Free Anti-Virus Programs
In this section you’ll find reviews of the Internet’s best free anti-virus software. We recommend that all computers have some form of virus protection, either free or commercial. Viruses can wreak havoc on your system if you’re not adequately protected and those who neglect to secure their computers find themselves wishing they had, but only when it’s too late. With this in mind, you’ll be pleased to hear that you don’t necessarily have to pay for anti-virus software. The programs we review below are all completely free and provide effective protection against viruses, trojans and in some cases, even spyware. If you happen to stumble across an outdated link, we'd very much appreciate it if you could report it.
AVG
Anti-Virus Free - An excellent program that's perfect for guarding
your computer against viruses and other harmful files that can be
acquired from removable disks or via the Internet. AVG is very complete
for a freeware program and additionally to the "Resident Shield",
which offers real-time virus protection, AVG also provides an e-mail
mailbox scanner and a task/update scheduler. Free and regular virus
definition updates are provided.
> Notice: AVG Anti-Virus Free (version 7.1)
was discontinued on 15 Jan 2007. To maintain adequate protection,
users of this version should upgrade to the new free package (version
7.5), which will continue to be supported unlike its predecessor.
Avast 4 Home Edition - A reliable free anti-virus program for non-commercial (home) use. Avast is excellent at detecting and dealing with harmful viruses. The program provides a simple interface, e-mail mailbox scanner and resident protection shield. It also provides P2P (peer to peer) program and instant messenger shields. Free, automatic updates are provided as and when new virus threats are discovered.
BitDefender Free Edition - This program is an intelligent freeware anti-virus tool, providing lots of useful features, such as entire system scanning, "on demand" file scanning (e.g. scanning one particular file), the ability to isolate dubious files in "quarantine", live updates to keep your system secure, a task scheduler and an interface that can be "skinned". BitDefender can also be easily configured to output reports on your system scanning activities.
Avira AntiVir Personal Edition - This version of Avira AntiVir is one of the best freeware anti-virus programs we've seen and offers effective protection against almost all computer viruses on the stand alone PC. This version detects over 50,000 different types of virus (macro, etc.), and can scan or repair viruses quickly. AntiVir is made in Germany and is freely available to people using it non-commercially. They provide free and regular updates.
Free Norton SystemWorks 2006 - Register here and follow the prompts to receive a free version of Norton SystemWorks 2006, a popular utilities suite, which includes an anti-virus program and various other utilities. Using this, you can optimize your PC's performance, fix and prevent problems, recover from system failures and also keep dial-up connections active. (U.S. Only)
VCatch Basic - A freeware anti-virus tool for Windows-based operating systems. VCatch is aimed at those people who use popular Internet programs (such as ICQ), Web-based e-mail services or visit other places where "dodgy" files are extremely common. The program is very good at detecting viruses and will even guard your e-mail in conjunction with your favourite e-mail client, e.g. Thunderbird or Outlook Express.
AVDisk - The Anti-Virus Disk Program is a handy application that will create a disk for cleaning your boot sector, scanning files and disinfecting your computer. Features of AVDisk also include automatic RAM drive mounting and software decompression, adjustable keyboard layouts for several countries, basic usage help files and the ability to span the software across many other disks.
AntiDote - One of the more effective free antivirus programs that doesn't need a system installation. The current version supports a 20,000+ database of viruses and includes special list checkers. The programmer's site features a mailing list where you can discuss new developments or bring forward problems/improvements to the program. The virus pattern is updated regularly and free to update.
Mail Cleaner - With so many "super viruses" going around, it isn't surprising that people are often reluctant to open e-mail attachments. Mail Cleaner stops the worry and will clean out any dodgy files it finds before you read the message, meaning you can download with confidence. The current version of Mail Cleaner supports the popular e-mail application, Incredimail. The program is supported by advertisements.
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