TotalAV Review: The Only Edition Worth Your Time (With Screenshots)

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TotalAV is a newcomer to the business. Is it worth your money? Read on

Unlike many other Antivirus software suites out there, Total Antivirus (or TotalAV), is one antivirus software suite that is as close to being fully featured as any other.

Does that automatically translate to being a great antivirus software suite?

Well, you’re going to have to read the full review (or skip to the verdict part straight away) for that.

To be fair to the people behind TotalAV, this antivirus software suite does offer a lot of features when compared to some of the other antivirus software suites.

Moreover, in order to attract more customers, it has a free version.

And a paid version (which obviously comes with extra features).

If you’re one of those people who just like to use an antivirus software application for the sake of it, with the default options, then you should probably stick to the free version of TotalAV. We’ll explain later why that wouldn’t be a wise choice in this case.

Regardless, this review is sufficient to cover both the free version and the paid version.

But do take note that even though we are reviewing both the versions here, users who are prone to opting for free versions should take heed.

And know that the free trial version of TotalAV is a very limited antivirus software suite indeed.

The paid version, on the other hand, offers a lot more unique features which are both valuable and effective.

In fact, these extra features are the reason why TotalAV is considered to be the top up and coming antivirus software suite in the antivirus market.

Go to TotalAV

TotalAV System Requirements

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First off, we’re glad to inform you that TotalAV offers native applications for almost all operating systems and platforms. TotalAV supports Windows, Mac, Android and the very popular iOS.

And since TotalAV has native apps for all operating systems, it becomes quite a complicated task to calculate the precise minimum system requirements.

As far as official sources go, TotalAV makes no mention of any minimum system requirements on its official website.

When you click on the download button (if you’re using Windows or Mac, otherwise for Android you’ll have to go to Google Play Store and for iOS, you’ll have to access iTunes), the software application downloads to your device. Rather fast, if we may add.

With that said, if your device doesn’t have the raw power to run TotalAV, you’ll know it by the way it will run on your system very quickly.

In general, if you bought your computer or mobile device in the last four or five years then you’re pretty much on the same side.

TotalAV Setup, Interface, And Installation

The process of installation is anything but smooth. Not that it’s awfully difficult, but you will have to put in some effort to get it up and running.

To install TotalAV, you’ll first have to sign up on the official website which requires an account. You’ll have to create your account first.

Anyone who values his privacy wouldn’t like the fact that you have to register first before you can use the antivirus software application. It’s even for people who want to try out the free version because you’ll have to give up your information for much less in return.

Truth be told, it is very rare that an antivirus software company requires registration for the trial version of its products.

Besides, if you’re paying for the product then it makes total sense to ask users for their information.

But as far as free version goes, it is considered best practice to offer that for free and without any account.

When you have finally downloaded TotalAV, you’ll notice that it will take some more time to update its virus definitions. These will be downloaded directly on your machine.

After that’s done, the installation process will actually begin and will take around ten to fifteen minutes, which is not short by any measure.

Perhaps TotalAV isn’t at fault here because the actual installation of the antivirus software is quick, it is the virus definitions that take the bulk of the installation time.

To its credit, once TotalAV is installed on your machine, it quietly runs in the background and gives you an icon to interact with, in your system tray. Click the icon and it will show you the main dashboard.

The TotalAV version we tried out didn’t consume many resources. If you have a decent CPU, it will have no effect on it, while it will eat up around 20MB of your memory.

In short, TotalAV manages to keep a low profile while running on your machine.

TotalAV Interface

totalav-categories

As far as visuals are concerned, after installing the actual antivirus software, it is easy to see that the developers behind TotalAV have put in a lot effort and have paid particular attention to it.

In other words, you’ll find that you’ll be able to navigate through the antivirus application’s interface rather easily and quickly.

There are some rough corners though. Some sections of the interface don’t make much sense and we’ll get to those right now.

Take, for example, the TotalAV antivirus meter levels. Yes, the app has meter levels for various categories. On the face of it, that might seem helpful but all it does is confuse the new user.

The other problem with so many categories is that, they also show tracker cookies as threats. Tracker cookies are obviously things you shouldn’t have on your machine but you’ll be mistaken if you think all tracker cookies are threats.

totalav-category-threats

Apart from this small little problem, everything else seems to be in place. There is a prominent Fix Issues button which fixes any problems that the anti-virus software might have found on your machine.

You can also change categories of threats fairly quickly with the intuitive menu.

Go to TotalAV

TotalAV Security

If you’re talking about standard features in any given antivirus program, TotalAV has got them all. Mind you, that only means that TotalAV has got all the standard features. We’ll come to the extra ones in a bit.

The basic TotalAV application allows you to perform a quick scan.

You can also opt for the much deeper system scan which can detect most malware items but of course, that will consume more resources and will take longer.

Be warned though, the quick scan isn’t as quick as it should be. Some users have reported to have spent a total of fifteen minutes waiting for the quick scan to finish.

Now fifteen minutes isn’t an awfully long period of time but when it comes to quick scan it is.

That, of course, doesn’t mean that quick scan should be able to scan your machine in ten seconds.

Generally, when a quick scan is too quick for its own good, it means that the quick scan isn’t checking for potential threats in all the necessary areas.

totalav-threats

Our experience and research tell us that you’re better off performing full scans rather than quick scans. The full scan on TotalAV should take you about 28 minutes.

TotalAV scans are pretty reasonable and you can expect it to catch most test viruses. It takes good care of tracker cookies too.

We’re going to move away from scan operations now and on to other standard features such as a firewall and real-time protection.

But you don’t really need to know about them more than you already know right?

Perhaps the most unexpected feature included in an antivirus software suite is a VPN service. TotalAV has it.

