#1 NANO Antivirus Review in 2024
NANO Antivirus, a lesser-known player in the cybersecurity arena, has been catching my eye lately. With so many big names dominating the antivirus market, I couldn't help but wonder: Can this underdog really stand up to the competition? That's why I decided to put NANO Antivirus through its paces and see what it's made of.
In this thorough NANO Antivirus review, you'll discover:
- How NANO Antivirus performs in real-world threat detection
- The unique features that set it apart from other antivirus solutions
- Whether its user interface is intuitive or difficult to navigate
- How it impacts your system performance
- If it's worth your time and money
So, grab a cup of coffee, and let's examine NANO Antivirus together!
In a Hurry? Here's a Quick Summary
If you're short on time, here's a quick overview of what I found for this NANO Antivirus review:
What You'll Like:
- Fast and efficient scanning engine
- Good web protection against malicious sites
- Lightweight with minimal system impact
- Affordable pricing options
- Decent ransomware protection
What You May Not Like:
- Limited extra features compared to premium antivirus suites
- User interface could be more intuitive
- No file encryption or backup features
- Limited language options (only English and Russian)
What Makes This NANO Antivirus Review Different?
You might be wondering why you should trust my review over others you've seen online. Well, let me tell you something - I'm not here to simply repeat information from the product's website or give you a sugar-coated version of reality.
I spent a good two weeks testing NANO Antivirus on my personal devices, including a Dell XPS laptop running Windows 11. I've installed it, configured it, run countless scans, and even threw some nasty malware samples at it (don't try this at home, folks!). I've clicked every button, explored every setting, and even tried to break it (for science, of course).
Throughout this review, you'll find 15 screenshots I've personally taken during my testing process. These aren't just pretty pictures - they're visual proof of my hands-on experience with the software.
My goal isn't to sell you on NANO Antivirus, but to give you an honest, detailed account of what it's like to use this antivirus in real-world conditions. So, whether you're a tech newbie or a seasoned pro, I hope this review will help you make an informed decision about whether NANO Antivirus is right for you.
Buying NANO Antivirus
When I decided to give NANO Antivirus a try, I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of their product lineup. Unlike some antivirus companies that overwhelm you with a dozen different options, NANO keeps it uncomplicated. They offer just one product: NANO Antivirus Pro. The only choice you need to make is how long you want your subscription to last - 100 days, 200 days, 500 days, or 1000 days.
I opted for the 100-day version to test the waters. The checkout process was handled by PayPro, an e-commerce platform, which gave me a sense of security. I could choose between paying with a debit card or PayPal - always nice to have options, right?
After entering my billing info and hitting that "submit" button, I immediately received two emails. These weren't just your run-of-the-mill "thanks for your money" messages. They included everything I needed to get started: the invoice (always keep those!), an installation link, my shiny new license key, a link to the control panel, and clear instructions on what to do next.
Overall, buying NANO Antivirus was a breeze. No confusing options, no hard sell tactics - just a simple, uncomplicated process. It's refreshing to see a company that doesn't try to complicate things unnecessarily.
Installation
With my new license key in hand, I was eager to get NANO Antivirus up and running on my system. The installation process was uncomplicated, but I have to say, it wasn't the quickest I've experienced.
The setup took about 10 minutes in total, which is a bit longer than some other antivirus programs I've used. The reason? NANO Antivirus needed to download over 1 GB of files for the setup. If you're on a slower internet connection, you might want to start the installation and then go make yourself a sandwich.
During the setup, I only had one choice to make: the language. NANO Antivirus offers two options - English and Russian. As someone who's tested many antivirus programs, I have to say this is a pretty limited selection compared to some competitors that offer 20 or more language options.
Despite the lengthy download time, the actual installation was effortless and didn't require any technical know-how. It's the kind of setup that you can start and then forget about until it's done - perfect if you're not the type who enjoys supervising an installation process.
Interface
After the installation was complete, I was greeted by NANO Antivirus's user interface. My first impression? Clean and simple, but perhaps a bit too simple for my taste.
In the Actions tab, you can see info about the last system scan and last update.The interface sports a white background with green text and icons, giving it a fresh, modern look. On the left side, you'll find tabs for different features: actions (mostly scans), settings, system guard (real-time scanning features), quarantine, and information about your subscription.
One thing that caught my eye was the option to choose between two themes: Default and Flat. These themes not only change the appearance but also alter the feature set slightly. It's an interesting approach, although I'm not sure why certain features would be tied to a visual theme.
As mentioned earlier, you can switch between English and Russian languages. While this is fine if you speak one of these languages, it might be a drawback for users from other parts of the world.
NANO Antivirus interface settings: you can change the skin, language, and more.A nice touch is the ability to resize the window as you wish. This flexibility is something I always appreciate in software design.
