Total AV is relatively new antivirus software in the market, boasting of a lightweight and user-friendly software that takes care of most security threats. It is powered by the famed Avira engine and is highly configurable to suit your every need. But is Total AV a sufficiently competent antivirus to invest your money in? Let’s find out.
Total AV Review – Features Explained in Detail
Ease of Use
Total AV has a clean and clutter-free dashboard that’s intuitive and easy to use. All the essential settings and features are organized neatly with some informative graphs about your PC’s status. Downloading the application and installing all necessary files is extremely easy and straightforward so that even the layman can use it hassle-free.
Total AV’s design makes it ready to perform right from the start, without waiting for the user to manually initiate scans. Hands down it is one of the most user-friendly and easy to use antivirus software currently available.
Virus Scanning
Total AV lets you initiate a ‘Smart Scan’ with a specific button, which automatically checks your computer system for malware, spyware, trash files, and other related performance issues. It features a smart and stylish console that shows your protection status on the opening screen itself.
Total AV also offers many functions that can be readily accessed from the menus and sidebars, like quarantine, disk cleanup, scanning, startup manager, etc. It does lack the option of simultaneous scanning, so you can’t run on-demand checks if the application is running a full system scan. But in the end, the latter isn’t too much of a security compromise.
Real-Time Protection
Total AV has the Real-Time Protection enabled by default and gives the user the option to turn it off as required. But since this feature has a negligible effect on your PC’s performance, it is recommended that it be kept on at all times.
The Real-Time Protection scans your files as you download them, monitoring your system at all times and keeping an eye on any activity that could compromise your privacy or device safety. It is a simple and effective feature that offers protection with a minimal performance impact.
Password Vault
One really useful feature that Total AV has is the Password Vault. This allows you to store, organize and find your many login credentials, securely and without the worry of losing them to hackers. Using it for the first time, you are required to choose a master password of sufficient strength.
Total AV never stores this master password and it is safely kept on your system in encrypted form. The Password Vault has the option of generating very strong passwords, with icons of most well-known websites. This feature from Total AV is strong enough to compete even with the best standalone password managers like LastPass or 1Password.
Pricing
There are three security packages to consider from Total AV. The “Essential Antivirus” is the most basic plan, costing $99.95 annually, offering protection against all kinds of viruses, trojans, spyware, malware, etc. Next comes the “Pro Antivirus” plan for $119.95 annually. It offers all the aforementioned features along with a “system boost” feature and another feature to remove duplicate and redundant files.The third package is called the “Ultimate Antivirus” which costs $149 yearly. It is Total AV’s most comprehensive plans and adds on web security tools, advanced firewall protection, web browser cleaner and PC optimization tools. All three plans are attractive given the features on offer and Total AV also provides great first-year discounts.
Customer Support
Total AV has a vast network to provide 24/7 technical support to its customers. You can contact them through email, phone or just live chat with an agent on their website. One can also refer to their extensive knowledge base which has FAQs covering almost every aspect of the software.
It also has installation guides, desktop and mobile tutorials, sections dedicated to accounts and billing services and even a troubleshooting guide. It is safe to say that Total AV customer support is very reliable and keeps the customer worry-free in case anything goes wrong.
Total AV Advantges
The biggest advantage Total AV has is its powerful Avira antivirus engine, which is popularly considered to be one of the best in the industry. Even with its free version, Total AV does a great job of offering sufficient PC protection so as to supplement Windows Defender’s own capabilities.
Total AV offers great discounts to first-time users which can be beneficial if you are unsure about whether to invest in Total AV. The Total AV console stands out among its peers in terms of the wide range of configuration options it offers to the user, to tweak its performance according to user needs. And extra features like CleanUp and System Boost are really beneficial to keep your system healthy.
Total AV Disadvantges
Despite largely scoring high when it comes to offering real-time protection, Total AV has some poor test results when it comes to specific virus scans. While the Windows edition is fairly great, the Mac edition still needs some tweaking in order to compete with the best.
Total AV also has very high renewal prices and, unlike most of its rivals, it can only be used on up to 5 devices even with the most expensive plan. Furthermore, its Web Shield feature only has support for Chrome and Firefox and won’t work with other browsers, which is sad considering Total AV’s great web security features.
Is Total Av Dependable And Safe To Use?
So the real question that remains now is if Total AV can be relied on to provide for all your virus-protection and online security needs. While it still lacks a few advanced security features and functionality, Total AV still packs a real punch and provides great overall protection. It is easy to use, has dedicated virus scanning and password storing features, and offers solid malware and ransomware protection.
It is a little expensive after the first year but it also has a great free version that offers the most essential features. So the bottom line is that even if it isn’t the very best in all departments, Total AV is a great antivirus software to serve most of any user’s needs.