The premise of Returnil Virtual System 2010 is first to market security tool that combines free antivirus and virtualization in one software package. The virtualization means that when, Returnil is activated, the computer runs in a complete virtual system that is separated from the actual operating system. This means that any changes that one does while the system is in a virtual state are deleted upon reboot. One could potentially get the worst virus and Trojan infection possible and download whatever one wants. When the system is restarted, the original Windows folder and all affected files will remain intact and virus free. Therefore, on the surface Returnil Virtual System 2010 is perfect for a high security browsing environment. So, Returnil Virtual System 2010 is in effect a very locked down Group Policy variant when activated.
One thing that I think Returnil Virtual System 2010 separates itself from other virtualization competitors is its ease of use. Once installed (need to wait a while for a proper system snapshot for first use), one gets a side bar widget that displays the status of the virtual protection. One simply needs to click the widget and the protection is instantly active. There is no loading time or need to get into some special VMware screen.
The next, thing that makes Returnil Virtual System 2010 stand out is its malware protection capabilities. In addition to the virtual system, there is a complete free antivirus engine installed. There are the quick scan (completed in about 23 seconds) and the full system scan (took about 1 hour and a half). The antivirus system is VB100 certified meaning that it really has reached mainstream status. Also, regardless of whether one is in the virtual state or not, there is always malware protection enabled.
Returnil Virtual System 2010 includes numerous additional functionality and security settings. The file manager gives the user the option to exempt certain files or folders from being deleted after a system is restarted. This is great for a folder like my documents etc. that shouldn’t be deleted on restart. There is also a virtual disk which works like the file manager and remains intact regardless of whether in the virtual system or not. The virtual disk can be assigned a drive letter in My computer for easy access.
Returnil Virtual System 2010 is surprisingly light on resources. When idle, the program uses only 18 megabytes for the program to function and only adds one new process at 9 megabytes when a virus scan is in progress. In addition, the virus scan only used a maximum of 15 percent CPU power. Surprisingly, even though Returnil takes a full system snapshot, the whole hard drive usage is only a 100 megabytes.
