Entered CNET Catalog: 09/26/2007
SKU: 733199435826
Manufacturer: Trend Micro
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 09/25/2007
Editors' note: On March 5, 2008, CNET revised its antispyware review ratings to emphasize a product's ability to remove spyware. The new ratings are based on the following formula: Installation (20 percent), Features (20 percent), Performance (50 percent), and Support (10 percent). In most cases a product's rating went down, expanding the range between highest and lowest rated.
Trend Micro Antivirus and Antispyware has made gains since last year, introducing a number of features in its 2008 model that are useful in both the home and small office. Aside from the intuitive interface, Trend Micro provides a number of configuration options that allow the user to control the application, something we faulted Norton Antivirus 2008 for not providing. And Trend Micro Antivirus and Antispyware 2008 also supports the current releases of AOL's and Yahoo's instant messengers, again something that Norton Antivirus 2008 doesn't provide. But on the critical question of protecting your PC, we could find no independent data comparing Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware with our Editors' Choice, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 7. Thus, we cannot, at this time, rank the latest offering from Trend Micro. Check back in a few weeks to see any updates to this review. For a look inside, see our Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008 slide show.
Setup
We installed Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008 without incident. It requires 100MB for installation and 256MB of RAM for operation, and it runs under all versions of Windows, from 2000 through Vista. Trend Micro AV AS supports both Internet Explorer and Firefox. It will scan e-mail for Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail (Vista), and Mozilla Thunderbird, but not Qualcomm Eudora. It will monitor or scan current IM releases from Yahoo, Microsoft, ICQ, and AOL. Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008 includes only one PC license at $39.95. By comparison, Panda Antivirus offers its three-user license for the same price. Kaspersky is slightly more expensive, selling its single-user license for $49.95; it offers a three-user license for just $10 more. Should you decide to remove Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008, the program includes its own uninstall icon.
Interface
The interface is a simplified version of the one used in Trend Micro Internet Security 2008. Still, compared with the brooding, overbearing look and feel of Norton Antivirus 2008, we really like it. Features are accessed along the left-hand margin, while the large right window is used for detail. Configuration options occasionally pop up additional windows, but never more than one.
We really like the configuration option that allows us to control the level of alerts--either it will show us all the possible alerts, or it groups them and only occasionally displays a message. We think that's great, since more advanced users might not want to be informed of everything, where casual users will appreciate the application's attention to detail.
Features
Trend Micro continues to streamline its scanning process, this year combining antivirus, antispyware, and antirootkit scans into one engine. When the scans are complete, Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008 displays information about each threat. This is also true in the Changes scan, which can review changes that are made to your system registry or other key program files. By highlighting each change, the right-hand column provides additional details without having to access the Internet and go to the Trend Micro site.
Like Kaspersky and Norton, Trend Micro includes enhanced heuristics. Trend Micro's Proactive Intrusion Blocking feature is a part of the Enhanced Behavior Monitoring module and part of a company initiative to provide Host Intrusion Prevention (HIP) to all the Trend Micro 2008 security products, both enterprise and consumer. What that means for you is that emerging threats are blocked proactively by a constantly updated rules set. In addition, Trend Micro is able to trace the source of various changes in your system registry, your Windows folder, and instead of producing dozens of alerts, simply presents one unified alert.
One very cool feature is the ability to clean up various files, be it the cache of the browser, or the last-viewed files in Word. This one-stop cleaning is an important security feature, especially if you share your computer with others.
Another feature we like is the ability for Trend Micro to erase the log files and other security entrapments created by using AOL and Yahoo instant messengers. Unlike Norton Antivirus 2008, which does not support the latest versions of these popular IMs, Trend Micro offers configuration settings for AOL and Yahoo, allowing you to keep the logs if you so desire.
What's missing is a personal firewall; having that would make this product pretty invincible. Also missing are the hourly updates, such as those from Kaspersky. While Trend Micro does issue regular updates, it does so only every three hours. During those three hours, you'll be dependent on the program's heuristics.
Performance
The antispyware portion of last year's edition of Trend Micro Antivirus and Antispyware was excellent, fast at scanning, but it often didn't give us the choice of whether or not to remove something--it did it for us. In exclusive testing by CNET Labs, Trend Micro's active shields identified and blocked seven out of eight spyware samples we attempted to install, the best results out of 10 antispyware products tested.
