Consumer Security Products Performance
Benchmarks (Edition 1)
Antivirus & Internet Security
Windows 10
April 2022

Document: Consumer Security Products Performance Benchmarks (Edition 1)
Authors: J. Han, D. Wren
Company: PassMark Software
Date:
22 April 2022
Edition:1
File:
Consumer_Security_Products_Performance_Benchmarks_2022_Ed1.pdf

Consumer Security Products Performance Benchmarks 2022

PassMark Software

Table of Contents
REVISION HISTORY............................................................................................................................................ 3
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................................... 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 4
OVERALL SCORE ................................................................................................................................................ 5
PRODUCTS AND VERSIONS ............................................................................................................................... 6PERFORMANCE METRICS SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 7
TEST RESULTS ................................................................................................................................................. 11
BENCHMARK 1 – BOOT TIME (SECONDS) ................................................................................................................... 11
BENCHMARK 2 – SCAN TIME (SECONDS) .................................................................................................................... 12
BENCHMARK 3 – USER INTERFACE LAUNCH TIME (MILLISECONDS) .................................................................................. 13
BENCHMARK 4 – MEMORY USAGE DURING SYSTEM IDLE (MEGABYTES) ........................................................................... 14
BENCHMARK 5 – MEMORY USAGE DURING SCAN (MEGABYTES) ..................................................................................... 15
BENCHMARK 6 – BROWSE TIME (SECONDS)................................................................................................................ 16
BENCHMARK 7 – EDGE LAUNCH TIME (MILLISECONDS) ................................................................................................. 17
BENCHMARK 8 – INSTALLATION TIME (SECONDS) ........................................................................................................ 18
BENCHMARK 9 – INSTALLATION SIZE (MEGABYTES) ...................................................................................................... 19
BENCHMARK 10 – FILE COPY, MOVE AND DELETE (SECONDS)........................................................................................ 20
BENCHMARK 11 –THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS INSTALLATION TIME (SECONDS) ................................................................ 21
BENCHMARK 12 – NETWORK THROUGHPUT (SECONDS) ............................................................................................... 22
BENCHMARK 13 – FILE FORMAT CONVERSION (SECONDS)............................................................................................. 23
BENCHMARK 14 – FILE COMPRESSION AND DECOMPRESSION (SECONDS)......................................................................... 24
BENCHMARK 15 – FILE DOWNLOAD (SECONDS) .......................................................................................................... 25
BENCHMARK 16 – PE SCAN TIME (SECONDS) ............................................................................................................. 26
BENCHMARK 17 – FILE COPY DISK TO DISK (SECONDS) ................................................................................................. 27
BENCHMARK 18 – FILE COPY OVER NETWORK (SECONDS) ............................................................................................ 28
BENCHMARK 19 – MS WORD DOCUMENT LAUNCH TIME (MILLISECONDS) ...................................................................... 29
BENCHMARK 20 – MS EXCEL DOCUMENT LAUNCH AND MACRO RUN TIME (SECONDS) ..................................................... 30
BENCHMARK 21 – MS WORD DOCUMENT LAUNCH AND SAVE TO PDF TIME (SECONDS).................................................... 31
BENCHMARK 22 – USB 3.0 FILE COPY (SECONDS) ...................................................................................................... 32
DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURE ....................................................................................................................... 33
CONTACT DETAILS .......................................................................................................................................... 33
APPENDIX 1 – TEST ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................ 34
APPENDIX 2 – METHODOLOGY DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................. 35

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Revision History
Rev
Edition 1

Revision History

Date

Initial version of report

22 April 2022

References
Ref #1

Document
What Really Slows Windows Down (URL)

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

AuthorDate

O. Warner,
The PC Spy

2006

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Executive Summary
PassMark Software® conducted objective performance testing on 15 consumer security products. This reportpresents our results and findings as a result of performance benchmark testing conducted on these products.
For more details on which versions were tested, please see the Products and Versions section.
Testing included 22 performance metrics. These performance metrics are as follows:• Boot Time• Scan Time
• User Interface Launch Time
• Memory Usage during System Idle
• Memory Usage during Scan
• Browse Time
• Edge Launch Time
• Installation Time
• Installation Size
• File Copy, Move and Delete• Third-Party Applications Installation Time
• Network Throughput• File Format Conversion• File Compression and Decompression• File Download• PE Scan Time
• File Copy Disk to Disk
• File Copy Over Network• MS Word Document Launch Time• MS Excel Document Launch and Macro Run Time• MS Word Document Launch and Save to PDF Time
• USB 3.0 File Copy

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Overall Score
PassMark Software assigned every product a score depending on its ranking in each metric compared to otherproducts in the same category.

Security Software
In the following table the highest possible score attainable is 330; in a hypothetical situation where a product has
attained first place in all 22 metrics. Security products have been ranked by their overall scores:

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

Product Name

Overall Score

Norton Security

241

Kaspersky Internet Security

228

Avira Prime218

Microsoft Defender214

ESET Internet Security

203

Panda Dome Essential

195

F-Secure SAFE

167

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

163

AVG Internet Security

163

Avast Premium Security

162

Trend Micro Internet Security

147

McAfee Total Protection

135

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

134

G DATA Internet Security

133

Bitdefender Internet Security

122

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Products and Versions
The names and versions of the 15 security products tested are as follows:
Manufacturer

Product Name

Release Year

Product Version

Date Tested

NortonLifeLock Inc.

Norton Security2022

22.22.3.9

Apr 2022

Avast Software s.r.o.

AVG Internet Security

2022

22.1.3219

Feb 2022

SourceNext Corporation

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

2022

24.0.26.183

Mar 2022

ESET, spol. s r.o.

ESET Internet Security

2022

15.0.21.0

Jan 2022

Trend Micro Inc.

Trend Micro Internet Security

2022

17.7.1275

Feb 2022

Trend Micro Inc.

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

2022

17.7.1275

Mar 2022

Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Internet Security

2022

21.3.10.391 (g)Feb 2022

Avast Software s.r.o.

Avast Premium Security

2022

21.11.2500

Jan 2022

Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Defender2022

4.18.2111.5

Jan 2022

Bitdefender

Bitdefender Internet Security

2022

26.0.7.41

Jan 2022

F-Secure Corporation

F-Secure SAFE

2022

18.2

Feb 2022

McAfee, LLC.

McAfee Total Protection

2022

16.0

Feb 2022

NortonLifeLock Inc.

Avira Prime2022

1.1.64.27947

Mar 2022

G DATA CyberDefense AG

G DATA Internet Security

2022

25.5.11.316

Feb 2022

Panda Security

Panda Dome Essential

2022

21.01.00

Mar 2022

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Performance Metrics Summary
We have selected a set of objective metrics which provide a comprehensive and realistic indication of
the areas in which a security product may impact system performance for end users. Our metrics test
the impact of the security software on common tasks that end-users would perform on a daily basis.
All PassMark Software’s test methods can be replicated by third parties using the same environment
to obtain similar benchmark results. Detailed descriptions of the methodologies used in our tests areavailable as “Appendix 2 – Methodology Description” of this report.