You might be asking yourself, what was the purpose of including a VPN service in an antivirus program.

Well, let’s start off by learning that the VPN service comes only in the paid version of TotalAV.

As mentioned earlier, it is highly unusual for an antivirus application suite to have such a feature (a VPN service).

But if we can put some more thought into it, we may be able to understand why TotalAV does so.

We all know that a VPN is pretty useless as far as protecting you from viruses and other malware is concerned.

So, the only reason left is completeness. TotalAV, it seems, wanted to provide its paid users the most complete package any antivirus program could.

TotalAV VPN Service

The TotalAV VPN service offers users over 40 servers which are more than what many dedicated VPN services offer. In other words, TotalAV VPN service is a reasonable choice as far as a VPN service is concerned. At least it can offer a lot of variety in its server selection so it isn’t entirely useless.

If you just head over to the Knowledge Base center at TotalAV’s official website, you can read through some of the finer details about the VPN service.

The TotalAV VPN service uses a 256-bit AES-CBC encryption which is pretty neat and runs on an OpenVPN protocol which is secure.

You’ll have a hard time find any other information about the VPN service on the official website.

Dedicated VPN services come with bonus features such as DNS leak protection feature, a reliable kill switch feature and settings for modifying VPN ports.

TotalAV doesn’t talk about any of that.

Moreover, there is no official word on TotalAV VPN service’s log policy which is absolutely critical when it comes to users who are privacy-conscious.

What you must know is that if you’re looking for a VPN service, TotalAV isn’t it. It is an antivirus program that comes with a VPN service on the side.

If you’re looking for a great VPN service then read this best VPN provider guide here.

totalav-vpn

Let’s talk about the actual antivirus program now.

The free version of TotalAV isn’t that useless for the reason that there is no quarantine option. If the antivirus program finds a threat on your machine then you can either delete it or whitelist it. Or you can choose to not take any sort of action.

You can quarantine a specific threat only in the paid version.

So what’s the problem with not having a quarantine option?

Well, the problem is that sometimes you need the quarantine option to know if a file identified as a threat is actually a file that is needed for another program.

To put it another way, you can’t just delete any found that with the click of a single button unless you want your operating system to get wrecked.

If you for the free version of TotalAV then you’ll need to watch out for deleting important files by mistake with no quarantine option.

And just for clarity’s sake, TotalAV’s free version is not worth your time. There are better free alternatives out there in the market.

TotalAV Other Functions

TotalAV comes with other useful functions as well such as a System Boost feature, disable/enable startup program feature and others.

There is also another feature which allows you to stop running programs in the background with much ease. Just press Alt + Delete and you can easily stop running programs. You can allow any program you want and disallow the ones you don’t want.

Additionally, TotalAV also comes with a bonus feature of uninstalling installed programs. The antivirus software suite also allows users to clear history and cookies from all browsers with the help of a single button.

The only exception is the Opera browser. For some reason, TotalAV’s clear history and cookies function don’t work with it.

totalav-programs

If it wasn’t clear enough already, then know that these features are only available in the paid version of the antivirus software. Perhaps the people behind TotalAV think that they deserve to get paid for their trademark features and perhaps they are justified in thinking that.

Did we mention that TotalAV’s paid version also comes with a Disk Cleaner and is it shiny looking or what?

Given that the disk cleaning feature is something that every other antivirus program offers, TotalAV’s has the edge because of its neat design. Their cleaning tool takes care of duplicate files fairly easily and the shredding tool is pretty well built.

Too bad you won’t get to experience any of those features in the free version of TotalAV.

But hey, there is always the paid version.

Does TotalAV Really Fit The Bill As A Security Service?

Well, if you think about what you’re paying for the program than TotalAV is sufficient as a security solution. It isn’t perfect as you would have probably figured out by now.

The one thing that goes against TotalAV in a big way is that it is relatively new in the industry and hence hardly any known antivirus testing lab has tested it properly.

If we’re talking about the antivirus software application itself then it is clear that TotalAV is a decent package.

totalav-firewall

 

It has a firewall, a virus scanner that picked up a good amount of threats, a tracker cookie hunter (though it could be improved by not mixing it up with threats such as malware etc) and a VPN.

The bonus VPN feature does make it a worthwhile package but of course, the quality rather than the quantity of features matter most when it comes to antivirus software applications.

However, if TotalAV wants to reach out to a wider audience then it will have to make more standard features available in the free version of TotalAV. Right now, it can hardly be called barebones.

Go to TotalAV

Can Your System Handle TotalAV?

As mentioned earlier, TotalAV does take a good amount of time for its quick scan. Moreover, if you don’t run TotalAV in the background, it will still annoy you with threat popup notifications.

Of course, you can disable these annoying notifications but TotalAV can improve the overall experience if the antivirus program doesn’t give out threat notifications while it is performing a quick scan.

Then there is the problem of popup notifications being a bit too intrusive. They take a pretty good portion of the screen and you always have to click on them in order to make them go away.

The one positive aspect of TotalAV is that it doesn’t eat up a lot of CPU even when it is performing system scans. A lot good antivirus programs tend to hog your CPU resources and as a result, you can’t do anything else while you’re running their system scans.

TotalAV also performs well on laptops and that is good news for people who have lower-end computers from the early 2000s.

As mentioned earlier as well, TotalAV is pretty solid when it comes to detecting incoming malicious files. The firewall does its job to the fullest as well by giving a warning to the user about a potential malware infected file during any given download process.

The paid version allows you to either remove the file or quarantine it. You can also ignore the warning and continue with your download. That doesn’t mean it won’t annoy you with threat detected notifications.

TotalAV Customer Support

Thankfully, TotalAV provides 24/7 live chat through their official website. This is a feature that is extremely useful to attract more customers and retain more.