To determine how well a product will protect your PC, we refer to test results from leading independent antivirus testing organizations. Only CheckVir.com ranked Trend Micro PC-Cillin Internet Security 2007 as one of four products to earn its Advanced rating, which means the product was tested on finding and removing antivirus threats. Trend Micro has not been reviewed by AV-Comparatives.org. The lack of independent testing makes it hard for us to say definitively how good Trend Micro's antivirus protection really is.
Support
Trend Micro Antivirus and Antispyware 2008 provides pretty decent contextual help, meaning that on each configuration screen, you can click Help and quickly find definitions for all the terms used on a given page. This is something that Norton Antivirus 2008 lacks, and it puzzles us why Symantec can't deliver on this feature. Trend Micro is also one of the few security vendors to offer free telephone and Internet chat support for its products. That's good because the online technical support information for Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008 still is not that good. Not only does Trend Micro lack a Getting Started PDF, but there is no manual. Kaspersky provides a 323-page manual that covers everything within its product. We also found the Trend Micro FAQ to be lacking information. This product lacks a tutorial for the standalone antivirus application. We'd really like to see improvements in this section next year.
Conclusion
Without testing data, it is hard to say conclusively whether or not Trend Micro Antivirus plus Antispyware 2008 is a good investment. On the issue of ease of use, Trend Micro has made considerable improvements over last year's version, and, for the price, it includes a number of worthwhile features that are useful in both the home and small office.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
2/10
Dishonest Billing, will rip you off
Pros: Never detected anything. Spyware software detected all kinds of bugs. Completely useless.
Cons: Bills your credit card without prior notification. Opt-out system rather than opt-in. Can be difficult to cancel service if years down the road you don't have your order number... imagine that.
User Rating: 
1/10
total junk, if i could rate 0 stars i would
Pros: nothing at all, this product has no redeeming qualities at all
Cons: save yourself the time, google "virus" and download whatever you find, then, uninstall this software and your machine will probably run faster.
Get avast or clamav, grab a copy of spybot ssd, switch on your OS firewall and exercise some common sense.
User Rating: 1/10
DO NOT USE! Terrible....
Pros: There actually isn't anything good about it. I wouldn't use it if I was payed to.
Cons: It's slow, a huge resource hog. It's way too limiting, with tons of false positives. And it doesn't even detect the real viruses.
User Rating: 
3/10
Like pouring molasses in January over the CPU
Pros: Very little.
Cons: Slowed operating speed down to a crawl.
Failed to find, let alone remove, a faux PC Doctor virus.
Unable to stop Trend Micro popups that interrupt keyboard ops.
Updated on Mar 18, 2009Freeware Avast!, which can be downloaded, allows my Dell to run like its old self...perky. No way to know if it's catching everything, but it is way less intrusive than Trend Micro 2008.
Updated on Mar 18, 2009XP with SP2 is the OS. I noted one good review that cited Vista as the OS; perhaps the extremely poor and extremely good ratings are due to the OS TM is running on. Just a thought....we need more OS info on these reviews.
User Rating: 
10/10
Its fast and being able to custmize the setting
Pros: custom my scans the I want it to scan to the day of the month and time.It scan and sync with outlook a program I just LOVE to use.I would recommend this products to everyone I know and the one?s I do not know. ?
Cons: Not much. I have very few at much
I would recommend this products to everyone I know and the one?s I do not know. ?
Updated on Feb 7, 2009I really like this product because I can configure it to my liking: custom my scans to the day of the month and time. It scans and syncs with outlook a program I just LOVE to use. I give this product a five star rating. It loads fast no interference with internet experience at all.
I would recommend to everyone I know and the one?s I do not know. ?
User Rating: 
7/10
It is the good Anti-virus software
Pros: Scanning and updating are as easy as clicking a button on the overview page within the program. I buy it from the cheapdownloadsoftware.com online store in cheap.
Cons: Trend Micro Antivirus is slow when scanning and can cause problems with freezing and slowdowns. It also has a tendency to not play nice with Firefox and MSN Live Messenger.
User Rating: 10/10
One of the better anti-virus/ anti-spy software
Pros: Doesn't hog memory and interfere with other software programs
Cons: haven't found any yet
User Rating: 1/10
Even with free-after-rebate, DO NOT GET. Crap software.
