At Softpedia.com, a description of BD 10 Free is given and states that the free version has VM and will not allow someone to access destructive files. Is this true?

(Even if it's not true, BD 10 free is still a very, very good product.)

Dave

Hello Dave,

This is what it's said on Softpedia.

It doesn't say that it has VM, nor that it prevents the user from accessing infected files.
What it says is that BDv10 uses the latest heuristics engine (B-HAVE), which uses virtualization to detect new malware based on their behavior. This is only the heuristics engine, and it is completely different from a VM.

Also, BD 10 Free doesn't have any realtime protection capabilities. All what is said on Softpedia refers to On Demand scans, and not to Realtime Protection. So if the user accesses an infected file, BD 10 Free won't react at all, even if it knows the virus.

Cris.

On a 200x/XP/Vista machine, I believe what you say. But(!) try this. Place BD 10 Free on a 9x/ME PC. Try accessing the EICAR test text file from any place other than the My Documents folder. BD Free will lock the file and deny access. It seems to be a good, free AV, with on access protection, for 9x/ME enthusiasts, and I hope BD shall continue to support this free version for those of us who are 9x/ME enthusiasts and who cannot find ANY good AV for 9x/ME. (Even the very reputable(?) Vaccine46 went to WIN 2000 as a requiste!)

Dave

PS. I forgot to say to Win 9x/ME enthusiasts that this BD Free is NOT the full-featured BD 10 paid protection: it is on access only with no configurable real time, similar to the old, old AVG Free, but it is still perfect for 9x/ME enthusiasts.