There are also other options to communicate with TotalAV staff. You can,

  • Email them
  • Call them
  • Use their official website’s Knowledge Base section (though it isn’t likely to help since it isn’t sufficiently fleshed out)

So What’s The Verdict on TotalAV?

TotalAV is still a young player in the old antivirus software suites industry.

Even though it has a fully fleshed out software application and a lot of trademark features, it will need time to represent itself as something different from the standard antivirus software package.

Otherwise, TotalAV is a moderately powerful antivirus program that doesn’t bog down your computer machine.

Add to that the fact that it comes with its own VPN service.

It definitely has the potential to become one of the top players in the antivirus software suites industry.

The first thing TotalAV should do, in order to climb up the antivirus software suites rankings, is to do away with the requirements of a sign-up and a login for the free version of the software. It would be better if it dumps this requirement from all types of downloads altogether.

Forcing new users to input their details before they have even made up their mind about using the program doesn’t give a good impression.

All it does is make the new user suspicious as to why a new antivirus company wants to collect so much data on customers who may not even buy their final product.

On that note, the TotalAV staff should go light on sending out potential discounts and other promotional offers to its new users.

If someone wants to sign up for the premium account, he/she would do so on his/her own.

You don’t have to send them reminders about the upgrade every 18 hours.

The free version should be drastically upgraded.

Right now it has nothing useful to offer apart from a simple scan.

If TotalAV can’t do that then it should remove its trial version and offer only its paid version with a money back guarantee or something.

If you’re lucky enough (and catch TotalAV premium account during one of its discount periods) then you can have the paid version of the antivirus program for about $20 (now $19 per year for the Pro version).

The price is competitive and you can bet that the paid version of the antivirus program offers plenty of features.

Some of which you are unlikely to use though.

We give TotalAV a 7 out of 10.

Go to TotalAV
Zohair A. Zohair is currently a content crafter at Security Gladiators and has been involved in the technology industry for more than a decade. He is an engineer by training and, naturally, likes to help people solve their tech related problems. When he is not writing, he can usually be found practicing his free-kicks in the ground beside his house.

113 thoughts on “TotalAV Review: The Only Edition Worth Your Time (With Screenshots)”

  1. Lots of good information but the author is not a very good writer. You need to get a person who is good at technical writing to take what you are writing as a draft and then create the final version. Then you need to check it for technical content to ensure that the technical writer didn’t misconstrue anything. Tedious, yes, but it will make articles like this one really useful and accessible.

  2. I have tried to give an opinion of this program with the faults i found. I couldn’t finish my whole thoughts before the e-mail disappeared on me. is this pre planed. It has happened before.

    • Try this, works for me in many situations.
      Compose your message in a text editor, word processing app. etc.
      Then copy and paste into the review site.

      • Total agreement on Robert Dealy’s suggestion. Any long emails I ALWAYS do on a word processor before EVER committing it to email. After losing about 3 emails while writing them and tearing out what’s left of my hair (so to speak, of course), I’ve since done the word processing thing.

  3. I saw on a web site how people feel about this product. I understand how people think; what is good for one is not good for the other.; in other words what is good for the Goose; is not good for the Gander.

  4. I saw on a web site that this product is number i int its class in the AV Class. How could this be if you get a lot of crisis

      • Hi Anonymous. Thanks for the comment. If you were hoping that we would defend TotalAV review, then you hoped wrong. We won’t. But we will say that we should try and not call them a scam. A scam service can’t have its reviews on some of the top VPN review sites on the planet.

  5. Total AV 2017 is a scam:

    I installed a clean or a fresh new copy of Windows 7 on a computer (virtual machine). Remember, this is a new installation of Windows with nothing installed on it. Then I installed free and very popular antivirus software: Avast, AVG, Avira, Commodo and Bitdefender on the same computer. Scan the same computer with all five antivirus software, and none detected any viruses, Trojan horse, spyware, or malware.

    Now, I downloaded and installed TotalAV on the same freshly installed Windows 7 computer. Scan the same computer with TotalAV, and to my surprise, TotalAV claims that it has detected viruses and other malware on the newly installed Windows 7 computer that has only genuine software on it. Then it wanted me to pay to do a clean-up to remove the so-called viruses and other malware it claimed it has detected. Also, Microsoft Windows doesn’t even recognize it as antivirus software.

    • Not surprised! What gets me is that PC Magazine gave this program a 96% rating on their website which is why I tried it!?! Big mistake!!! Guess you can’t really trust anyone anymore! While I’m NOT suggesting Total AV is doing anything illegal, this kind of thing does raise a lot of questions about ethics and fair trade practices. It’s because of organizations like these there is now, more than ever, a serious need for (dare I say it!!!) regulation on the World Wide Web to stop this kind of “bait and switch” tactic. If you offer software or some service for “free” then it should be for free!! The trick is to understand that they are in full compliance with that offer. You can “download” their software for free – doesn’t cost you a thing. The trick is to realize that while you may possess the stuff you simply can’t use it!!! It’s like getting a free car that doesn’t come with an engine. For a “fee” you can get the engine. How many folks would agree to that?

      • Hi Walter,
        We’re really sorry that you too had to suffer through TotalAV’s not-so-clear marketing material. Some sources do say that they have improved their service now.
        In all honesty though, TotalAV would be better off if they are upfront about which features users can use in the free version and which one’s they can’t.

      • TotalAV has been a nightmare. Don’t do it! Besides, the constant upselling…they refuse to refund per their policy!

