When we tried this, IObit Malware Fighter first warned that the file couldn't be restored from the Recycle Bin - what? that's not what we wanted to do - and then, once we agreed it wasn't an issue, told us it couldn't delete the file, anyway. That's useful, and not just if you're trying to clean up malware, as legitimate programs can sometimes leave unwanted files around. Right-clicking a file in Explorer, we noticed an option to 'Force Delete with IObit Malware Fighter' - delete a file even if it's in use by some other application. We noticed one remaining option which looked promising, but turned out to be a disappointment. But we weren't impressed, and you'll get better results from a big-name free blocker such as uBlock Origin. ![]() The package installed a Firefox extension on our test system, but ignored Chrome, leaving us to set it up manually. Malware Fighter also lists a Surfing Protection & Ads Removal feature, but this requires browser extensions. ![]() We're glad to see Malware Fighter try to do this, but we've not tested the feature in enough depth to give a verdict. You may have multiple network connections with different DNS settings, for instance, and entirely legitimate software which will regularly change these (a VPN client, say). The Homepage Advisor monitors you of changes to your homepage and search engine in any local browsers (Chrome, Edge, Internet Explorer and Firefox were supported on our test system.)Ī DNS Protect system claims to prevent changes to your DNS settings, and can either preserve your current system settings or enforce use of common DNS providers ( Google, Verizon, OpenDNS, Comodo, DNS Advantage.)ĭNS protection is useful, in theory, but difficult to manage and assess. The reality is a little different, as we found we could download some files without Malware Fighter raising any alert, even though it would tell us they were a threat if we scanned them afterwards. While Malware Fighter is distinctly short on core antivirus features, it does have a number of related extras, mostly in its Browser Protect page.ĭownload Protection should see your downloads and email attachments automatically scanned for threats. Speedy scanning is welcome, but in the case of a second opinion tool, like Malware Fighter, it's probably more important that it checks every single file, rather than misses something because you're so focused on performance. How much performance matters here is open to question. We didn't notice any significant optimization, either- our second and third scans took broadly as long as our first. Custom scans took an average 5-7 minutes on our test PC, but a full system scan required 150 minutes, more than twice as long as most competitors. All scans (even just a single file) begin with an 'initializing database' step, which we found could take up to a minute. Scan times are relatively slow, at least at normal priority. The best Malware Fighter can offer is a Scan Options pane in its Settings dialog with a few useful customisations: you can choose whether to scan archives, to skip large files, to alert you to 'potentially unwanted programs', and to scan by low, normal or high priority (higher priorities improve scanning speeds but have more of an impact on system performance.) You can't create multiple custom scan types, for instance, and then tweak exactly how each of them behaves. Apart from all the marketing (messages asking you to upgrade to the commercial edition are everywhere), it's much the same as any other antivirus package. Overall, though, it's not difficult to see how the package works. All you really need to do is tap the Scan button on the sidebar and choose from the three scan types: Smart, Full and Custom. The Malware Fighter interface has plenty of panels and screens, but most do little more than turn features on or off, and can probably be left at their default settings. That's similar to many other packages, but it only detected the most serious of threats, the kind of malware you would expect your regular antivirus to catch, anyway. This looks like IObit's equivalent of the Quick Scan in other products, where it checks running processes, the Registry, and key system areas only. On first launch the program suggested we run a Smart Scan. IObit Malware Fighter Free was easy to download and install, and, unusually, the company didn't ask us to hand over our email or any other personal details along the way.
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