Review: Panda Internet Security 2008 security software

Panda Internet Security 2008 says it offers protection from viruses, spyware and spam in one suite.

We weren't impressed, though, when it refused to install on our test PC (running Vista) – it cited a conflict with another anti-virus package that wasn't actually installed.

It installed without complication on our XP computer, however, and faster than many equivalent packages.

Installation may have been quick, but the program increased our Windows start-up time considerably, and a full scan of the hard disk took over an hour. Even loading the program’s control panel seemed to take an inordinate amount of time.

The firewall alerted us of an intrusion attempt but only gave us the option to allow or block it without advising us of the best course of action.

In its favour we found the program’s virus and spyware detection to be very good. It managed to uncover and disinfect all of the virus and spyware samples we inflicted on our PC.

In addition it found three behaviour tracking programs which we were able to immediately delete. The problems we encountered make it hard to recommend, though.