        I cancelled on the 6th day under their 30 day money back guarantee. It’s been four months and I have been given the run around. First they say that I would receive refund within 7-10 days. After receiving the email, I figured that there was no need for dispute so I cancelled. TotalAV says PayPal ruled in their favor so they don’t have to pay. I told them that I cancelled dispute because they agreed to pay so they said they would refund. Then they said that since I cancelled PayPal, they are unable to process refund. I reopened PayPal, now they said TotalAV refunded on Nov. 17. Then they said they refunded on Dec. 8.

        TotalAV is a total ripoff!

      • HI Christine,
        It is true that the first few versions of TotalTV didn’t really protect the user.
        Now they have updated their product.
        And it is better.
        But TotalAV is still not a great antivirus product.

      • Yasuo’s experience does have great value.
        With that said, we installed it on a fresh windows 10 machine and didn’t find it hard to remove it.
        Of course, that doesn’t mean TotalAV hasn’t malfunctioned for many users.

    • Well total AV has shut me out of the internet and i do not no how to get it back on no phone number to contact them. and cannot get on the internet to respond to them about any thing !

  6. As in everything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably NOT true. Those raving reviews you read about this program are likely ALL written by TrueAV! Take it all with a grain of salt. Besides, I NEVER buy anything that comes to me by phone OR by email! The four or five FREE programs mentioned are all better than anything you can by, and they are FREE!

  7. The software is malware. Garbage. Scary! I just paid my I.T. guy good money to fix my computer to which he said the only thing wrong with it was TOTALAV. He said dangerous program…and if you have Windows 10 these 3rd party things conflict and cause more problems. So I paid for TotalAV and then I paid more to have someone fix my computer because it’s bad news!

    • Same problem here it had some conflict with my windows 10 and kept frezzing up. I had it worked on and only problem was this software. Computer would freeze go blue screen show memory problens . And I paid for this.

  8. Installed it 2 times & real-time protection does not turn on: you get a code & website to report a tcket; nothing happened, but i still got emails from one DEAN (the same name used from @ other AV names), about amazing offers. for $19 you get only tickets & no protection. on the other hand, bitdefender gives me all protection for the same price on 5 devices !!!

  9. Good article thank you ! I will try Totalav next time when my AVG expire…I will go for the Pro with three pcs. I think your article should rate AV better than 7 from 10.

    • misleading deceptive and rubbish? i just brought total av then asked for a refund after reading all these bad reviews after spending only 1 min on the 24/7 chat room they stopped the monthly charge paid me back the £3.65 and also let me keep the month i had left im going to keep it till it runs out but i dont see anything wrong with it ps the support team is really helpful and i looked at my bank statements and i got the £3.65 back so not sure why people are calling this system a scam…

  10. I think programs like total AV should be listed as scams only because they use a “free” leader but make you pay to even see the results of their scan. So, free is not free.

  11. This product acted more like malaware on my system The speed of my PC (<50s for total boot) was reduced to a snails pace. I don't know how much they were paid for this advertising but the article seems to be is total bullshit.

  12. Don’t expect to have anyone speak to you in a clear understandable manner, I cancelled the subscription after being unable to complete initial information in which the website tells you to contact them if problem with password persists. Contacted the company and was not able to understand what the person was saying due to such a heavy dialect. Asked to speak to someone else so I could get this fixed…..argued with me about getting someone else, would not comply with my request. Called back 30 minutes later and directly asked for a manager, again would not comply. Told him to cancel the subscription in which he was able to speak in a clear English manner that I could understand. This is what you get when you are trying to give them money, just think of how you will be treated when you have a real problem.

    • We’re sorry you had to go through a terrible time too. Hopefully TotalAV will listen to their customer base and start improving their service. Otherwise, there are a ton of good and free alternatives such as Avira free antivirus and Avast.

      • TotalAV has been a nightmare. Don’t do it! Besides, the constant upselling…they refuse to refund per their policy!

        I cancelled on the 6th day under their 30 day money back guarantee. It’s been four months and I have been given the run around. First they say that I would receive refund within 7-10 days. After receiving the email, I figured that there was no need for dispute so I cancelled. TotalAV says PayPal ruled in their favor so they don’t have to pay. I told them that I cancelled dispute because they agreed to pay so they said they would refund. Then they said that since I cancelled PayPal, they are unable to process refund. I reopened PayPal, now they said TotalAV refunded on Nov. 17. Then they said they refunded on Dec. 8.

        Total ripoff!

        • Thank you for the feedback Tiwanda.
          It is unfortunate that so many people are experiencing these issues with TotalAV.
          And it also seems like PayPal isn’t all that great either when it comes to serving their customers.
          That is why we recommend to always ask the developers of any application for a trial period before you actually buy the actual product.

      • It would appear that you are trying to promote TotalAV judging by your comments . The majority of people who tried this product say its a scam , so how can people who have had to remove the programme be a customer base . And Scammers or rather a deceptive companies are not interested in improving the product as they make more money scamming people then offering a real product . also 99% of the good reviews have been tracked back to TotalAV . Zohair I suspect you represent the company but posing as an independent in order sucker people into using the product .

        • Hi Hell Fire Hitman.
          Thanks for the comment.
          Everyone is free to not download TotalAV.
          We do have plans to update our review in order to reflect TotalAV’s current state.
          But the thing is that other authority sites like PCMAG have given TotalAV a rating of fair.
          Many others have given it even higher ratings.
          It is true that a lot of people have had trouble using this product.
          But to say that it is a scam outright is something we can’t comment on.
          Maybe the people behind TotalAV are only capable of rolling out such a ‘terrible’ product.

          • “…update our review in order to reflect TotalAV’s current state.,..” ???

            Mate, the product was born as malware-fakeware. nothing changes that. Add billing issues to conclude TotalAV is total crap, and will forever be a scam. bury the name remove the product

          • Hi there Anonymous.
            Yes. That seems more likely as the days go by. But since TotalAV is a business, we need to give them as much time and opportunity as is possible to redeem themselves.