Pros: It was free after rebate
So terrible that it makes you appreciate OTHER antivirus software
Cons: No info on detected viruses
It was free after rebate ... so got I suckered into trying it
Non-existent online support
No options for virus scans
Lots of false positives
Lost internet connection
It started with the false positives. Trend Micro Antivirus (TM hereafter) would detect viruses that I knew were safe files because I've had them there for years, and they passed Norton & ZoneAlarm countless times. The problem is that TM does not give you more information about the location or filename of the viruses it detects. You have to guess where it's coming from. In addition, it doesn't give you more options on what to do with the detected virus besides delete or quarantine, which. There are other occasionally other options, always fail to work.
Their online support is a joke. The last product they have an updated support guide dates to 2007. And even those guides are mostly blank.
Last of all, my internet connection died with the previous TM Antivirus update. Essentially, now I can't even use it. That's probably the best thing that's happened so far, because now I'm going to get another antivirus.
User Rating: 2/10
A piece of junk software
Pros: Quick tech support but useless
Cons: Too many...
- too slow for scan
- slow down computer
- missed 180 infections
User Rating: 1/10
Absolutely Useless!!!!
Pros: Unfortunately this 'security software' came with my laptop. It is constantly sending error messages. It has ALOT of kinks to work out!!!! Would NEVER recommend the program to another living soul. It seems to change settings at will.
Cons: Wow...can't think of one at this point.
Updated on Aug 18, 2008Fip the Pro's and Cons sections. Pretty angry.... I could have written all cons.
User Rating: 
8/10
Nice and light - Best solution so far
Pros: Pretty good protection wtihout slowing me down
Cons: Would like a few more options, better support
McAfee does a good job on performance, but didn't always catch all threats. Norton is too big and intrusive. ZoneAlarm provided excellent protection, but ate resources like candy. (Oddly enough, I don't buy computers just to run antivirus software on them.) On top of that, major ZoneAlarm updates often suddenly banned mission-critical apps and access to the Internet, requiring time-consuming fixes and sometimes calls to tech support.
TrendMicro is like getting free RAM by comparison.
User Rating: 8/10
A Great Solution
Pros: Fastest scanner I have used. It catches most of what is out there with ease. Installation was straightforward and without any hassle. Virus scanning ans spyware scanning are integrated. Your license covers 3 PCs.
Cons: Some report problems installing although I didn't experience any. When installing any anti-virus/anti-spyware it is important to make sure nothing similar is installed as many applications don't play well together.
User Rating: 
9/10
WORKS GREAT!
Pros: Easy to install, configure & use. Loads quickly upon computer startup.
Cons: None. Haven't had any issues with this software since I installed it.
User Rating: 10/10
Best Product Ever!
Pros: Fast, Great Protection, Proactive. Amazing Product
Cons: None at all!
Trend micro, has found so far 17 threats, that none of the antiviruses about have ever found. It is a great product, doesn't take long to download either, updates are amazingly fast, and this product is great. All the reviews that say that this antivirus doesn't protect is just plainbogus because it does. It doesn't slow down my computer one bit. Great user-friendly interface, everything about this product is just plain great. I bought it because i wanted to give them a shot, because i never have. and so far, it has been really good. IT DOESN'T MESS WITH ANY OF YOUR PROGRAMS AT ALLLLLL!!!!!!! It keeps everything in place, so that no changes can be made.
If you're just thinking about buying this product, BUY IT.
You won't regret it, because i don't.
User Rating: 9/10
I've used it for 3 years
Pros: Easy to use and navigable
Cons: doesnt update hourly
User Rating: 9/10
works great for me on vista and xp
Pros: found a trojan the others could not locate on xp machine
Cons: none as of yet
User Rating: 10/10
Easy to use and really usefull
Pros: Keystroke incription Easy but not dumbed down
Cons: none that anyone can ever desribe
User Rating: 3/10
Third year user disappointed with TM 2008
Pros: Constant protection. Excellent support.
Cons: Slows whole system down. Serious bugs.
Since installing the 2008 version, a license renewal really, but installed from a cd, just a few weeks ago my computers have all suffered intolerable delays in startup. Internet performance has become very sloooow too. Users all complaining now. I held back the installation on the third computer because it was so obvious that the performance was headed in the wrong direction.
When TM updates automatically on both computers, we get an error message saying "Manages all...TM" has to close, suggesting that the software is quitting during the update.
TM support has always been super, but I think this time they'll have a hard time fixing my confidence.
User Rating: 1/10
Computer (Windows XP SP2) is unusable
Pros: Can't come up with any
Cons: Computer is slow and unusable
User Rating: 8/10
Great Product
Pros: Faster than last year's version. Super security.
Cons: Lacks a lot of utilities I had come to love about Norton's System Works.
