Panda Dome Review

A full review of this free antivirus program

By
Stacy Fisher
Profile photo of Stacy Fisher
Stacy Fisher
Technology Educator
  • Emporia State University
Stacy is a professional technology educator with over 25 years' experience. She has published hundreds of articles, co-authored a book, and has appeared on national and local TV.
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Updated on May 11, 2021

Panda Dome is an antivirus program that automatically collects threat detection techniques from other users that have the software installed, which helps protect against new and upcoming attacks.

The software is free for Windows users. There's also a Mac version but the free edition is for one month only.

Panda Dome start screen
What We Like

  • Automatic and transparent upgrades.

  • Small download file.

  • URL and web monitoring/filtering.

  • Automatic USB protection.

  • Lightweight and easy on system resources.

What We Don't Like

  • Contains advertisements.

  • Relatively slow installation.

  • Tries to make unnecessary changes during setup.

Panda Dome provides constant virus protection, also called on-access or resident protection, for free. This means that it can completely replace AV software from companies that charge for yearly access to updates, like McAfee and Norton.

Panda Dome Features

Due to the program having professional-level features only if you pay, the free edition is limited in comparison. This means you don't get a firewall program, Wi-Fi networks aren't protected, parental controls aren't an option, and other tools like a password manager aren't included.

That said, those features can be had elsewhere for free—you don't need to get them here as a bundle. Here are some features that are supported in this free edition:

  • Real-time antivirus and antispyware engine to catch threats before they cause damage.
  • Web monitor to protect against malicious links.
  • You can secure the program with a password.
  • Option to scan compressed files.
  • Able to run a full or custom scan as well as just a critical scan.
  • Files, folders, and particular extensions can be blocked from scans.
  • A rescue boot disc can be built to create a bootable antivirus program.
  • Supports gaming/multimedia mode.
  • It's easy to block/shutdown any actively running process.
  • Option to require you to confirm removing a found virus.
  • Gathers data from other Panda users to help avert threats.
  • Can run scheduled scans.
  • Limited-data VPN for secure web browsing.

Our Thoughts on Panda Dome

What we like the most is that it puts off a particular feeling of strong security while it’s running. It’s not intrusive, but instead clearly shows how it's securing all running system processes and websites.

As we mentioned above, it does have advertisements within the program, mainly to try and get you to purchase one of the professional versions.

During setup, you're asked to install other software unrelated to virus protection. You can decide if you want this or not; it's not mandatory.

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