  13. Hi Zohair,
    I found some of the comments “interesting!” but only informative in the sense of the “lack of apparent knowledge” in some of these posts.

    I have very recently loaded TotalAV, a paid version and time will tell although my initial comment is that it does look very similar to the front end of AVG’s Total Security which I have just deleted from my laptop after about 8 years of its use, which this post is perhaps more related to that Total AV.

    Of late AVG has heavily pushed a number of additional cost add-ons one of which I decided to try as it was offered as a thirty day free trial.

    That was an optimisation program which would remove junk, unused software and “provide a much faster operation. Now, with hindsight I totally regret this decision.

    I will summarise what happened. First it reported over 250Mb of old or unused folders/files, registry entries and other “junk”. However it did not identify these fires/folders by name and it was only after pressing the file junk that a long list of named files and folders scrolled across an “action box” that I quickly realised it was deleting operating system files and a large number of AVG files(se the following).
    This was run on 27 November 2017. On 5 December I ran Windows update(I prefer to do this manually rather than automatically), but found that although a list of files etc.,showed as available, they would not load but failed at the “download files part of this procedure.

    As you will be aware, the update procedure first of all carries out a “handshake” before running the update, but it appears that the opsys files that carried out this process were gone from my laptop.

    I than checked the Hkey/local user files in registry and found that there was a folder named AVAST with an “optimise” sub-folder which on further investigation I discovered was 1, an anti-virus Co. and 2. included an Optimisation program!
    Subsequently I found out that AVG and AVAST were “partner Companies”.

    I then spent over five hours on multiple phone calls to AVG Technical Help, who first of all accused me of down-loading “another AV program” on to my laptop; they stated they did not know who AVAST was!
    On a further search on the web I found that AVAST was owned by AVG (or vice-versa).

    Next surprise followed a visit to the MS(did I say I run Win10) Programs & Features part of the Conventional Settings page(I prefer this to the Win10 Settings page) and first of all deleted the AVG Optimisation prog, but just before doing a switch off/on, I noticed I had AVG Free loaded, not AVG Internet Security and that prog was loaded on 27 Nov ’17!

    So for 8-10 days I was accessing the internet without a firewall and with a Free AV which does not have a tenth of the protection that AVG internet Security provided.

    Since then I have down-loaded all of my personal info on to an external Hard Drive, re-loaded Win10 and down-loaded TotalAV

    According to AVG no-one else has had any problems with their Optimisation add-on. I find that hard to believe

    • Thank you for the feedback.
      TotalAV didn’t start out as a legitimate antivirus product.
      But recently they have put in a lot of work in their service.
      TotalAV now, is a bearable antivirus product.
      Though there are many other alternatives like Avast, Avira and others that you can try if you are not satisfied with TotalAV protection.

  14. I’m struggling with this AV program. It slowed my laptop down to a crawl once I installed it. The 24/7 help/chat is useless and refers you to vimeo vids which, since the program was installed take forever to load. When you buy it you get a barrage of bewildering extra options and a lot of marketing emails. I used to use Mcafee and was looking for a cheaper option; Total AV offers this and more but honestly, as a non-techie, it absolutely fails to deliver. I am currently going through the uninstall/re-install thing in the hope that it will solve the problems that have arisen but honestly I’m not expecting much. If it doesn’t work I’ll go back to something I KNOW will work. As things stand at the moment I’d give TotalAV 2/10 and would go out of my way to advise people against using it

    • Thank you for your feedback. We hope that TotalTV give considerable thought to your comment and try to improve their service. Otherwise, they will lose a lot of their customers. And quickly.

    • Thank you for your feedback. We hope that TotalTV gives considerable thought to your comment and try to improve their service. Otherwise, they will lose a lot of their customers. And quickly.

  15. There really is no “free” option to this program. Once you fall victim to their “free” download (and that’s EXACTLY what it is – the software is free to download but it’s not free to actually USE!) They hit me with a $2.99 introductory first month subscription discount which you must agree to pay before the software actually does anything. It will “scan” your system but in order to use ANY of the program’s functions it sends you to the “oh, by the way, it will cost you before you can use it” page. Typical for these kinds of web sites. They also offered a $19.99 yearly subscription rate on a “hurry up and take advantage of this great deal before it ends” page which I thought was a pretty good deal for all the services they claim you get with it… but wait… read the fine print if you can find it. Once I set up the software and created an “account” they posted an automatic withdrawal from my account for $8.99 on 2/6/2018 and I am assuming this is going to be a recurring monthly deduction (which I DID NOT KNOWINGLY AGREE TO at any time during the installation process) I’m no math genius but $8.99 a month for 12 months is NOT $19.99. One more thing – many of the “supposed” services they offer can be accomplished within most Windows operating systems above XP and this software appears to be nothing more than an operating system overlay with a fancy, flashy Graphic User Interface. You’d be much better off finding a different source for software to protect your PC. I’m almost certain these folks will gladly sell your user information and after reading a LOT of negative reviews, I don’t trust them. Buyer beware!!! Drill down into their website and get the fine print before you agree or download anything they offer!!!

    • It seems like a lot of people have experienced the same problem as you have with TotalAV. There are plenty of other free options though. There is Avira, Avast and BitDefender which are equally great if TotalAV didn’t work out for you.

      • I like to share the below regular Email I get ,
        Does anybody know who Dean is ?? Or is it a Robot ??
        Thanks

        “ Hi (name-here),

        It’s been nearly 2 months since your antivirus payment failed.

        Your protection is currently suspended and will remain that way until the outstanding balance has been cleared.

        *****, I’m urging you to make the smart decision and reactivate your real-time protection.

        You are currently exposed to malicious malware, ransom attacks and even cybercrime.

