Free antivirus test: ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 g2x6y

Published on 01/04/2019

ZoneAlarm is better known for its firewall than for its antivirus. However, the company has a fairly simple range of security solutions. We had the opportunity to test them a few years ago (both free and paid products) and the results were rather mixed. Today, we wanted to give back its chance to ZoneAlarm’s free antivirus which seemed more interesting to us than Extreme Security, its paid version. Let’s see what the ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 test has in store for us.

Installation of ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 454q6y

For the sake of simplicity, we will use the name “ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019” to talk about antivirus. Namely, the product is mentioned under the name “ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall” in most of the software windows but also on the publisher’s website.

The installation of the program is relatively fast. The software does not clutter up with unnecessary windows but the is still prompted to choose an operating mode for the antivirus:

• The self-learning mode adapts to the ’s behaviour and adjusts the parameters accordingly
• Maximum security mode allows the to control each parameter manually

If you are not very comfortable with how an antivirus works, it is advisable to choose the “self-learning” mode, but it is obviously possible to change this later. Nothing more to report, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus then completes its installation quickly.

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 Interface 115l17

We are now on the main page of ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 and it is difficult for us to hide our disappointment. The antivirus interface has not changed one iota from the one we saw two years ago. We already thought it was old-fashioned and our opinion has not changed. The whole thing seems clearly outdated and the interface is quite far, visually, from the graphic style of the publisher’s site.

There are three buttons that link to the three software tools: antivirus, firewall and a button called “identity and data”. When clicked, the buttons become tabs and provide access to some settings.

Although the ZoneAlarm interface is not to our liking, we find the software to be quite well organized. Antivirus seems easy to use with simple to understand options.

Features of ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 543x13

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 is a free old-fashioned antivirus. Indeed, the functionalities it offers are quite limited, unlike some competitors who do not hesitate to enrich their free offer. ZoneAlarm therefore provides us with its antivirus software with real-time protection, its firewall and an obscure module called “identity and data”. Looking through the parameters, we can see that a game mode is also available, although it is not highlighted in the software at all.

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 Performance 67j5n

During our last ZoneAlarm test, the product’s performance was mixed. As always, we submitted a rich sample of viruses to the software and observed its behavior.

After unzipping our file, ZoneAlarm immediately started an analysis which is a good point. The latter was quite long, more so than the analyses of competing products. This first analysis was successful with a large handful of malware detected. To complete this, we launched a second manual scan to that the antivirus had neutralized all threats. Again, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 found many suspicious files and immediately processed them.

A link provides access to the quarantine area and although the software mentions several thousand files in it, it remains hopelessly empty. It is therefore difficult to know if the antivirus has actually treated the threats as it announces.

A final analysis allows us to identify a small number of viruses that ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus cannot eliminate. You must then opt for a manual action, i. e. tick them and click on “edit”. A button to check everything at once would have been welcome.

As far as the firewall is concerned, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus offers an interesting product. It allows you to easily manage incoming and outgoing connections, authorize or prohibit one or more software and view the list of connections. The software lacks clarity: the windows seem narrow so that it is sometimes difficult to access all the information. On the other hand, the module works well.

Identity and data” are actually two different tools: the first one protects the ’s identity by alerting him or her if identification data is sent to unauthorized sites. It is possible to choose a security level (disabled, medium or high) and then go to the software’s vault to add trusted sites. In use, this tool is not very intuitive since you have to manually add data and the list of sites you use regularly. The usefulness of this module did not convince us.

The second tool is actually a link to an online backup service of Check Point (the ZoneAlarm editor). ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 provides 5 GB of space. Again, unless you don’t have an on Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, the service may be duplicated, especially since the solution doesn’t seem to offer any particular advantage.

Conclusion 2o2k1m

A few years ago, ZoneAlarm would certainly have been an excellent solution to protect your computer for free. Today, it is simply correct. The antivirus seems to be effective but offers an anecdotal quarantine zone where it does not keep any trace of the deleted files. The firewall, on the other hand, is efficient and easy to use. We will ignore the other tools that seemed very secondary and not really developed, as if Check Point wanted to fill a gap in its software. And what about this interface that takes us back to the heart of the 2000s. Unfortunately for Check Point, we find better than ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019 on the market. Better and more beautiful!

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus 2019