Benchmark 1 – Boot Time
This metric measures the amount of time taken for the machine to boot into the operating system.
Security software is generally launched at Windows startup, adding an additional amount of time anddelaying the startup of the operating system. Shorter boot times indicate that the application has had
less impact on the normal operation of the machine.

Benchmark 2 – Scan TimeAll security solutions have functionality designed to detect viruses and various other forms of malware
by scanning files on the system. This metric measures the amount of time required to scan a set ofclean files. Our sample file set comprises a total file size of 982 MB and is made up of files that would
typically be found on end-user machines, such as media files, system files and Microsoft Office
documents.

Benchmark 3 – User Interface Launch Time
This metric provides an objective indication as to how responsive a security product appears to theuser, by measuring the amount of time it takes for the user interface of the security software tolaunch from Windows. To allow for caching effects by the operating system, both the initial launchtime and the subsequent launch times are measured. Our final result is an average of these two
measurements.

Benchmark 4 – Memory Usage during System Idle
This metric measures the amount of memory (RAM) used by the product while the machine andsecurity software are in an idle state. The total memory usage is calculated by identifying all security
software processes and the amount of memory used by each process.
The amount of memory used while the machine is idle provides a good indication of the amount ofsystem resources being consumed by the security software on a permanent basis. Better performing
products occupy less memory while the machine is idle.

Benchmark 5 – Memory Usage during Scan
This metric measures the amount of memory (RAM) used by the product during an initial security
scan. The total memory usage is calculated by identifying all security software processes and theamount of memory used by each process during the scan.
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Benchmark 6 – Browse Time
It is common behavior for security products to scan data for malware as it is downloaded from theinternet or intranet. This behavior may negatively impact browsing speed as products scan web
content for malware. This metric measures the time taken to browse a set of popular internet sites toconsecutively load from a local server in a user’s browser window.

Benchmark 7 – Edge Launch Time
This metric is one of many methods to objectively measure how much a security product impacts on
the responsiveness of the system. This metric measures the amount of time it takes to launch the userinterface of Microsoft Edge. To allow for caching effects by the operating system, both the initiallaunch time and the subsequent launch times are measured. Our final result is an average of these two
measurements.

Benchmark 8 – Installation Time
The speed and ease of the installation process will strongly influence the user’s first impression of the
security software. This test measures the minimum installation time required by the security software
to be fully functional and ready for use by the end user. Lower installation times represent security
products which are quicker for a user to install.

Benchmark 9 – Installation Size
In offering new features and functionality to users, security software products tend to increase in sizewith each new release. Although new technologies push the size limits of hard drives each year, thegrowing disk space requirements of common applications and the increasing popularity of large media
files (such as movies, photos and music) ensure that a product's installation size will remain of interest
to home users.
This metric aims to measure a product’s total installation size. This metric is defined as the total disk
space consumed by all new files added during a product's installation.

Benchmark 10 – File Copy, Move and Delete
This metric measures the amount of time taken to move, copy and delete a sample set of files. The
sample file set contains several types of file formats that a Windows user would encounter in dailyuse. These formats include documents (e.g. Microsoft Office documents, Adobe PDF, Zip files, etc.),
media formats (e.g. images, movies and music) and system files (e.g. executables, libraries, etc.).

Benchmark 11 –Third-Party Applications Installation Time
This metric measures the amount of time taken to install and uninstall third-party programs. The
installation speed of third-party applications may be impacted by security behavior such as heuristics
or real time malware scanning.

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Benchmark 12 – Network Throughput
The metric measures the amount of time taken to download a variety of files from a local server using
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is the main protocol used on the web for browsing,linking and data transfer. Files used in this test include file formats that users would typicallydownload from the web, such as images, archives, music files and movie files.

Benchmark 13 – File Format Conversion
This test measures the amount of time taken to convert an MP3 file to a WAV and subsequently,
convert the same MP3 file to a WMA format.

Benchmark 14 – File Compression and Decompression
This metric measures the amount of time taken to compress and decompress different types of files.
Files formats used in this test include documents, movies and images.

Benchmark 15 – File Download
This test measures the amount of time taken to download a set of setup files from a local server using
the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The data set comprises a total file size of 290MB, and theformats used include executables and Microsoft installation packages.

Benchmark 16 – PE Scan TimeAll security solutions have functionality designed to detect viruses and various other forms of malware
by scanning files on the system. This metric measures the amount of time required to scan a set of PE(Portable Executable) files. Our sample file set comprises a total file size of 2.02GB and consistedof .exe (820MB), .dll (920MB) and .sys files (329MB).

Benchmark 17 – File Copy Disk to Disk
This test measures the amount of time taken to copy files between two local drives. The data set
comprises a total file size of 5.42GB, and the formats used include documents, movies, images andexecutables.

Benchmark 18 – File Copy Over Network
This test measures the amount of time taken to copy files from a local drive to a local server. The data
set comprises a total file size of 5.42GB, and the formats used included documents, movies, images
and executables.

Benchmark 19– MS Word Document Launch Time
This test measures how much security software impacts on the responsiveness and performance ofthe system. This metric measures the amount of time it takes to open a large, mixed media documentwith Microsoft Word. To allow for caching effects by the operating system, both the initial launch time
and the subsequent launch times are measured. Our final result is an average of these two
measurements.
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Benchmark 20 – MS Excel Document Launch and Macro Run Time
This test measures the amount of time taken to open an Excel document and run a macro to performa range of operations. The test is run five times with a reboot in between each run. Our final result istaken as an average of these five measurements.

Benchmark 21 – MS Word Document Launch and Save to PDF Time
This test measures the amount of time taken to open a large Word document and save it in PDF
format. The test is run five times with a reboot in between each run. Our final result is taken as anaverage of these five measurements.

Benchmark 22 – USB 3.0 File Copy
This test measures the amount of time taken to copy files from a USB 3.0 drive to a local disk. The data
set comprises a total file size of 6.06GB, and the formats used include documents, movies, system files
and executables.

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Test Results
In the following charts, we have highlighted the results we obtained for Norton Security in yellow. The average
has also been highlighted in blue for ease of comparison.

Benchmark 1 – Boot Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken for the system to boot (from a sample of five fast boots) for
each Internet Security product tested. Products with lower boot times are considered better performing productsin this category.

Norton Security

5.70

F-Secure SAFE

6.11

G DATA Internet Security

6.13

Avast Premium Security

6.14

AVG Internet Security

6.51

Panda Dome Essential

6.57

ESET Internet Security

6.85

Microsoft Defender

7.06

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

7.10

Avira Prime

7.15

Kaspersky Internet Security

8.10

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

8.58

Trend Micro Internet Security

8.74

McAfee Total Protection

8.81

Average

10.28

Bitdefender Internet Security

54.70

0s

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10 s

20 s

30 s

40 s

50 s

60 s

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Benchmark 2 – Scan Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to perform on-demand scan on a set of 6,166 files (totaling
982 MB. This time is calculated by averaging the initial (Run 1) and subsequent (Runs 2-5) scan times. Productswith lower scan times are considered better performing products in this category.