        After speaking with our Management team I have managed to allocate you a further reduction on your invoice.

        Use the link below and save a huge 80% on your antivirus plan. Remember, once you’ve reactivated your account you will have full access to our Windows, Mac, Android & iOS applications.

        Don’t wait around, the discount saving has only been applied to the link provided in this email.

        Stay safe,

        Dean
        Account Manager
        TotalAV

        • Hi David.
          Thanks for the comment.
          Well, the number of negative comments in our discussion on this page should tell you that you should put a hold on your TotalAV subscription, if you have one.
          Whether they are offering 80 percent discount or even a 90 percent, it doesn’t really matter if it is difficult to establish if this service really works for the majority of its users as of this point.

  16. total av is garbage! just run a search on “totalav scam” and see what comes up. the first clue is the fact that they cant be reached. if you cant email them, they arent real. bob the 20 year security expert doesnt even exist. if you install the free av, you will be constantly bombarded with popups to buy the subscription one. then there is no support and you cant get rid of it. might as well be hijacker ransomware. its bull people, run as far as you can in the other direction.

    • We are sure that a lot of people will agree with you. But have you tried the recent versions of TotalAV?
      During our research we were able to uninstall the product rather easily.
      Of course, you can always go for other (and better) free options such as Avira, BitDefender and Avast.

  17. Total AV does not come in TOTAL. Beware. If you think you are buying it all, you’re not. When you download the product you start it up to find you have to purchase quite a few add-ons, and they don;t come cheap. The annual subscription goers up exponentially. Well, I’m sucked in for a year, then I will be voting with my feet.

  18. Total AV? More like Total BS!

    First of all they must be paying “comparison sites” (which I can only assume do not actually review the products) to give them good reviews and advertise a Free Edition. There is nothing free about the product (except for getting free adware) – it will scan your system and identify “malware” and then attempt to get you to buy the full product to clean it up. Once I uninstalled this piece of adware I got an actual Free Edition of an actual Antivirus Protection software, I scanned my system and found no Malware. I knew this to be the case because I had just reinstalled the system and was setting it up – hence the need for a new AV.

    Despite the above they then continued to bombard me with emails with titles such as ‘your AV has expired”, “you are at risk” and all sorts of fear-mongering. It is a disgusting scheme and I would go as far to say that it is a complete scam. I have not tried their supposed Full Version and reading the below reviews I am glad I did not. Basic AV protection should be offered by all vendors, not promised and then trying to up sell – it’s a really disgusting bad practice and this type of behaviour should be banned taking advantage of less tech-savvy users.

    I should have known better that to trust a random comparison site… my only hope is that I can help prevent someone from falling into this scam and being taken for a ride.

    • We are sorry for your bad experience with TotalAV as well.
      When we tried TotalAV on a totally new Windows machine, it did not throw up any malware or virus alerts.
      However, it did give suggestions on how to speed up the system or clean registry, both of which aren’t that useful nowadays.
      In all honesty, totalAV is a very weak antivirus product from the looks of it.
      But it isn’t a total scam since it can detect the weakest of virus files (EICAR test file).
      That is why we always recommend users to first try out a product via free trial.
      If there is no free trial, then users should send the antivirus product company an email asking for one.
      And if that fails as well, and the user feels he/she has to buy the product, then buy the product, test it before its money-back guarantee offer expires and if the user feels unsatisfied then he/she should ask for his/her money back.

  19. I found Total AV to be a Bully in the very least. It keeps poping up and trying to take over and install without permission, then pretending to find things it deems dangerous. Good thing I have a “kill button” to stop it from killing my system. Also watching points of origin to hand over to the Big Boys for posecution. Only a matter of time!!!

    • Thanks for the feedback.
      Unfortunately, many other users have experienced similar problems with TotalAV.
      TotalAV started out as a barely minimum antivirus application.
      Its people announced that with new updates it would not push users to buy its premium editions so much.
      Looks like they have not stayed true to their word.

  20. I installed Total AV on my computer and it stated that I have tons of viruses and PUP programs. The only glitch is that the program wants me to purchase the pro version to remove those PUP and virus softwares from the comuter. Nope, not gonna happen. I can use a different AV software, get the same results and did not have to purchase anything.

    • Thank you for your feedback.
      Yes, it seems very likely that TotalAV isn’t worth a download now.
      There are other alternatives which are not only free but also better like Avast and Bitdefender.

  21. Thanks so much for the reviews guys!!! I paid but haven’t download yet. Didn’t feel right. I needed real person reviews first and this is where I landed. I called and cancelled immediately. Thank you again for saving me more trouble than I needed.

    • Thank you for the comment Karin,
      We’re glad people here could help you Karin.
      Seems like TotalAV does work in the sense that it cancels the subscription for anyone who wants it canceled.

  22. I always google search any product I plan on buying. As I’ve always said, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
    Case proven with this TotalAV. Thanks to all the feedback from people that purchaced TotalAV. Sorry that most of you  had to go through so much hassle with them. I’ll just say to TotalAv, thanks but no thanks! 

    • Thank you for the comment FRED.
      It seems like a ton of people have had bad experience with TotalAV.
      They better start improving their product before they lose all of their customers.

  23. Total AV is WORST Antivirus software. Its a big piece of shit. Please please never buy Total AV. Makes you PC unusable. Even a click will take ages to action. My machine started taking 30 mins to start. Then to Mozilla it started taking 15 mins. I wished I could worse words to use.

    • Thank you for the comment Sanjay.
      We would advise you to uninstall TotalAV if it is not working out for you.
      And if you still have you money-back guarantee and contact TotalAV customer support.

