Heimdal Pro Review 2016 *UPDATED*

[Deleted Member 333v73x]

This poll will close on Apr 9, 2016 at 3:57 PM.

 

[XhenEd]

Can you expound more on your observation of "constant 9+% CPU usage"?

I experience 1%-5% constant CPU usage on Heimdal.Agent.exe whenever the GUI is opened. Even after closing the GUI, the process still continues to eat CPU.

WmiPrvSE.exe also would take 4%-15% CPU usage every 5 or 10 seconds.

 

[shukla44]

I gave it a 4. I am only using Heimdal pro for software updates. No hike in CPU usage.
Software patch is working perfectly, upgraded thunderbird 38.7.0 > 38.7.1 without any problems.

 

[juhful]

I gave it a 1, I also noticed the CPU usage averaging about 6% constantly, but I didn't notice any slow downs. The problem I had was when opening Chrome, the process would start but the browser window would not open and the only thing that fixed this was uninstalling Heimdal. So being it wasn't usable on my Windows 10 Pro 64bit system a rating of 1 was my only choice.

 

[Azure]

It might take some time, but they really should increase the number of applications they can update. Right now it seems too little compare to other update checkers like Secunia PSI or SUMo.

 

[uninfected1]

I've given it 1. I'd willingly settle for 9% CPU. Normally my CPU usage is between 1-4%. With Heimdal Pro running (patching off) it's hardly ever below 40% and frequently maxes out completely. I'm not necessarily talking about Hemdal's own processes being responsible for all of this, but it causes other processes to increase.

I'd very much like to use it because it sounds an excellent complement to most setups but obviously not with the huge increase in CPU usage.

 

[Deleted Member 3a5v73x]

for novice users user interaction as not needed may be good, but i find it bad for myself, because i can't actually see whats going on my system. Also i have never been a fan of automatic "software updater" or "driver updater" utilities. Always doing it manually to keep track of my own actions in case something goes bad and system or specific program gets corrupted. Only good thing i can say about Heimdal Pro is Traffic "Scanning and Traffic Filtering" is good, but thats about it. But i do recommend Heimdal Pro as "install and forget" as additional realtime protection for users who use free antivirus solutions. Sorry for critique, but good looking UI and doubtful malware protection doesn't convince me to keep using this product myself. My vote is Average - 2.

 

[OokamiCreed]

I voted for 3 for two reasons. One: I never seen it do anything in VM malware test. Two: Sometimes software update/install will fail but 90% of the time, it will be smooth transition to new version/installation of software.

Traffic blocking works fine alongside other software. It is light and I've noticed no start up congestion or high resource usage of any kind. As for malware testing, for all I know, it is used again specific types of malware. Will read up on it later on to get a deeper understanding of what it can do and do another test as many updates have been done to this since last time of testing.

Currently using Kaspersky IS (I just like using AV I like - hard for me to stick with just one) and noticed KIS asks about Heimdal. Probably need to add it to trusted or something. That method helps with PIA/OpenVPN client and does not bother me again.

 

[upnorth]

I gave it a 3 and simple reson is because we still lack any genuine tests on it's supposed local ransomware and other malicious code protection capabilities.

 

[Duotone]

3 Stars
1)Offers great traffic scanning, 2)Software patching, I'm assuming this is how it protects from ransomware and exploit. Well that's it, not sure how the malware engine works & cpu usage 3%-12%.

 

[uninfected1]

for novice users user interaction as not needed may be good, but i find it bad for myself, because i can't actually see whats going on my system. Also i have never been a fan of automatic "software updater" or "driver updater" utilities. Always doing it manually to keep track of my own actions in case something goes bad and system or specific program gets corrupted. Only good thing i can say about Heimdal Pro is Traffic "Scanning and Traffic Filtering" is good, but thats about it. But i do recommend Heimdal Pro as "install and forget" as additional realtime protection for users who use free antivirus solutions. Sorry for critique, but good looking UI and doubtful malware protection doesn't convince me to keep using this product myself. My vote is Average - 2.

Some very good points. As you say, one of the main problems is it's not that clear exactly what Heimdal Pro is doing or how it's doing it. For instance, under Traffic Filtering info they say: "This core feature will protect you from all the malicious websites listed on our Secure DNS database", and they then go on to say "...it will keep you safe from ransomware attacks and data leakage". This is a very extravagant claim to make for something which, in principle, is no different from, say, NortonConnectSafe DNS, who don't make any such wild claims for its product. There is also no real explanation of what the malware engine is doing either.

I gave it a 3 and simple reson is because we still lack any genuine tests on it's supposed local ransomware and other malicious code protection capabilities.

Yes. That's the problem. Without any comprehensive independent testing all we have to go on at the moment is Heimdal's very vague spin. Until both of these are remedied I don't see how it's possible to recommend this product.

PS - still horrendous CPU usage - WmiPrvSE.exe is the main culprit, routinely over 40% and sometimes a lot more.