scanning, which should appeal to resource-conscious Netbook users. Keeping in mind its limited feature set, and that we don't have efficacy numbers at the time of reviewing, Panda Cloud Antivirus makes a decent, reasonable security choice.
Publisher's description
From Panda Security :Panda Cloud Antivirus is the first free cloud-based antivirus thin-client. It consists of a lightweight antivirus agent that is connected in real-time to PandaLabs' Collective Intelligence servers to protect faster against the newest malware variants while barely impacting PC performance. Thanks to Panda Security's Collective Intelligence malware and goodware online database, Panda Cloud Antivirus detects more malware than traditional signature-based solutions which take longer to detect the most recent, and therefore most dangerous, variants. Panda Cloud Antivirus protects you while you browse, play or work and you won't even notice it. It is extremely light as all the work is done in the cloud. Panda Cloud Antivirus provides you with the fastest protection against the newest viruses thanks to its cloud-scanning from PandaLabs' servers. Panda Cloud Antivirus is truly install and forget. Don't worry about updates, configuration or complicated decisions ever again.
What's new in this version:
Final version 1.0 release includes bug fixes for all issues found during beta testing.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.8 stars out of 142 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 48 user reviewsSee all 48 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.0
"Easy to install and runs in the background"
Pros: Better than most other antivirus I have tried
Cons: None that I can identify
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Version: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.0
Pros: For a relatively small application, Panda Cloud Antivirus does a good job (apparently). I experienced no problems with installation or overall operation.
Cons: On startup, the taskbar icon shows that the program is inactive, even though it really is.
Summary: The program has had no effect on overall computer activity, as someone reported. I had previously used the regular (paid-for) Panda antivirus program and was pleased with it. The cloud (free) version was introduced just as my license was about to ex... read more >>
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.0
"what a relief from Kaspersky Internet Security 2010"
Pros: minimal impact on system performance, completely unobtrusive
Cons: none seen yet
Summary: I had upgraded from Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 to the 2010 version. Big mistake. My system was constantly slowing almost to a halt. I uninstalled Kaspersky and installed Panda Cloud and it was like I got a new computer. Things have been run... read more >>
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0 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Version: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.0
"Would not install (Windows XP Pro)"
Pros: Would not install after multiple tries
Cons: Would not install after multiple tries
Summary: Hard to evaluate a program that even after following all steps will not install
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
Version: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.0
"my computer will never be slow again"
Pros: i cant believe that when I installed this antivirus program that my internet and computer speed drastically increased back to normal
Cons: i wish it wasn't a pain in the but to do a scan but that is all.
Summary: bottom line is that get this one instead of avast or avg because it is soo!!! much faster and it gets the job done.
- See all 48 user reviews Write review
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