McAfee AVERT Stinger 10.2.0.963

Overview

The McAfee AVERT Stinger is a free software utility designed to detect and destroy at least thirty of the most commonly known infections to affect your machine. Most antivirus software tools use the buckshot approach to eliminating malware from your computer. On the other hand, this security application is meant to spot malware or virus infections and assists in eliminating them through the entire process. The Stinger is part of the well-established AVERT team, one of the top ten security software developer recognized for its efficiency, providing protection from all threats that reside on the world wide web.

As the manufacturer clearly stipulates, the McAfee AVERT Stinger is not designed to replace the need for a security suite completely. Since the main functions lies in detecting virus infection and potential malware, it is recommended that you install a spyware software utility on your computer as well.

Installation

The installation process of the McAfee AVERT Stinger does not take longer than necessary and it is intuitive. However, if you are using a Windows operating system, it is advisable that you disable the system restore option in order for this security application to be efficient. The main reason for this is that Windows tends to create backup files that do not get deleted at the same time as the infected files. Therefore, when the operating system runs the backup files, it is very likely that it will store the infected files as well. Since McAfee AVERT Stinger is unable to erase the backup files, you need to enter the System Properties Menu and disable the restore command manually.

Other than that, you will not have any special system requirements with this application. In addition, it is important to note that it does not include advertisements or toolbars, even though it is freeware. After the installation, you will be prompted for a reboot of your computer system and a full scan of your machine, which is not unusual behavior for security software applications.

Interface

The interface of the McAfee AVERT Stinger is very clear and easy to use. In the main menu, you will see four commands; Scan Now, Stop, Preferences and a Virus List, which are a different color and include an icon inside their rounded shape. Right under the main menu, you can see a submenu that enables users to add or remove a certain partition, folder or file. For some reason, this application contains two commands for adding an item for scanning, respectively, the Add and the Browse buttons.

Whilst it is pretty clear what the options from the colorful main menu are used for, you should learn more about the preference feature. As this application is designed to detect threats fast and not put a lot of strain on your computer’s resources, it is only normal that you do not have a lot of options to choose from to customize it. All in all, it allows users to decide what the software should do when it scans a certain item, detects threats and how to behave when it detects a virus.  

Pros

One of the best features of the McAfee AVERT Stinger is the heuristic scanning, a typical feature of the AVERT team. The role of this feature is not only to check the executable file and process names, but also to closely examine how a certain application affects the performance of your computer as well. Even though it is designed to detect a limited number of viruses, no user has had any complaints regarding the application’s efficiency when dealing with those threats.

Cons

The obvious disadvantage of the McAfee AVERT Stinger is that you will need to install addition security software on your computer. Nonetheless, it is important that you do not forget that this is a freeware utility.

Alternatives

The Stinger has some serious competition with the other free virus removal utilities powered by the other reputable security software developers. Therefore, you should expect variations of the McAfee AVERT Stinger from companies such as Kaspersky Lab or BitDefender.

Conclusion

Overall, the McAfee AVERT Stinger is not a bad security application to have on your computer, as it does not consume your system resources and it is efficient in detecting the most known viruses that pose a threat to your computer.