Overall, while the interface is clean and uncluttered, it might take some time to get used to where everything is located. It's not the most intuitive layout I've seen, but it's far from the worst. With a bit of exploration, you'll find your way around.
Major Features
We’ll now delve into the specifics of NANO Antivirus. We’ll outline its critical features and discuss why it might be a strong candidate for protecting your system.
Web Guard
In today's digital environment, web protection is crucial. NANO Antivirus's Web Guard feature is designed to keep you safe while browsing the internet. It scans all downloaded files and visited sites for malicious content. If a threat is detected, you'll see an alert pop up immediately.
The Web Guard settings include monitoring http, email or FTP traffic.You can access the Web Guard settings through System Guard > Web Guard. Here's what you can configure:
- Enable or disable the web protection shield
- Choose actions for detected threats
- Automatically deny access to infected files
- Monitor HTTP, e-mail, and FTP traffic
I particularly liked the option to monitor FTP traffic in both passive and active modes. This is a nice touch for users who frequently transfer files via FTP.
To test the web browsing security for this NANO Antivirus review, I visited several web protection testing links on my laptop using multiple browsers. Here's what I found:
- WICAR: Blocked 12 out of 13 threats
- AMTSO: Blocked 13 out of 15 threats
- EICAR: Blocked 2 out of 4 threats
Web Guard in action: NANO caught a potential web threat.These results are pretty impressive. While not perfect, NANO Antivirus managed to block the vast majority of threats across different test sites. It's worth noting that some of these test sites use simulated threats, which can sometimes slip past antivirus software even though they're harmless.
The Web Guard feature proved to be resilient and effective in my NANO Antivirus review tests. It's definitely one of NANO Antivirus's strong points and it's on par with strong competitors like McAfee and Kaspersky.
Event Log
The Event Log is a handy feature that keeps track of all the threats detected by NANO Antivirus. It's like having a security diary for your computer.
From the event log, you can see threats that were captured.You can view information related to different event sources, such as web guard or file guard. This is useful for understanding what kind of threats your system has been exposed to and how NANO Antivirus has protected you.
I found the Event Log to be well-organized and easy to navigate. It's not the most exciting feature, but it's definitely useful if you want to keep tabs on your system's security history.
Trusted Zone
The Trusted Zone feature in NANO Antivirus is like having a VIP list for files and folders on your computer. It allows you to specify objects that you trust and don't want the antivirus to scan.
The trusted zone includes files that you trust and don't want to be scanned.This can be useful in several scenarios. For example, if you have a large archive that you're certain is safe, you can add it to the Trusted Zone to speed up scans. Or, if you're using a program that you know is safe but NANO Antivirus flags as potentially dangerous, you can add it to the Trusted Zone to prevent false positives.
You can add, delete, and edit rules for files, folders, applications, and web addresses. I found this feature to be quite flexible and easy to use. It's a nice balance between security and user control.
Quarantine
Quarantine is NANO Antivirus's holding cell for suspicious files. When the antivirus detects a potentially dangerous object during a scan, it moves it to quarantine.
Quarantine interface: here you can see captured threats and statistics.What I like about NANO's quarantine feature is the level of control it gives you. You can view all quarantined files and take additional actions using the context menu (right-click on the file list).
Quarantine settings include choosing the action for dealing with found threats.In the quarantine settings, you can configure what happens when a suspicious object is found. Options include asking the user, sending to the virus lab for analysis, or not sending. This level of customization is appreciated, especially for more advanced users who like to have control over their security settings.
Scan
NANO Antivirus offers various types of scans to suit different needs. Let's examine each type and see how they perform.
Quick Scan
The quick scan is designed to check the most vulnerable areas of your PC. NANO recommends running this scan before starting work on your PC and after each antivirus update.
Quick scan results: over 10 GB of data scanned in 11 minutes.In my NANO Antivirus review tests, the quick scan took 58 seconds to complete, scanning 19,600 files. It didn't detect any threats on my system, which was expected as I keep my test machine clean. The speed was impressive - under a minute for a quick check is great for those times when you want a fast security check.
Full Scan
The full system scan is more thorough, checking all areas, processes, files, and folders on your PC. NANO recommends running this after the first installation of the antivirus and after curing any active infections.
Here is how NANO found a threat during a full scan.My full scan took 16 minutes to complete, scanning 1,115,000 files. It detected 6 threats, all of which were files I had previously downloaded for the web protection test. NANO Antivirus was able to remove and disinfect these threats successfully.
The scan time is quite good compared to some other antivirus solutions I've tested. Some can take over an hour for a full system scan, so 16 minutes is impressive.
NANO Antivirus can automatically scan removable media like USB drives when they're connected to your PC. This is a great feature to prevent infections from external sources.