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

4.50

G DATA Internet Security

7.50

Avira Prime

8.76

Bitdefender Internet Security

9.50

Kaspersky Internet Security

16.00

Norton Security

24.25

Microsoft Defender

26.00

ESET Internet Security

29.00

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

35.56

Panda Dome Essential

35.75

Trend Micro Internet Security

36.69

F-Secure SAFE

71.17

Average

76.42

McAfee Total Protection

86.24

AVG Internet Security

356.73

Avast Premium Security

398.690s

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50 s

100 s

150 s

200 s

250 s

300 s

350 s

400 s

450 s

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Benchmark 3 – User Interface Launch Time (milliseconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to launch a product’s user interface. Products with lower
launch times are considered better performing products in this category.

Norton Security

113.0

Kaspersky Internet Security

192.1

Trend Micro Internet Security

196.8

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

198.8

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

211.6

Avast Premium Security

243.6

AVG Internet Security

251.9

G DATA Internet Security

257.1

Avira Prime

317.5

ESET Internet Security

329.0

Microsoft Defender363.3

Average

429.1

Bitdefender Internet Security

448.0

McAfee Total Protection

932.8

Panda Dome Essential

1,118.7

F-Secure SAFE
0 ms

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Edition 1

1,262.0200 ms

400 ms

600 ms

800 ms1,000 ms 1,200 ms 1,400 ms

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Benchmark 4 – Memory Usage during System Idle (megabytes)
The following chart compares the average amount of RAM in use by an Internet Security product during a periodof system idle. This average is taken from a sample of 10 memory snapshots taken at roughly 60 seconds apartafter reboot. Products with lower idle RAM usage are considered better performing products in this category.

Norton Security

44.03

Panda Dome Essential

57.65

Kaspersky Internet Security

117.36

ESET Internet Security

120.57

Avira Prime

188.98Microsoft Defender199.62

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

235.11

Trend Micro Internet Security

248.22

McAfee Total Protection

294.58Average335.63

AVG Internet Security

338.40F-Secure SAFE

397.80Avast Premium Security

441.31

SourceNext ZERO Super Security602.19Bitdefender Internet Security

792.03G DATA Internet Security
0 MB

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956.58200 MB

400 MB

600 MB

800 MB

1,000 MB1,200 MB

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Benchmark 5 – Memory Usage during Scan (megabytes)
The following chart compares the average amount of RAM in use by an Internet Security product during a scan.
This average is taken from a sample of 10 memory snapshots taken at roughly 12 seconds apart. Products withlower idle RAM usage are considered better performing products in this category.

Panda Dome Essential

204.60ESET Internet Security

215.24Kaspersky Internet Security

359.27

Norton Security

389.47

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

408.22

Trend Micro Internet Security

Avira Prime

445.42483.25

Avast Premium Security

578.26

AVG Internet Security

597.46

Average648.70Microsoft Defender711.45

F-Secure SAFE

841.25

McAfee Total Protection

912.01

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

1,005.23

Bitdefender Internet Security

1,101.44

G DATA Internet Security
0 MB

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

1,477.92

400 MB

800 MB

1,200 MB1,600 MB

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Benchmark 6 – Browse Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken for the default browser Microsoft Edge to successively load
a set of popular websites through the local area network from a local server machine. Products with lower browse
times are considered better performing products in this category.

Norton Security

9.02

Avira Prime

9.12

F-Secure SAFE

9.38

McAfee Total Protection

9.47

Microsoft Defender

9.70

Panda Dome Essential

9.91

Avast Premium Security

10.90

Trend Micro Internet Security

11.02

AVG Internet Security

11.06

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

11.28

ESET Internet Security

11.56

Kaspersky Internet Security

11.69

Average

12.03

G DATA Internet Security

13.52

Bitdefender Internet Security

18.83

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

23.94

0s

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5s

10 s

15 s

20 s

25 s

30 s

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Benchmark 7 – Edge Launch Time (milliseconds)
The following chart compares the average launch times of the Microsoft Edge after rebooting the machine foreach Internet Security product we tested. Products with lower launch times are considered better performing
products in this category.

Microsoft Defender

628.6

Kaspersky Internet Security

664.6

G DATA Internet Security

667.4

Norton Security

680.1

Bitdefender Internet Security

689.5

Avast Premium Security

703.3

F-Secure SAFE

704.9

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

715.5

Avira Prime

725.1

AVG Internet Security

731.3

Panda Dome Essential

732.0

Average

765.0

McAfee Total Protection

797.7

ESET Internet Security

813.1

Trend Micro Internet Security

954.4

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud
0 ms

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1,267.4

200 ms

400 ms

600 ms

800 ms1,000 ms 1,200 ms 1,400 ms

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Benchmark 8 – Installation Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the minimum time it takes for security products to be fully functional and ready foruse by the end user. Products with lower installation times are considered better performing products in thiscategory.1

ESET Internet Security

19.64

Norton Security

40.36

F-Secure SAFE

44.23

Panda Dome Essential

57.60

AVG Internet Security

65.01

Avast Premium Security

68.45

Avira Prime

82.60

Trend Micro Internet Security

82.69

Bitdefender Internet Security

90.93

Kaspersky Internet Security

104.93

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

117.76

Average244.71

McAfee Total Protection

524.85

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

604.33G DATA Internet Security

1,522.57

0s

1

200 s

400 s

600 s

800 s

1,000 s1,200 s1,400 s1,600 sMicrosoft Defender was excluded from this test as it was a Windows 10 built-in software.

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Benchmark 9 – Installation Size (megabytes)
The following chart compares the total size of files added during the installation of security products. Productswith lower installation sizes are considered better performing products in this category.2

Panda Dome Essential

334.20F-Secure SAFE

707.89

Norton Security

748.56

Avira Prime

765.99ESET Internet Security

836.42

Trend Micro Internet Security

1,045.92

Kaspersky Internet Security

1,076.68

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

1,183.89

McAfee Total Protection

1,315.16

Average

1,323.86

Avast Premium Security

1,658.95

AVG Internet Security

1,730.28

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

1,818.62

G DATA Internet Security

2,552.90

Bitdefender Internet Security
0 MB

2,758.60

500 MB

1,000 MB1,500 MB2,000 MB2,500 MB3,000 MB2

Microsoft Defender was excluded from this test as it was a Windows 10 built-in software.

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Benchmark 10 – File Copy, Move and Delete (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to copy, move and delete several sets of sample files foreach Internet Security product tested. Products with lower times are considered better performing products inthis category.

