All-in-One Software: Trend Micro

Trend Micro has quickly made a name for itself in regard to affordable and efficient anti-virus software.  The company recently released their Internet Security Suite 2008, a feature-rich program designed to keep your computer clear of viruses, spyware and many other system threats.  The software is very easy to configure and well suited for a number of security issues. 

Features

Trend Micro has compiled many of the attractive features you'll find with a security suite into this program.  Aside from the traditional anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall components, the software also includes anti-spam, anti-phishing and parental controls.  The firewall does a great job at preventing intrusion and doesn't clog the screen with unnecessary popup warnings when legitimate programs make an attempt to access the internet.

The interface of the Trend Micro Internet Security Suite is clean and straight forward.  Customizing routine scans and updates is a breeze and adds simplicity to the task of maintaining your computer's safety.  Numerous software reviews have declared the Trend Micro scanner as one of the best on the market.  This program is not only effective at detecting and removing viruses, but does a solid job at cleaning up various types of malware as well.

The Downside

To get a better view on the Trend Micro Internet Security Suite 2008 we downloaded a free trial version.  Unfortunately, there were major problems from the start.  While the installation and setup process was fairly painless, the same can't be said for the scanning procedure.  The first scan we conducted took a dragging five to six hours to complete.   This is a very poor comparison to the average Norton software scan that can be completed in 30 to 45 minutes. 

After detecting and clearing a few potential threats, we re-booted the system and allowed the changes to take full effect.  The Trend Micro update module is running as soon as the system returns to the desktop screen, a factor that terribly impacts every move you make.  Because of the continuos update process, fully restoring the desktop screen took nearly ten minutes. 

Things really took a turn for the worst after noticing that our computer's network adapters had been deleted.  We thoroughly combed the scanning report for clues but still couldn't find out why this happened.  Though we were able to establish an internet connection, attempting to surf the web was a rather grueling experience.  Realizing that the program wasn't suited for our needs, we decided to uninstall it and restore order to the system.  What is normally a simple task became impossible when attempting to remove the Trend Micro Internet Security Suite.  Proceeding every attempt, we received error messages stating that the software couldn't be removed until updates were completed - updates that seem to have no end.   In our scenario, reinstalling a fresh version of the operating system was the only way to remove the Trend Micro program from the computer. 

Conclusion

If you're looking for a program to keep threats out of your system, the Trend Micro Internet Security Suite may be a viable option.  On the other hand, if you already experiencing a few minor security issues, the existing bugs and complications can make the installation of this program more of a vulnerability than solution.