A Review of McAfee Stinger

McAfee AVERT Stinger for W32/Polip - provides specific detection and repair for W32/Polip only

McAfee Nuke-Stinger - provides only trojan detection.

McAfee Stinger

- It is only able to detect and remove specific viruses and threats;

- It does not provide full anti-virus protection

- It does help with an infected system, but it does not prevent infections

Overall score: Thumbs down. The main reason for this score is that this software provides very little anti-virus protection. It may be worth downloading and trying it out on viruses, trojans, and malware, but it does not give users complete PC protection. On the positive side, it is user-friendly, and is a decent virus-removal tool that's available for free.

The developer of Stinger is McAfee, so it comes from a reliable source.

MCAfee Stinger is a free-to-download utility!

Downloading McAfee Stinger is a very simple task. It's a self-extracting, self-installing file!

Installation of McAfee Stinger is possible on all Windows platforms (e.g., Win 2000, XP, and ME). It doesn't take up too much memory either.

Note: There are easy-to-follow instructions for downloading/installing on the McAfee Web site.

All that a user needs to do to download Stinger is to double-click the "Stinger.exe" icon and then click the "Scan Now" button. Stinger, by default, will be downloaded to C:\.

McAfee Stinger Download v10.0.1.624 [4,129,799 bytes] (09 September 2008)

McAfee AVERT Stinger for W32/Polip Download v3.0.2 [1,147,911 bytes]

McAfee AVERT Stinger allows the possibility to configure the detection settings as you see fit.

McAfee Stinger updates are not automatic or downloadable, but are released on a regular basis. Users must download the newest version of Stinger in order to take advantage of the full potential of the program and be able to remove any new viruses, trojans, and malware.

• Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology
  
• Each process is scanned
  
• Provides scan performance optimizations

Virus Protection

It provides limited virus protection and is actually unable to protect users from most viruses

Trojan Protection

It provides limited Trojan protection

Malware Protection

It provides little malware protection, as it only removes a limited amount of malware

McAfee AVERT Stinger is a good utility; that is, it's a good standalone cleaning tool. It can detect and clean rootkits that are running on Windows.

It's not meant to provide users complete anti-virus protection; this is a downfall for most users searching and looking for the right product to remove and clean viruses. What users get here is limited since Stinger is freeware--free to download. It may be better, for some users, to install a current full-fledged virus-removal antivirus application, or use McAfee's own SuperDAT-based standalone scanner.

McAfee Disclaimer Warning: Improper use of this utility could result in damage to your applications or operating system. For assistance or support, it's recommended to check with McAfee Avert Labs or McAfee Technical Support.