Microsoft Defender

9.88

AVG Internet Security

9.90

Avast Premium Security

10.09

Norton Security

10.39

McAfee Total Protection

10.57

Panda Dome Essential

10.63

G DATA Internet Security

10.97

Kaspersky Internet Security

10.98

Average

11.57

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

11.57

Bitdefender Internet Security

11.73

Trend Micro Internet Security

11.89

Avira Prime

11.93

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

12.80

ESET Internet Security

13.61

F-Secure SAFE

16.53

0s

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2s

4s

6s

8s

10 s

12 s

14 s

16 s

18 s

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Benchmark 11 –Third-Party Applications Installation Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to install 3 different third-party applications for each Internet
Security product tested. Products with lower times are considered better performing products in this category.

ESET Internet Security

26.29

Microsoft Defender

26.50

Avira Prime

27.14

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

27.26

Kaspersky Internet Security

27.28

G DATA Internet Security

27.31

Bitdefender Internet Security

27.99

Norton Security

28.19

Panda Dome Essential

29.35

F-Secure SAFE

30.56

McAfee Total Protection

31.80

Trend Micro Internet Security

33.35

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

33.60

Average

34.85

Avast Premium Security

71.80

AVG Internet Security

74.33

0s

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10 s

20 s

30 s

40 s

50 s

60 s

70 s

80 s

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Benchmark 12 – Network Throughput (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time to download a sample set of common file types for each Internet
Security product tested. Products with lower times are considered better performing products in this category.

Avira Prime

25.77

Norton Security

26.00

F-Secure SAFE

26.24

AVG Internet Security

26.26

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

26.36

Microsoft Defender

26.36

Trend Micro Internet Security

26.37

Bitdefender Internet Security

26.37

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

26.45

Avast Premium Security

26.45

McAfee Total Protection

27.02

Panda Dome Essential

28.24

Average

28.40

ESET Internet Security

30.22

Kaspersky Internet Security

33.38

G DATA Internet Security

44.55

0s

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10 s

15 s

20 s

25 s

30 s

35 s

40 s

45 s

50 s

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Benchmark 13 – File Format Conversion (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time it takes for five sample files to be converted from one file format
to another (MP3  WMA, MP3  WAV) for each Internet Security product tested. Products with lower times are
considered better performing products in this category.

Microsoft Defender

57.92

McAfee Total Protection

58.12

ESET Internet Security

58.15

Kaspersky Internet Security

58.49

F-Secure SAFE

58.50

Panda Dome Essential

58.64

Norton Security

58.73

Avira Prime

59.40

G DATA Internet Security

59.54

Average

59.59

Avast Premium Security

59.78

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

60.02

AVG Internet Security

60.18

Trend Micro Internet Security

62.00

Bitdefender Internet Security

62.18

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

62.22

55 s

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

56 s

57 s

58 s

59 s

60 s

61 s

62 s

63 s

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Benchmark 14 – File Compression and Decompression (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time it takes for sample files to be compressed and decompressed foreach Internet Security product tested. Products with lower times are considered better performing products inthis category.

Avast Premium Security

33.72

AVG Internet Security

33.74

Kaspersky Internet Security

33.92

McAfee Total Protection

34.07

Panda Dome Essential

34.13

ESET Internet Security

34.22

Norton Security

34.30

F-Secure SAFE

34.38

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

34.44

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

34.50

Trend Micro Internet Security

34.57

Average

34.77

Avira Prime

34.90

Bitdefender Internet Security

34.95

G DATA Internet Security

35.08

Microsoft Defender

40.68

0s

Performance Benchmarks
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5s

10 s

15 s

20 s

25 s

30 s

35 s

40 s

45 s

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Benchmark 15 – File Download (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to download a set of setup files from a local server. The test
was performed 5 times, and the average of all 5 runs was taken as the result. Products with lower times are
considered better performing products in this category.

Kaspersky Internet Security

11.16

Avira Prime

11.42

Trend Micro Internet Security

11.45

Norton Security

11.46

McAfee Total Protection

11.56

AVG Internet Security

11.89

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

11.94

ESET Internet Security

12.13

Bitdefender Internet Security

12.33

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

12.35

F-Secure SAFE

12.40

Avast Premium Security

12.47

G DATA Internet Security

13.09

Average

13.25

Microsoft Defender

13.59

Panda Dome Essential

29.55

0s

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

5s

10 s

15 s

20 s

25 s

30 s

35 s

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Benchmark 16 – PE Scan Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to scan a set of 6,342 portable executable files (totaling 2.02
GB) for each Internet Security product tested. This time is calculated by averaging the initial (Run 1) andsubsequent (Runs 2-5) scan times. Products with lower scan times are considered better performing products inthis category.

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

9.00

Avira Prime

9.94

G DATA Internet Security

14.50

Bitdefender Internet Security

14.88

Kaspersky Internet Security

20.88

Microsoft Defender

25.88

Panda Dome Essential

30.83

ESET Internet Security

30.88

Norton Security

42.50

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

42.53

Trend Micro Internet Security

42.90

F-Secure SAFE

51.15

McAfee Total Protection

151.49Average237.80AVG Internet Security

1,444.36

Avast Premium Security

1,635.30

0s

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

200 s

400 s

600 s

800 s

1,000 s 1,200 s 1,400 s 1,600 s 1,800 s

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Benchmark 17 – File Copy Disk to Disk (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to copy a total of 8,502 files, with a total file size of 5.42 GB
files, from one local drive to another local drive for each Internet Security product tested. The test was performed
5 times, and the average of all 5 runs was taken as the result. Products with lower times are considered better
performing products in this category.

Microsoft Defender

12.01

ESET Internet Security

13.86

Kaspersky Internet Security

14.09

Norton Security

15.09

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

15.19

F-Secure SAFE

15.82

Panda Dome Essential

16.29

Average

16.76

Bitdefender Internet Security

16.96

Avira Prime

17.52

McAfee Total Protection

17.83

Trend Micro Internet Security

19.09

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

19.26

Avast Premium Security

19.39

AVG Internet Security

19.50

G DATA Internet Security

19.57

0s

Performance Benchmarks
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5s

10 s

15 s

20 s

25 s

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Benchmark 18 – File Copy Over Network (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to transfer a total of 8,502 files over the local network, witha total file size of 5.42 GB files, from a local drive on the test machine to a local server. The test was performed 5times, and the average of all 5 runs was taken as the result. Products with lower times are considered better
performing products in this category.

Norton Security

161.34Kaspersky Internet Security

161.90F-Secure SAFE

163.10AVG Internet Security

163.88Avast Premium Security

168.09ESET Internet Security

169.51

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

173.65

Trend Micro Internet Security

174.21G DATA Internet Security

174.63

Average

175.09SourceNext ZERO Super Security

181.75

Avira Prime

183.76

Bitdefender Internet Security

184.52

Microsoft Defender185.20

McAfee Total Protection

188.27

Panda Dome Essential

145 s

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

192.54

150 s

155 s

160 s

165 s

170 s

175 s

180 s

185 s

190 s

195 s

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Benchmark 19 – MS Word Document Launch Time (milliseconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to launch Microsoft Word and open an 8.11 MB size Word
document. Products with lower launch times are considered better performing products in this category.