On the down side, I miss some features that Norton System Works had. I especially miss Disc Doctor and SpeedDisk. I wish TrendMicro would develop these tools to go along with the security program. I also wish they'd work on being more supportive of Mozilla products. Some of the newer features only work with Internet Explorer. I would also feel better if I could see it scanning my email as it downloaded into Thunderbird. I remember Norton's used to show an envelop with a down arrow to indicate it was scanning the email.
All and all...I'd recommend it. I can't compare it to some of the other higher ranked programs cause I haven't used them or heard much about them. I might have to give one or two of them a try next year to see how they compare.
User Rating: 1/10
Do not buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pros: You get to know the employee's in tech support real well because....
Cons: you are on the phone or chatting with them ALL THE TIME because you always have issues with TM
User Rating: 1/10
Don't. Just Don't.
Pros: It only took 7 days and 10 emails to get a refund started, The stated "30 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee" on the site is great to reference when fighting with Customer Service for a refund
Cons: Doesn't play well with others, Doesn't play with XP SP2 at all, Tech Services are garbage, Customer Service can't read
Though the 2007 system worked flawlessly on my machine with XP SP2 and other non-Trend firewalls, anti-virus and anti-spyware systems, 2008 DOES NOT. Even after I removed all other offending programs - at Tech's behest - the program still would not pull up the Main Console. If you can't pull the main console, you can't control the software and you are pretty much using a product that is wortless, IMHO.
Tech seemed heck bent to prove it was my system and not their flawed product and kept me chasing my tail for days rather than admitting there is a serious issue with the product and XP SP2 machines. Now - after email upon email with them - they have admitted there is an issue they can't quite put a finger on with XP SP2 machines. So the removal of my other software was apparently some sort of red herring.
When it became apparent it was NOT my machine and was actually the software, I requested a refund. This was not received well. I spent several additional days arguing with Tech about their money back guarantee before they finally booted me over to Customer Service.
Once at Customer Service, I literally had to re-explain what was occurring - THREE TIMES - before I finally had to get extremely nasty and demand the issue be elevated to a supervisor. It has been and as of today - in theory - they are working on my refund after receipt of my LOD information.
The kicker is, I installed this program on another machine and am preparing to do battle with Trend again - as it too is not working.
If you have XP SP 2, I would STRONGLY suggest not purchasing this software - unless you want to work on practicing your anger management skills.
User Rating: 3/10
Going downhill
Pros: Cheaper than Norton
Cons: Slow loading, resorce hog
This one takes a long time to install, and if it doesn't authenticate before reboot, you have to wait 3 minutes for it to tell you it isn't activated.
Well doh. Tried installing it over a clients 2006 version and it kept telling me there is one already installed. Well Doh2
I don't recomment this product or Norton, going to see if I can get my client's money back and install Nod32.
Sad. Was a great product in 2005/2006.
User Rating: 8/10
Excellent Value! Great AV Protection.
Pros: Great AV protection and detection
Cons: A bit top heavy, but tolerable.
I would recommend this product to any one who seeks protection against the miriad of viruses lurking about on the Internet.
User Rating: 1/10
Terrible product
Pros: None, software would not load
Cons: Does not work
User Rating: 3/10
Cost/benefit low
Pros: Automatic update
Cons: Price is for one PC
But not anymore
User Rating: 2/10
Do Not Use This Program
Pros: Was a good AV program before
Cons: Will hang your system daily
User Rating: 9/10
Excellent automatic protection
Pros: excellent detection
Cons: none that i found
I`ve been using it for months and months now and my computer never felt better... no infections of any kind and it runs smoothly with no complications...
In February and March trend micro had the better detection rates. better than symantec, tahn kaspersky, panda, bitdefender and eset... just awesome... test done by av-test.org....
I`m a keeper right now...
User Rating: 9/10
Speedy, Great Job
Pros: I never have had a problem with viruses now that I have this. Very quick load times, the scans are quick. Doesn't slow my computer like it does for some.
Cons: Can only install on one computer.
User Rating: 1/10
Terrible - Do Not Buy
Pros: There were none.
Cons: Does NOT protect at all against anything
User Rating: 2/10
Imperfect, sluggish, like trying to push an elephant up a flight of stairs.
Pros: I gave up on it before I could find anything good to say. It was bogging me down.
Cons: Slow to load, set up, bogged down the whole PC, even very hard to remove. It never registered in Windows' Add or Remove list, so I had to find a misnamed uninstall executable within its directory.
