The beginning of the Trial

When we talk about Dr.Web, we talk about Russian tradition in the flesh. A software suite developed by Russian anti-malware company Doctor Web, originally released in 1992, it was one of the first anti-virus services in the world. From the start, Dr.Web was at the height of popularity as no computer in Russia did not have Dr.Web installed on it. It is also important to flag that its résumée goes even beyond that because, for more than 26 years, this Russian high-tech product has been operating in the extremely competitive global anti-virus market.

Here, we have real-time malware detection, solid behavioral monitoring, and a bundled firewall. Working with this software suite is working with a compact set of files, neatly organized and all digitally signed. The experience with Dr. Web indicates two things from the start: a company developing its technologies in-house, ensuring synergy between its components, but, at the same time, a product that is not that oriented to an average user but an expert one.

Anyhow, if you are not proficient in the security world or don't want to get involved in the hassle of the low-level details, you will still be able to use the basics of the program without much difficulty.

The Evidence

As stated so far, with Dr. Web, you are obtaining an all-around anti-malware application that can fight off viruses, rootkits, trojans, spyware, adware, and other malicious agents. Dr. Web Anti-virus is approachable and powerful. Does it not sound like a pretty sweet deal?

The standard configuration, made for novices, is always enough to keep your PC safe. At the same time, the program reserves some extra customization preferences for experienced users and some cool-tested protection against potential direct attacks on the program. Id est, whatever malware or people try to do, your processes will keep running, services will not stop, and files will remain untouched. Rest assured, Dr.Web will not get disabled that easily.

About its features, its interface is one of the most basic out there: it’s little more than a menu displayed from a system tray icon. However, you can disregard counting on the local Help file; the overall critics agree that it proved disappointing and misleading.

On the bright side, as briefly stated before, the program does offer some compensation for the poor quality of its local Help file in the form of some interesting items for experts. Getting deeper into the software settings allows certain low-level ways to define what Dr.Web permits or blocks on your system. We are discussing preventing HOSTS file edits, low-level disk access, Safe Mode changes, stopping programs from setting themselves up to run with Windows, or even resetting executable file associations. It is all within Dr. Web's capabilities and way more.

Additionally, Dr.Web offers to connect to cloud services to get the latest information about new malware as soon as possible to update your definitions. It sounds pretty standard, but that is the vital difference between efficient antivirus services and those that end up getting obsolete.

Even with not of a famous name, one can always conclude that Dr. Web generally leaves users impressed, according to what has been documented over the years. Finally, regarding the tests performed on the software, it can be said that it is light on the system resources, speedy, highly effective, comfortable to work with, filled with advanced settings, and not expensive when considering all these aspects.

The Verdict

With many useful and efficient features, it consolidates a Holy Grail for those protection experts. It can also be a strong ally for those needing help that does not count with vast knowledge about defensive tools.

In the end, it proves indeed to be a good combination of powerful low-level technologies to keep your stuff safe from evil malware, and even though Dr. Web is not very popular amongst antivirus product users, you have to admit it: If the Russians are using it, it should be tough and efficient.