Microsoft Defender

1,763.8

Panda Dome Essential

1,776.3

ESET Internet Security

1,779.5

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

1,851.1

Kaspersky Internet Security

1,861.1

Norton Security

1,876.2

Avira Prime

1,881.8

AVG Internet Security

1,914.1

Avast Premium Security

1,938.4

Average

1,997.6

McAfee Total Protection

2,060.0

Trend Micro Internet Security

2,077.6

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

2,171.2

Bitdefender Internet Security

2,232.0

G DATA Internet Security

2,232.3

F-Secure SAFE
0 ms

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

2,549.1

500 ms1,000 ms

1,500 ms

2,000 ms

2,500 ms

3,000 ms

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Benchmark 20 – MS Excel Document Launch and Macro Run Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to launch Microsoft Excel and run a macro. Products withlower times are considered better performing products in this category.

G DATA Internet Security

10.56

Bitdefender Internet Security

10.63

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

10.64

Microsoft Defender

10.71

Avira Prime

10.77

Panda Dome Essential

10.78

ESET Internet Security

10.79

Kaspersky Internet Security

10.85

Average

10.99

F-Secure SAFE

11.00

Trend Micro Internet Security

11.28

Avast Premium Security

11.30

Norton Security

11.32

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

11.35

McAfee Total Protection

11.39

AVG Internet Security

11.52

6s

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7s

8s

9s

10 s

11 s

12 s

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Benchmark 21 – MS Word Document Launch and Save to PDF Time (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to launch Microsoft Word and open a 11.4 MB document
and save it as a PDF. Products with lower times are considered better performing products in this category.

ESET Internet Security

12.00

Panda Dome Essential

12.03

Avira Prime

12.18

Kaspersky Internet Security

12.20

F-Secure SAFE

12.23

Microsoft Defender

12.31

Average

12.48

Avast Premium Security

12.49

Trend Micro Internet Security

12.51

AVG Internet Security

12.52

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

12.57

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

12.68

McAfee Total Protection

12.83

G DATA Internet Security

12.86

Bitdefender Internet Security

12.89

Norton Security

12.93

7s

Performance Benchmarks
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8s

9s

10 s

11 s

12 s

13 s

14 s

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Benchmark 22 – USB 3.0 File Copy (seconds)
The following chart compares the average time taken to copy a set of files from an external USB 3.0 drive to a local
disk. Products with lower times are considered better performing products in this category.

Avira Prime

38.24

AVG Internet Security

38.37

Microsoft Defender

38.51

Avast Premium Security

38.72

Kaspersky Internet Security

39.63

McAfee Total Protection

39.71

Norton Security

41.09

Panda Dome Essential

42.03

Trend Micro Virus Buster Cloud

42.06

Trend Micro Internet Security

42.32

SourceNext ZERO Super Security

42.58

G DATA Internet Security

43.25

Bitdefender Internet Security

44.46

Average

48.29

ESET Internet Security

48.44

F-Secure SAFE

145.000s

Performance Benchmarks
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20 s

40 s

60 s

80 s

100 s

120 s

140 s

160 s

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Disclaimer and DisclosureThis report only covers the versions that are listed in the “Products and Versions” section of this report.

Disclaimer of Liability
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information presented in this report is accurate, PassMark
Software Pty Ltd assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or out-of-date information and shall not be liable
in any manner whatsoever for direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages resulting from theavailability of, use of, access of, or inability to use this information.

Disclosure
NortonLifeLock funded the production of this report, selected the test metrics and list of products to be includedin this report, and supplied some of the test scripts used for the tests.

Trademarks
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contact Details
PassMark Software Pty Ltd
Level 5, 63 Foveaux St
Surry Hills, 2010
Sydney, Australia
Phone + 61 (2) 9690 0444
Fax

+ 61 (2) 9690 0445

Web

www.passmark.com

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Appendix 1 – Test Environment
The test performed on a desktop computer with the following hardware specifications:

Testing Machine
Model:
CPU:
Video Card:RAM:
Main Boot Drive:
2nd Drive:
Network:
O/S:

ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K6Intel Core i7-6700K @ 4.00GHz
ASUS Strix GeForce GTX 960 4GB
G.Skill DDR4-2133MHz 2x8GB
Samsung 950 Pro M.2 NVMe 256GB
Samsung 850 Pro SATA III 512GB
1Gbps (Connected via Gigabit Ethernet cable)
Windows 10 Pro Version 2004

For network tests, PassMark Software used a server with the following specifications:

Testing Server
Motherboard:
CPU:
Video Card:
RAM:
Hard Drive:
Network:
O/S:Intel S1200BTL Server Motherboard
Intel Xeon E3-1220 V2 @ 3.10 GHz
Intel Integrated Graphics Card
8GB (2x4GB) ECC RAM, 1333 MHz
SSD 128GB
1Gbps (Connected via Gigabit Ethernet cable)
Windows Server 2012 Standard

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Appendix 2 – Methodology Description
Windows 10 Image Creation
A bootable version of Macrium Reflect (Backup software) was used to create a “clean” baseline image prior to
testing. Our aim was to create a baseline image with the smallest possible footprint and reduce the possibility ofvariation caused by external operating system factors.
The baseline image was restored prior to testing of each different product. This process ensures that we install
and test all products on the same, “clean” machine.
The steps taken to create the base Windows 10 image were as follows:1.

Installation and activation of Windows 10 Pro Edition.

2.

Remove Windows login password.

3.

Change User Account Control settings to “Never Notify”.

4.

Disable SysMain to ensure consistent results.

5.

Install HTTP Watch for Browse Time testing.

6.

Install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Boot Time testing.

7.

Install OSForensics for testing (Installation Size) purposes.

8.

Install Windows Updates.

9.

Disable Windows Automatic Updates.

10. Create a baseline system image using Macrium Reflect.

Benchmark 1 – Boot Time
PassMark Software used tools available from the Windows Performance Toolkit (as part of the Microsoft Windows
10 ADK obtainable from the Microsoft Website).
The Boot Time test was conducted as an individual assessment via the Windows Assessment Console. The network
connection was disabled, and the login password was removed to avoid interruption to the test. The final result
was taken as the total boot duration excluding BIOS load time.