  24. Ooook, lots of bad reviews yet my research(and I do a lot) showed a struggling company that has risen to the challenge and provided a good product. So I’m testing this AV now. It’s a paid version as free ones are not for me, not even to try the product out. Firstly, it installed flawlessly with little to no effort, it scanned straight after install(quick scan – 3mins) and all the other functions completed their scans quickly as well. The app is using about 430mb of RAM in two running processes, very low system impact with no desktop or menu integration other than clicking the icon. This is lacking for many who like the integration etc but for me, the bare-bones is perfect. I don’t like the lack of firewall control like adding a program to the outgoing/incoming block list but maybe this will come in an update perhaps? There where NO false virus or false positives found during the first scans, and none for the second(full) scan, the VPN is useless to me and isn’t needed in this product, they should add something else in its place, the other add-ons seem OK but i don’t need them, the interface is a little blurry at 2560×1440 but I can live with that. I give this product an 8 out of 10 for now – I will let you know if anything changes over the next few weeks.
    Aussie_Lee (26 years pc tech, A+, TAA, pre-CCNA)

    • Thank you for the comment Lee.
      Glad to know that TotalAV is finally starting to work at least for some users if not the majority of the users.

  25. I purchased this anti virus on a special offer price of £2.50 which I thought was too good to be true.

    It was – I was then informed after the purchase that was for a month and not a year, also they had taken £4.90 from my account not the amount stated.

    I had to go to the live chat and the guy kept trying all kinds of tricks to get me to keep the software. Eventually had to be really forceful and he has cancelled it, but the first months payment has already gone out of my account.

    The scam is in the pricing and misinformation. I do not trust a company that leaves important information until after the payment.
    I have also cancelled with my bank so annoying…

    • Thank you for the comment Adam.
      Unfortunately, a lot of people have had to endure problems with TotalAV.
      Recent happenings suggest that TotalAV is working on improving its product.
      Let’s hope these issues don’t come up again.

    • Thank you for the comment Frank.
      Yes.
      Most commenters here have mentioned the fact that TotalAV isn’t completely free.
      On the other hand, Sophos home edition is an excellent option as well.
      So is Avira, Avast, and Kaspersky.

  26. I installed the “free” version of Total AV yesterday and then found that I could not download anything.

    Then I paid up and, lo and behold, I can download stuff. Perhaps just a coincidence – but I did not change anything else.

    • Thanks for the comment Nigel.
      Sometimes these things can happen.
      Doesn’t mean the antivirus company is a fraud.
      Please try the latest version of TotalAV.

  27. Recently bought totalav Pro. It keeps stopping. The real time protection stops. No warnings.
    Have reported problem 3 times. The only advice I get from support is “uninstall and reinstall”.
    Not support at all. I sent log files but no indication that they have looked at them.
    Do they have a support team?
    Beware.

    • Thanks for the comment “Not Given”.
      We have heard many complaints regarding the actual TotalAV service and its customer support.
      We would suggest that if you qualify for a refund then you promptly do so.

  28. Just received a cc statement showing a billing from Totalav for $99.95. I’ve never ordered it nor do I have any part of it installed on my Mac. CC company is cancelling my card and issuing a new one.. The card that I do have is in my safe and I haven’t had it out due to doing all of my business via bank pay. So I can’t tell if it’s a scam or not, but really I wouldn’t pay $99.95 for any AV program. 

  29. Just received a cc statement showing a billing from Totalav for $99.95. I’ve never ordered it nor do I have any part of it installed on my Mac. CC company is cancelling my card and issuing a new one.. The card that I do have is in my safe and I haven’t had it out due to doing all of my business via bank pay. So I can’t tell if it’s a scam or not, but really I wouldn’t pay $99.95 for any AV program. 

  30. thought that was for a year. It turned out to be for a month. I gave it a test run and found it made my laptop hideously slow and unresponsive. I deleted the program and asked for a refund. I checked the wrong card and couldn’t see the amount going through and assumed they had cancelled it but they hadn’t. They charged me not £2.99 a month but £9.59 a month and had been taking it for a whole year. I wouldn’t recommend the program to anyone and I wouldn’t trust the comapany any further than I could throw it.

    • Thanks for the comment Max.
      We’re not sure if TotalAV did that on purpose or was it a mistake. But any company that tries to take people’s money without proper procedures is definitely a company to avoid.

    • I agree with Max, I’m not happy with Total AV either. Their lack of communication and support is simply unprofessional. They’re happy to take your money and do nothing for it. To that point, I have requested a refund and have received NOTHING! Do yourself a favor. Invest in something other then Total AV. Best of luck!!

      • Michael, thanks for the comment.
        Sadly, some antivirus companies don’t seem to realize that even if they offer the best security features in the world, if they don’t treat their customers right, they are not going to stay in business for long.

  31. Its a scam, it will find viruses that are not there and it missed a lot of stuff that is there that’s why I hated it. I hated the fact I could not remove my payment details from there website and after receiving emails that it will not auto renew that was all lies. I have gone back to my old firewall and antivirus so one again I am happy. stay clear of this garbage

  32. Watch out for TotalAV! I bought there Secure VPN service and after a couple of months or so came MANDATORY update…witch basically means…that TotalAV updated itself WITHOUT my approval…then there Secure VPN service simply stopped working!
    It simply says “Blocking DNS failed” and also “No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it” So there MANDATORY UPDATE caused there Secure VPN service not to function anymore…witch i payed for IN ADVANCE!!!
    So do i get my money back now…THE HELL NO!!!
    Stay away from this SHIT!!!

    • Hi JohnesHenry.
      Thanks for the comment.
      With the amount of complaints that TotalAV has received, it better completely revamp its security solution.