Scheduled Scan
You can set up scheduled scans to run automatically at specified times. This is useful for maintaining regular security checks without having to remember to run them manually.
Scheduled scan settings includes configuring an hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly scan.Scan Settings
NANO Antivirus offers a wealth of customization options for scans. You can create a scan task with your own settings, although the number of tasks you can create may be limited depending on your license type.
The tasks tab allows you to personalize the scan types.Some of the settings you can adjust include:
- Scanning all potentially dangerous extensions
- Scanning files with specific extensions
- Scanning NTFS streams
- Setting size limits for scanned objects
- Adjusting the nesting level for archive scanning
- Optimizing processor usage during scans
The scan modes allows you to further customize your scans.You can also configure actions to be taken when malicious, suspicious, or potentially dangerous objects are detected. There's even an option to save backups of modified files, which can be useful in case of false positives.
One feature I particularly liked was the ability to protect your antivirus settings with a password. This can prevent unauthorized users from changing important settings, which is great for shared computers or if you have kids who like to tinker with settings.
Ransomware Protection
Ransomware is one of the most feared types of malware, capable of encrypting your files and holding them for ransom. NANO Antivirus includes ransomware protection to defend against these attacks.
To test this feature for this NANO Antivirus review, I used a ransomware simulator. The results were decent, but not outstanding. NANO Antivirus successfully stopped 12 out of 22 ransomware simulation scenarios. While this is okay, it's worth noting that the average success rate for top antivirus solutions is around 15 out of 22.
This suggests that while NANO Antivirus does offer some protection against ransomware, there's room for improvement in this area.
Game Mode
For all the gamers out there, NANO Antivirus includes a Game Mode feature. When enabled, this mode activates automatically when launching full-screen applications.
In Settings > Common, you can activate the game mode.In Game Mode, notifications are muted, and no sound alerts are played. This helps prevent interruptions during your gaming sessions. You can find the Game Mode settings in the general settings menu.
I particularly liked that you can set it to activate automatically when a full-screen game starts. There's also an option to prevent scheduled updates during Game Mode, ensuring your gaming experience isn't interrupted by unexpected antivirus activities.
Command Line Mode
For advanced users, NANO Antivirus Pro offers a command line mode. This allows you to run certain operations directly from the command line.
To get basic help on available operations, you can type "nanoavcl --help" in the command line. For more detailed information on a specific operation, you can use "nanoavcl %operation name% --help".
While this feature might not be useful for average users, it's a nice addition for technologically adept individuals who prefer command line operations.
One of the most important aspects of any antivirus software is how it affects your system's performance. After all, what good is protection if it slows your computer to a snail's pace?
For my tests, I used a Dell XPS laptop with an Intel i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz and 16 GB of RAM running on Windows 11.
While running a full scan, NANO Antivirus consumes about 85% CPU power and 600 MB of RAM. This is quite high compared to some other antivirus solutions I've tested. The average CPU usage during a full scan for most antivirus programs is around 25%, and RAM consumption is typically around 300 MB.
This high resource usage could be apparent on older or less powerful systems. If you're using an older computer, you might experience some slowdown during scans.
However, it's worth noting that outside of scans, NANO Antivirus had minimal impact on my system's performance. Day-to-day operations like web browsing, word processing, and even light gaming weren't visibly affected.
NANO Antivirus Review: Conclusion
After spending two weeks with NANO Antivirus, I've formed a pretty clear picture of its strengths and weaknesses. Here's my conclusion for this NANO Antivirus review:
- Impressive Threat Detection: NANO Antivirus showed excellent results in blocking malicious websites and detecting various types of malware.
- Simple Interface: The user interface is clean and uncomplicated, although some features could be better organized.
- Fast Scanning: Both quick and full scans are completed relatively quickly, with the ability to become even faster in subsequent scans.
- Ransomware Protection: It successfully stopped 12 out of 22 ransomware simulation scenarios, which is decent but not outstanding.
- Limited Extra Features: While it covers the basics well, NANO Antivirus lacks some advanced features found in premium antivirus suites.
In conclusion, NANO Antivirus is a solid choice for users who want a simple antivirus engine to scan their system and protect them from threats in real time. It's not the most feature-rich or user-friendly option out there, but it gets the job done when it comes to basic protection.
If you want a more extensive security suite or if you're less comfortable with technology, you might want to look at some other options in the market. TotalAV, Norton, and Bitdefender provide robust antivirus security. Be sure to see our best antivirus software guide for 2024.
Octav Fedor (Cybersecurity Editor)
Octav is a cybersecurity researcher and writer at AntivirusGuide. When he’s not publishing his honest opinions about security software online, he likes to learn about programming, watch astronomy documentaries, and participate in general knowledge competitions.