Benchmark 2 – Scan Time
Scan Time is the time it takes for each product to scan a set of sample files. In total there were 6,166 files whose
combined size was 982 MB. Most of these files came from the Windows system folders. As the file types caninfluence scanning speed, the breakdown of the main file types, file numbers and total sizes of the files in thesample set is given here:
File Format

NumberTotal Size

File Format

NumberTotal Size

DLL

2589

490 MB

FRA

3880 KB

EXE

694

101 MB

IQY

3830 bytes

SYS

332

23.3 MBISP

3

601 bytes

GIF

302

567 KBITA

3930 KB

DOC

281

64.2 MBMB

3

4.36 MB

WMF

185

1.78 MBMML

3771 KB

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PNG

149

1.93 MBMMW

3946 KBHTM/HTML

126

946 KB

NLD

3

1.11 MBCAT

111

7.25 MBRAR

3

1.91 MB

NLS

80

6.63 MBROM

3

54.1 KB

JPG

70

1.09 MBSIG

3

19.8 KB

INI

59

1.76 MBSVE

3993 KB

ICO

58

58.2 KB

TTF

3580 KB

MOF

43

6.12 MBACS

2

3.8 MBAX

39

4.48 MBC2

28.5 KB

XLS

38

3.62 MBCMD

2

1.6 KBCFG

36

141 KBLO_

2

128 KB

POT

36

2.37 MB

LXA

2

1.19 MB

IME

35

5 MB

MAP

2

3.72 KB

DRV

31

1.19 MBMDB

2

516 KBTXT

31

366 KB

MMF

2

1.92 KB

CHM

30

6.28 MB

MSI

2

1.65 MBOCX

30

6.12 MBNT

2

4.16 KB

CPL

29

4.42 MB

OBE

2

13.9 KB

MFL

29

2.62 MBODC

2386 bytes

INF

26

1.54 MBPOL

2

488 bytes

TLB

25

2.17 MBRLL

2

112 KB

DOT

24

1.55 MBTAB

2

160 KB

HLP

22

3.44 MBTSK

22.25 KB

IMD

20

18 MB

XLA

2

79 KB

PY

20

79.2 KB

ACL

1

37 KB

[NO EXTENSION]

19

3.29 MBBMP

1

234 KBMSC

18752 KB

BTR

1

1.25 MBVBS

18

838 KB

BUD

1

93 KB

XML

18

574 KB

CHK

1

8 KB

RTF

16

62.1 MBCHS

1

1.65 KB

ECF

15

15.6 KB

CHT

11.65 KB

INC

1527.3 KB

CNV

1

52 KB

COM

14

282 KBCPI

1124 KB

DAT

14

1.83 MBDATA

1

5.99 MB

LOG

14

4.53 MBDB

1

17.5 KB

TSP

14

1.22 MBDBL

1

2.13 KB

XSL

1444.3 KB

DHS

1

138 bytesH

1256.5 KB

DICT

1

18 KB

TBL

13

606 KBDIZ

1428 bytes

AW122.59 MBDLS

1

3.28 MBFAE

12

1.02 MBDPC

1

414 bytes

JS

12429 KBENG

1751 bytes

SCR

12

2.5 MBGRA

1

182 KB

VSD

12

1.67 MBHOL

1

269 KBZIP

11

25.2 MB

HTC

1

28 KB

[HIDDEN FILES]

11

-

HXX

1

6.55 KB

PNF

10

1 MB

ICS

1

375 bytes

ACM

9836 KB

IMG

1

66.2 KB

ICM

9192 KB

JPN

1

2.01 KB

LEX

910.3 MB

KOR

1

2 KB

PPT

9

4.46 MBLOCAL

1

0 bytes

MANIFEST8

5.96 KB

MOD

1

2.03 KB

UCE

8240 KB

MST

1

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ACG

7780 KB

NVU

1

OLB

7

1.34 MBOPS

1

2.74 KB
2.26 KB

WAV

75.03 MBPAT

1

42 bytes

WIZ

7

1.11 MBPRF

1

6.62 KB

BIN

6

25 MB

PRO

1

20.7 KB

GPD

6112 KBRAM

1

64 bytes

CNT

5

4.15 KB

RAT

1

3.09 KB

DUN

5

2.46 KB

RSP

1

4.19 KB

MPP

51.83 MBSCF

1

75 bytes

PIP5

12.5 KB

SDB

11.03 MB888 bytes

SAM

5305 KB

SDF

1

ADM

4

1.64 MBSLL

1

471 KB

BAT

4

22.4 KB

SPD1

1.6 MB

CPX

4

6.46 KB

SQL

1748 KB

FON

4

61.3 KB

SVG

177.5 KB

SCP

4

8.53 KB

THA

1697 bytes

SEP

4

6.79 KB

TPL

110.5 KB

CSS

3

11.4 KB

TRM

1

4 KB

DEU

3

1.45 MBVXD

1

81 bytes

DTD

3

22.6 KB

WMA

1

2.5 MBENU

3999 KBWMV

1649 KBESN

3815 KB

WSC

1

39.5 KB

Total

6166

982 MB

This scan was run without launching the product’s user interface, by right clicking the test folder and choosing the“Scan Now” option. To record the scan time, we have used product’s built-in scan timer or reporting system.
Where this was not possible, scan times were taken manually with a stopwatch.
In previous years of testing, we noticed many more products showing a substantial difference between the initialscan time (first scan) and subsequent scan times (scans 2 to 5). We believe this behavior is due to products
themselves caching recently scanned files. As a result of this mechanism, we have averaged the four subsequentscan times to obtain an average subsequent scan time. Our final result for this test was an average of thesubsequent scan average and the initial scan time.

Benchmark 3 – User Interface Launch TimeThe launch time of a product’s user interface was taken using AppTimer. For each product tested, we obtained atotal of fifteen samples from five sets of three UI launches, with a reboot before each set to clear caching effects
by the operating system. When compiling the results, the first of each set was separated out so that there was aset of values for the initial launch after reboot and a set for subsequent launches.
We have averaged the subsequent launch times to obtain an average subsequent launch time. Our final result forthis test was an average of the subsequent launch average and the initial launch time.
In some cases, AppTimer did not correctly record the time taken for UI launch. For instance, some applications
would open their window and look like they were ready, but then continued to be unresponsive. Where themeasurement from AppTimer appeared inaccurate, we have taken the time manually with a stopwatch.
AppTimer is publicly available from the PassMark Website.
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Benchmark 4 – Memory Usage during System Idle
The MemLog++ utility was used to record process memory usage on the system at boot, and then every minutefor another fifteen minutes after. This was done only once per product and resulted in a total of 15 samples. The
first sample taken at boot was discarded.
The MemLog++ utility records memory usage of all processes, not just those of the anti-malware product. As aresult of this, an anti-malware product’s processes needed to be isolated from all other running system processes.
To isolate relevant process, we used a program called Process Explorer which was run immediately upon thecompletion of memory usage logging by MemLog++. Process Explorer is a Microsoft Windows Sysinternals
software tool which shows a list of all DLL processes currently loaded on the system.

Benchmark 5 – Memory Usage during Scan
The MemLog ++ utility was used to record process memory during an on-demand scan of the boot drive over a 2minute period. This was done only once per product and resulted in a total of 10 samples each.
The MemLog ++ utility records memory usage of all processes, not just those of the anti-malware product. As aresult of this, an anti-malware product’s processes needed to be isolated from all other running system processes.
To isolate relevant process, we used a program called Process Explorer which was run immediately upon thecompletion of memory usage logging by MemLog ++. Process Explorer is a Microsoft Windows Sysinternals
software tool which shows a list of all DLL processes currently loaded on the system.