  33. I purchased this programme in April for c.£24. I haven’t had any problems until recently when my machine (a Macmini 2009 – on which I run Mac OS X 5.1 and XP SP3 – ie Bootcamp) began to slow to ‘snail’s pace’. TotalAV’s advice is to uninstall and reinstall – which is in no way a reasoned fix. As I thought – nothing improved until I uninstalled and left my machine vulnerable. I did find that I still had MSEs on the machine and uninstalled it (not that it was still viable – support ended many moons ago but there was a possibility it was ‘interfering’) but no change. I could attempt to audit the registry – this machine has had many anti-virus and some anti-malware and anti-adware on it – and from one comment above there appears the chance that there could be vestiges of supposedly uninstalled software still extant. I could put the slowing down to RAM/memory limitations but TotalAV worked for several months on an unchanged machine. I haven’t added any potentially disrupting software since April. So I’m flummoxed. But support is sketchy – giving dire warnings and superficial advice – not what I’m seeking. I’m going to upgrade (?) to 7 – format the hard disk but I thought I’d do this in my own good time. Now it appears MS have slowly ground us XP users down into moving off an effective OS. I suspect that TotalAV are like the rest of the neophytes – concerned largely with Windows 10 and the latest Mac OS. I just spent £45 on a complete reinstall of 10 on a Surface because of update file issues. Buy a computer and watch yer bank balance deplete!!!!

    • Hi Chris.
      Thanks for the comment.
      A lot of people have had problems with TotalAV, so there is no point talking about it aside from the fact that if you are under your warranty period, you should ask for your money back.
      As for new computers, yes.
      They do tend to eat up a lot of money in the form of accessories and what not.

  34. I tried to cancel the deal before renew, but they just did it again anyway:-(
    Since you have to leave credit card info without option, I even left a old CC, somehow they still find my wife (main card holder) and charge hers.
    I am under discussion with their service now, see how it goes!

  35. Total AV sells your data to other companies, as I know by how I got several unauthorised access attempts the day after I installed. Also its refund policy is a lie, and if you just try to look at any of its options it automatically buys them for you, no ‘yes/no’ options.

    It doesn’t tell you about the subscription fee either. And its terms and conditions mean that if you accidentally buy any add-ons, you won’t be refunded them even if you can wrangle the original refund back.

    The best option you have to stop it from taking money from your bank account is to actively go to your bank and ask them to block the company from taking your money. Even then it’s unlikely you’ll get all your money back.

    • Hi Anonymous.
      Thanks for the comment.
      We’re sorry that you had such a bad experience with TotalAV.
      With the number of users reporting awful interactions with the company, we think it is high time for it to at least put out a statement or something or at least upgrade its service.

    • Hi Graham.
      Thanks for the comment.
      It has become fairly clear from the discussions that we have had here that TotalAV needs to clear all these things because people can start trusting them again.

    • Hi George.
      Thanks for the comment.
      If you look at the other comments you would know that a lot of people have had a lot of problems with TotalAV.

  36. 1. Total AV support are a bunch of incompetent idiots. In dealing with multiple people multiple times at two annual renewal points, none of my information was passed on. I tried to prohibit the automatic renewal and each time was given misleading and incorrect information about how I could cancel the auto direct debit and pay ad-hoc. Many hours of emails, messaging etc and they would NOT confirm the options available after I had tried step by step to remove my original automatic details (set up previously by my vendor)

    2. I am not so sure of the memory usage indicated throughout this article. I am on a reasonably clean Win 7 SP1 machine and use of the latest versions of Firefox and Opera together with Total AV bring my machine to a big halt several times a day (with innocuous simple browsing use) and some times at login and Total AV usage at those points always seems to ramp up to 200mb+

    • Hi Andy D.
      Thanks for the detailed input.
      We’re going to have to get back to you on the RAM usage part.
      As for your customer support problem, this is a common complaint and we hope Total AV works on that.

    • Hi Anonymous.
      Again. Thanks for the input.
      Well, all we can say is that based on this comments section and some of our research, you are not the only one to feel that way.

  37. Zohair,
    You cannot be contacted, you are not to be found on google or other search engines. Therefore you are a front for TotalAV, Gee, what a unique idea, a multi-level con-game. TotalAV looked so bad from your pidgins that even you were beaten into submission so as to still look legit, but you never really gave up totally which any real company would do. Pretty funny, but you must be gone by now or the feds would be down your throat.
    If they even give a damn as they are being trashed by their own administration. And I wouldn’t blame them. I’d still advise you to give it up before some badged MF kicks in your door.

    • Hi there pbrookville.
      Thanks for the comment.
      So let’s see now.
      TotalAV app is available on Apple and Google Store.
      If it is a con-game, why don’t they remove this app from their platform?
      Or do you mean to say that the likes of,
      Google Play Store
      Apple App Store
      PCMAG
      PCWORLD
      Macworld
      TrustPilot
      Consumeradvocate
      Along with us, are playing a con-game?
      Think about that again.
      Sometimes you review a product and it works fine. But it stops working after a little while or a long while.

  38. @Zohair. It’s funny that you reviewed the exact same program (different name, but exactly the same program and company behind it) and gave it a 0.9 rating.
    And you said “PCProtect is one of the worst security products that money can buy. It uses unethical marketing strategies.”
    https://securitygladiators.com/pcprotect-review/

    You also reviewed the 3rd “virus scanner” offered by the same company.
    https://securitygladiators.com/scanguard/

    But apparently you failed to see that it’s exactly the same programs They haven’t even bothered changing the graphics. Just look at the screenshots in your own reviews.

  39. The more I read the comments, the more questions I have. Why not simply remove all antivirus software and leave Windows Defender to defend?

    • Hi Blake.
      Thanks for the comment.
      That is more than a wise move.
      However, for more security you need third-party applications as Windows Defender is not enough if you have sensitive files on your machine.

Comments are closed.