This is the software publisher’s description.

AOL’s Active Virus Shield is free anti-virus for your PC that combines traditional antivirus programs, stopping them before they can infect your computer. Active Virus Shield is brought to you as a free service of AOL and is based on Kaspersky Lab’s award winning Personal Anti-Virus.

Active Virus Shield seamlessly integrates with the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems and is compatible with other PC protection programs (firewalls, anti-spyware, etc.). Like other anti-virus programs, using Active Virus Shield may require that you uninstall other anti-virus programs to avoid product incompatibilities.

Active Virus Shield utilises the latest technology to do both traditional signature-based detection, as well as in-depth scanning of executables. This helps protect against a broader range of known and new viruses, reducing the chances of a virus infection on the user’s computer.

All individual files, your emails and disks can be scanned for viruses or, to cut down on scan times, Active Virus Shield allows users to focus attention only on critical areas of the operating system. In either case, Active Virus Shield serves as a watch-dog, continuously monitoring and helping to protect files. Active Virus Shield can also scan faster by scanning only new and changed files.