Benchmark 6 – Browse TimeWe used JavaScript to load a list of 108 ‘popular’ websites consecutively from a local server.
On each page in the sample data, a few lines of JavaScript were added to the website’s html to execute the
JavaScript script that loads the next website in the chain. To begin with, once the first website had been loaded
completely, the script was executed to load the second website in the chain. Once this had finished loading, thescript was executed to then load the third website in the chain. This process was repeated until the final website
in the chain had been loaded.
The start time and end time of this process were recorded, and the difference was calculated in seconds to get the
final result.
For this test, we have used the Windows default browser Microsoft Edge (Version 96.0.1054.62).
Front pages of high traffic websites were used in this test including shopping, social, news, finance and reference
websites.
The Browse Time test was executed five times and our final result was an average of these five samples. The local
server was restarted between different products and one initial ‘test’ run was conducted.

Benchmark 7 – Edge Launch TimeThe average launch time of Microsoft Edge interface was taken using AppTimer. This test was practically identicalto the User Interface launch time test. For each product tested, we obtained a total of fifteen samples from five
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sets of three Edge launches, with a reboot before each set to clear caching effects by the operating system. Whencompiling the results, the first of each set was separated out so that there was a set of values for the initial launch
after reboot and a set for subsequent launches.
For this test, we have used Microsoft Edge (Version 96.0.1054.62) as our test browser.
We have averaged the subsequent launch times to obtain an average subsequent launch time. Our final result forthis test was an average of the subsequent launch average and the initial launch time.

Benchmark 8 – Installation Time
This test measured the minimum Installation Time a product requires to be fully functional and ready for use by
the end user. Installation time can usually be divided in three major phases:• The Extraction and Setup phase consists of file extraction, the EULA prompt, product activation and user
configurable options for installation.
• The File Copy phase occurs when the product is being installed; usually this phase is indicated by aprogress bar.
• The Post-Installation phase is any part of the installation that occurs after the File Copy phase. This phasevaries widely between products; the time recorded in this phase may include a required reboot to finalize
the installation or include the time the program takes to become idle in the system tray.

To reduce the impact of disk drive variables, each product was copied to local drive before initializing installation.
Each step of the installation process was manually timed with a stopwatch and recorded in as much detail as
possible. Where input was required by the end user, the stopwatch was paused, and the input noted in the raw
results in parenthesis after the phase description.
Where possible, all requests by products to pre-scan or post-install scan were declined or skipped. Where it was
not possible to skip a scan, the time to scan was included as part of the installation time. Where an optional
component of the installation formed a reasonable part of the functionality of the software, it was also installed(e.g. website link checking software as part of an Internet Security Product).
Installation time includes the time taken by the product installer to download components required in the
installation. This may include mandatory updates or the delivery of the application itself from a download
manager. We have noted in our results where a product has downloaded components for product installation.
We have excluded product activation times due to network variability in connecting vendor servers or time takenin account creation.

Benchmark 9 – Installation Size
A product's Installation Size was previously defined as the difference between the initial snapshot of the Disk Space(C:\ drive) before installation and the subsequent snapshot taken after the product was installed on the system.
Although this was a widely used methodology, we noticed that the results it yielded were not always reproducible
in Vista due to random OS operations that may take place between the two snapshots. We improved theInstallation Size methodology by removing as many Operating System and disk space variables as possible.
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Using PassMark OSForensics we created initial and post-installation disk signatures for each product. These disk
signatures recorded the number of files and directories, and complete details of all files on that drive (including
file name, file size, checksum, etc.) at the time the signature was taken.
The initial disk signature was taken immediately prior to installation of the product. A subsequent disk signature
was taken immediately following a manual update and system reboot after product installation. Using
OSForensics, we compared the two signatures and calculated the total disk space consumed by files that werenew, modified, and deleted during product installation. Our result for this metric reflects the total size of all newly
added files during installation.
OSForensics detects the hard links created during the installation and they were excluded to the count.

Benchmarks 10 – File Copy, Move and Delete
This test measured the amount of time required for the system to copy, move and delete samples of files in various
file formats. This sample was made up of 2,329 files over 1.89 GB. The breakdown of the main file types, filenumbers and total sizes of the files in the sample set is shown in the following table:

Performance Benchmarks
Edition 1

File Format

NumberTotal Size

DOC

24

91.6 MB

DOCX

1248.8 MBPPT

9126 MB

PPTX

974.4 MBXLS

12

51.5 MB

XLSX

12

14.6 MBPDF

219

323 MBZIP

8

84.5 MB

7Z

2

1.66 MB

JPG

1045

135 MB

GIF

27

82.4 MBPNG

5483 KBMOV

7

54.7 MBRM

1

5.39 MB

AVI

24

130 MB

WMV

543.9 MBMP3

84

356 MBEXE

138

87.12 MB

DLL

625

213.6 MB

AX

2

36 KB

CPL

4

4.02 MB

CPX

4

8.56 KB

DRV

20302 KBICO

2210 KB

MSC

2

81.2 KB

NT

2

3.28 KB

ROM

4

71.4 KB

SRC

44.28 MB88.12 KB

SYS

4

TLB

6

264 KB

TSK

2

2.24 KB

UCE

244.8 KB

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File Format

NumberTotal Size

Total

2329

1.89 GBThis test was conducted five times to obtain the average time to copy, move and delete the sample files, with thetest machine rebooted between each sample to remove potential caching effects.

Benchmark 11 – Third-Party Applications Installation Time
This test measured how much time was required to install and uninstall a third-party application. For this test,
CommandTimer.exe timed how long it took to install and uninstall the following applications on the test machine:
Filename

Size

Description

netcfsetupv35.msi

33.3 MB

Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5 installer

Firefox-3.6.3.msi

11.6 MB

Mozilla Firefox installer

SteamInstall.msi

1.51 MB

Steam client installer

Skype-8.64.0.80.msi

72.1 MB

Skype installer

AnyDesk-CM.msi

7.23 MB

AnyDesk installer

Total

125 MB

This test was conducted five times to obtain the average time to install/uninstall the above third-party programs,with the test machine rebooted between each sample to remove potential caching effects.

Benchmark 12 – Network Throughput
This benchmark measured how much time was required to download a sample set of binary files of various sizes
and types over a 1 Gbps network connection. The files were hosted on a server machine running Windows Server
2012. CommandTimer.exe was used in conjunction with GNU Wget (version 1.10.1) to time and conduct the
download test.
The complete sample set of files was made up of 329 MB over 1471 files and the breakdown of the file types, filenumbers and total sizes of the files in the sample set is shown in the following table:
File Type

NumberTotal Size

Image Files

182

16.2 MBMusic Files

1070.8 MB

Video Files

973.4 MBPDF Files

36

56.8 MB

Compressed Archive Files8

26.4 MB

Document Files

1226

85.4 MB

Total

1471

329 MB

This test was conducted five times to obtain the average time to download this sample of files, with the test
machine rebooted between each sample to remove potential caching effects.

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Benchmark 13 – File Format Conversion (MP3 → WAV, MP3 → WMA)
This test measured how much time was required to convert 7 different MP3 files into WAV files and subsequently,
convert the same MP3 samples into WMA files. The total size of the files was 31.9 MB.
To encode the MP3 into another format, we used an application called ffmpeg.exe. The format conversion process
was timed using CommandTimer.exe.
This test was conducted five times to obtain the average conversion speed between these formats, with the test
machine rebooted between each sample to remove potential caching effects.

