ClamWin 0.95 is a free antivirus that uses the GNU license (completely free and open to modification software). Two key features of ClamWin are the open source capability and the ability to be installed on any version of Windows including server editions. This is in contrast to almost all other consumer antivirus excluding PC tools antivirus. Since ClamWin AV is an open source project, anyone can contribute to the software. This includes adding new virus definitions and even new program functionality. In fact, within the last eight days there have been eight code additions to the antivirus engine.
Virus Detection and Scanning:
Since ClamWin 0.95 is based on user contributions, virus definitions will be frequently updated and have a human touch to them. What I mean is that ClamWin users might get so frustrated with a particular virus that they will suggest a custom tailored virus definition to fix the problem. This process of constantly tweaking the AV engine and definitions produces a highly effective antivirus solution. In fact, many users report that ClamWin 0.95 detects few false positives and even viruses that several Norton versions had previously missed.
One of the things that I really like about ClamWin 0.95 is that the antivirus includes its own test files. Upon the first scan, I noticed a significant amount of test file detections. The test files are not simply a .com file etc. but include many obscure file formats such as .sis, tar.gz, obscured .exe files, .rar, and .arj etc. This is definitely an advantage because often antivirus engines can only focus on a select few compressed and executable file formats. In addition, it’s comforting to know that the antivirus engine is actually functioning correctly. Once the first scan is finished, a user will want to delete the test files to avoid subsequent false detections.
ClamWin 0.95 has some problems handling large files. I have two .daa PowerIso files that exceed 4 GB in size. To complete a scan of one of these files took about 7 minutes. This is definitely the slowest of any competing antivirus engine tested. However, to ClamWin’s credit, the software did not ignore the files as some free antivirus have in the past.
ClamWin detected zero false positives and scanned the entire test system’s 148 GB partition in about 4 hours and 35 minutes. This scanning speed is above average when compared to competing antivirus. ClamWin didn’t detect any viruses or false positives on the test system. ClamWin lacks any professional virus certifications; probably because they can’t afford it. However, the AV engine was tested in August 2007 by AV-comparatives. Their conclusion was that the ClamWin detection rates are about comparable to Comodo or Sunbelt’s Counterspy software. A memory scan took about 1 minute to complete by scanning all active processes and .dll files.
One of the major disadvantages to ClamWin 0.95 is that it lacks a resident shield. This means that ClamWin will only be able to detect viruses through an on demand scan. This puts ClamWin in the same class as A-squared, Norton Security Scan, and Hitman Pro 3.5 antivirus. Therefore, it might be beneficial for a user to utilize a program such as AVG in addition to any of these on demand scanners. ClamWin also lacks heuristic protection and will be essentially be powerless at detecting zero day viruses. This is even more of an incentive for a user to install an additional antivirus. A user can still schedule scans for ClamWin 0.95 and there are SMTP alert capabilities.
Resource Usage:
ClamWin 0.95 averages about 50% CPU usage while utilizing about 116 megabytes of RAM during scanning. These measurements are respectable and comparable to an average antivirus engine.
Interface and Installation:
The ClamWin 0.95 interface is pretty basic. There are no status indicators and only icons to scan the computer’s memory, scan a selected file, update the antivirus, and display the preferences. The preferences menu is surprisingly in-depth. In addition to the ability to schedule scans and email alerts, there are file exclusion capabilities, file scan size limits, and cleaning options. Upon Installation of ClamWin 0.95 it automatically downloaded the latest virus definitions.
Conclusion:
ClamWin 0.95 is definitely a barebones antivirus but still offers an open source advantage. Essentially, active users will continue improving ClamWin and updating definitions against more obscure viruses. This ensures that ClamWin 0.95 will only improve as the community gets larger and user involvement increases.
