Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool Review – Slow but Highly Effective

very good
key review info
application features
  • Remove viruses from the computer
  • (5 more, see all...)

Two days ago we reviewed McAfee Stinger, a powerful virus removal application that delivered excellent results in our tests in regard to the malware detection ratio. Today we decided to take a look at another product with almost the same functionality and features.

Developer Kaspersky Lab is known for implementing excellent antivirus solutions for home and business use, whose tools have been well received by security specialists and analysts, in addition to consumers. On Softpedia we awarded Kaspesky Internet Security 2014 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2015 with the highest rating, 5/5 stars.

Compared to those two, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is a lighter package that excludes the real-time protection module and additional security utilities designed for email and web protection, identity theft, and so on. It can be best used when double-checking the PC malware after running the primary antivirus solution, to make sure that no stones were left unturned.

Installation and interface

The setup procedure is carried out almost entirely on its own, with minimal user assistance. The program adopts an approachable interface that enables users to quickly start the automatic scanner with one click by applying the default settings. Kaspersky looks in common malware hiding directories on the computer, namely the system memory, hidden statup objects, and disk boot sectors.

Alternatively, users can opt for manual disinfection mode to gather information about the operating system (such as installed programs and drivers). It is saved in archives that can be sent to Kaspersky labs for further investigation. Expert users can write and execute scripts.

Customized scan settings

Users unsatisfied with the default configuration may exclude any locations from the scan scope and include personal documents and emails, the entire hard disk or just local directories, together with network location, optical discs, and removable media. Custom folders can be included as well, with or without subdirectories.

Customize the scan scope
Customize the scan scope

It is also possible to increase or decrease the security level to favor either minimal PC performance or heavily infected environments, as well as set Kaspersky to automatically delete, disinfect or to delete if disinfection is not possible (by default, it asks users for permission). The program integrates a self-defense module that basically protects itself from any hijackers attempting to modify its settings and disarm it to take over the computer. This component can be deactivated too.

Extra scan settings pertain to the file types to take into account (all, by format), archive content, installation packages, embedded OLE objects, email formats and large-sized files, in addition to the heuristic analysis level, signature scan of vulnerabilities, and rookit scan.

Investigate scan details

During a scan job, users can examine the duration, total scanned objects and detected threats, the current file's path, and a progress bar. If it discovers any suspicious or infected files, the tool shows notifications from the system tray area, enabling users to view additional details, as well as to take action on threat detection, such as deleting, skipping or sending the items to the quarantine for isolation.

Gather system information
Gather system information

All program activity is recorded to log files. Therefore, users can find out more information about all scanned objects and removed threats, such as the full path for each file. Reports for automatic scan and manual disinfection can be separately accessed.

Performance results

We initially wanted to test the tool on Windows 8.1 Pro. However, it popped up errors out of the blue and crashed on multiple occasions, preventing us from conducting full scans. So, we decided to evaluate Kaspersky Virus Removal's abilities on Windows 7 instead.

The test machine was an Intel Core 2 Duo 6420 @CPU 2.13 GHz with 4GB RAM, running Windows 7 Professional. The target was a 590MB directory containing 2,000 virus sample files (the exact files as in McAfee Stinger). We cleared the original scan scope and only included this directory, and asked the app to automatically delete infected files. The security level was left to default.

After a very long time (3 hours and 11 seconds), Kaspersky finally finished the scan job. It identified and deleted 1,986 infected files out of the total 2,000, thus leaving 14 files behind. This means that the virus detection ratio was 99.3%.

CPU usage was low but RAM consumption was significant.


The Good

The tool is compatible with all popular Windows editions from XP to 8/8.1 (32- and 64-bit architecture type). It is very easy to initialize a scan job, regardless of the user's experience with virus removal tools.

Nevertheless, it is possible to adjust settings regarding the scan scope, severity, action on threat detection, and self-defense.

Virus detection ratio was excellent in our tests.

All program activity can be studied in log files.

Multiple languages are supported.

It is free to use.

The Bad

As previously mentioned in the section with performance results, we encountered multiple issues when attempting to conduct scan jobs on Windows 8.1 Pro. The app frequently popped up errors and crashed.

The estimated remaining time for scan jobs was not accurate.

RAM consumption was significant during scan tasks.

The scan job was very slow in our tests.

The Truth

Unless you're faced with a heavily malware-infected computer, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is a great tool to occasionally run scans, thanks to its terrific virus detection ratio results. Otherwise, you should probably look for something speedier.

user interface 3
features 3
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
NEXT REVIEW: Mobogenie

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (11 Images)

Run an automatic scanCustomize the scan scopeAdjust the security levelConfigure advanced settings regarding the scan scopeConfigure advanced settings regarding additional scan methods
+6more