Benchmark 14 – File Compression and Decompression
This test measured the amount of time required to compress and decompress a sample set of files.
CommandTimer.exe recorded the amount of time required for 7zip.exe to compress the files into a *.zip andsubsequently decompress the created *.zip file.
This subset comprised 1,316 files over 1.15 GB. The breakdown of the file types, file numbers and total sizes of thefiles in the sample set is shown in the following table:
File Type

NumberTotal Size

Document Files78

97.9 MB

Image Files

1073

113 MB568 MB

Video Files

65

Music Files

100

395 MB

Total

1316

1.15 GBThis test was conducted five times to obtain the average file compression and decompression speed, with the test
machine rebooted between each sample to remove potential caching effects.

Benchmark 15 – File Download
This test measured the time it took to complete an http download of a sample set of installation files over a 1 Gbps
network connection. The files were hosted on a local server machine running Windows Server 2012.
CommandTimer.exe was used in conjunction with the native .NET DownloadFile() method to time and conduct
the download test. The file set includes the following:
Filename
install_reader11_en_mssa_aaa_aih.exe
Firefox Setup 31.0.exe

Size
1 MB
30.7 MB

LibreOffice_4.2.5_Win_x86.msi

209 MB

gimp-2.8.10-setup.exe

86.2 MB

NETCFSetupv35.msi

33.3 MB

Realtek_Audio(v7634).zip

233 MB

Skype-8.64.0.80.msi

72.1 MB

TeamViewer_Setup.exe

26.7 MB

win10-radeon-20.4.2.zip

479 MB

Total

1.14 GB

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PassMark SoftwareThis test was conducted five times to obtain the average time to download this sample of files, with the test
machine rebooted between each sample to remove potential caching effects.

Benchmark 16 – PE Scan Time
This test measured the on-demand scan times of a file set comprised only of executable files (.exe, .dll and .sys
files). We performed five scans of the sample file set, with a machine restart between each scan to remove possible
caching effects. The time taken to scan the files was taken from a security product’s scan logs, or where logs were
not available, manually with a stopwatch. Scans were launched by right clicking on the folder to be scanned.
A breakdown of the sample file set is as follows:
File Format

NumberTotal Size

SYS

2171

329 MB

DLL

2037

920 MB

EXE

2134

820 MB

Total

6342

2.02 GBWe have averaged the four subsequent scan times to obtain an average subsequent scan time. Our final result forthis test was an average of the subsequent scan average and the initial scan time.

Benchmark 17 – File Copy Disk to Disk
This test measured the amount of time taken to copy files between two local drives. The data set comprised of
8,502 files with a total file size of 5.42 GB, and the formats used included documents, movies, images andexecutables. A breakdown of the sample file set is given below:
File Format

NumberTotal Size

AVI

246

1 GB

DLL

773

23.7 MB

DOC

160

57.1 MB

DOCX

267

80.8 MB

EXE

729

196 MB

GIF

681

60.7 MB

JPG

2893

312 MB

MP3

332

2 GB

PNG

450

25.9 MBPPT

96

148 MB

SYS

501

78.3 MB

WAV

430

259 MB

WMA

585

924 MB

XLS

329

125 MBZIP

14177 MB

Total

8502

5.42 GBA total of five runs of this test were performed, with a machine restart between each run. The time taken to copy
files was measured and recorded by CommandTimer.exe. All the files were copied between a folder on the local
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drive and a 2nd folder on a different drive. Files were deleted from the 2nd drive once the copy was complete.
The final result was calculated as an average of the five samples.

Benchmark 18 – File Copy Over Network
This test measured the amount of time taken to transfer files from a local drive on the test machine to a sharedfolder on the local server. The data set comprised of 8,502 files with a total file size of 5.42 GB, and the formats
used included documents, movies, images and executables. A breakdown of the sample file set is given below:
File Format

Number

AVI

246

Total Size
1 GB

DLL

773

23.7 MB

DOC

160

57.1 MB

DOCX

267

80.8 MB

EXE

729

196 MB

GIF

681

60.7 MB

JPG

2893

312 MB

MP3

332

2 GB

PNG

450

25.9 MBPPT

96

148 MB

SYS

501

78.3 MB

WAV

430

259 MB

WMA

585

924 MB

XLS

329

125 MBZIP

14177 MB

Total

8502

5.42 GBA total of five runs of this test were performed, with a machine restart between each run. The time taken totransfer files was measured and recorded by CommandTimer.exe. Files were deleted from the server once thecopy was complete. The final result was calculated as an average of the five samples.

Benchmark 19 – MS Word Document Launch TimeThe average launch time of Word interface was taken using AppTimer. This included the time to launch the Word
application and open an 8.11 MB size Word document. This test was practically identical to the User Interface
launch time test. For each product tested, we obtained a total of fifteen samples from five sets of three Wordlaunches, with a reboot before each set to clear caching effects by the operating system. When compiling theresults, the first of each set was separated out so that there was a set of values for the initial launch after reboot
and a set for subsequent launches.
We have averaged the subsequent launch times to obtain an average subsequent launch time. Our final result forthis test was an average of the subsequent launch average and the initial launch time.

Benchmark 20 – MS Excel Document Launch and Macro Run Time
This test measured the time taken to open an excel document and run an excel macro. The macro performed arange of operations, including reading data from the file system, mathematical calculations, and writing data to
the spreadsheet. This test was run using a Windows PowerShell script. We obtained a total of five samples with a
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reboot in between each to clear caching effects by the operating system. The final result was calculated as anaverage of the five samples.

Benchmark 21 – MS Word Document Launch and Save to PDF Time
This test measured the time taken to open a large Word Document (11.4 MB) and save it as a PDF document. This
test was run using a Windows PowerShell script. We obtained a total of five samples with a reboot in between
each to clear caching effects by the operating system. The final result was calculated as an average of the fivesamples.

Benchmark 22 – USB 3.0 File Copy
This test measured the amount of time taken to transfer files from an external drive to a local disk via a USB 3.0
connection. The data set comprised of 6,833 files with a total file size of 6.06 GB, and the formats used included
documents, movies, images, executables and system files. A breakdown of the sample file set is given below:
File Format

NumberTotal Size

DLL

1429

627 MB

DOC

496

164 MB

DOCX

323

75.9 MBEXE

280

1.2 GB

JPG/PNG

1563

469 MB

MP3

393

1.06 GB

PDF

566

246 MB

PPTX

555

1.06 GB

PST

2

59.1 MB

SYS

568

145 MB

XLSX

584

81 MB

ZIP

69

911 MB

Total

6833

6.06 GBA total of five runs of this test were performed, with a machine restart between each run. The time taken totransfer files was measured and recorded by CommandTimer.exe. Files were deleted from the local disk once thecopy was completed. The final result was calculated as an average of the five samples.

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