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McAfee’s real-time protection engine performed as well as Bitdefender’s, successfully blocking me from downloading or opening any malware files when I put it to the test. That said, you can schedule scans for a convenient time when you’re not using your computer.
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While I could still use my PC for browsing the web, streaming videos and gaming were impossible. However, unlike Bitdefender, it did cause some slowdown on my computer. Like Bitdefender, McAfee’s full system scan took around an hour. McAfee uses traditional malware detection techniques, checking files against a huge virus database and using heuristics to identify potentially dangerous files too. McAfee’s antivirus scanner performed just as well as Bitdefender’s, identifying 100% of the malware samples I tested it with. I tried to download a variety of infected files to my computer, and Bitdefender Shield blocked all of them before I could begin to do so.
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The full system scan took around an hour, but this wasn’t an issue as it was so lightweight it barely affected my system performance.īitdefender’s real-time protection, Bitdefender Shield, is also excellent. I tested Bitdefender by downloading hundreds of malware samples to my computer, including viruses, trojans, rootkits and ransomware. Most scanning happens in the cloud, so the scans only take up a tiny amount of your CPU.īitdefender detected 100% of the malware on my computer after a full system scan. It uses machine learning and a huge directory to detect malware. Bitdefender’s malware scanner is lightweight but powerful.
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