Free Anti-Virus Software
In this section you'll find reviews of the Internet's best free antivirus software. We recommend that all computers have some form of virus protection, whether that's a freeware or commercial solution. Viruses can wreak havoc on your system and those who neglect to secure their computers with suitable software 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 antivirus software. The antivirus programs we review below are all completely free and provide effective protection against viruses, trojans and in some cases, even spyware. You may also be interested in our Free Security Software section, which features anti-spyware, free firewalls, file shredders and more. If you happen to stumble across an outdated link, we'd very much appreciate it if you could report it.
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 (rootkits, macros, trojans, etc.), and can identify and repair these quickly. AntiVir is made in Germany and is freely available to people using it non-commercially. They also provide free and regular updates.
PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition
The free edition of PC Tools AntiVirus is a user-friendly, feature-rich and highly capable antivirus program. Once activated, it guards your PC and begins looking for threats, such as trojans, worms, etc. You can also run a full system scan whenever you feel the need. Any viruses on your system will then be quarantined, disinfected or removed at the click of a button. Regular and free virus pattern updates are included so your system will be able to deal with the latest threats.
> The program includes "Email Guard", which checks incoming e-mail messages for viruses and then takes the necessary steps to prevent the files from compromising your system.
AVG Free Anti-Virus
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.
> A commercial version with additional features is also available.
Rising Antivirus Free Edition
Here you can download Rising Antivirus Free Edition, an effective anti-virus program designed to protect your computer from viruses, trojans, worms, rootkits and other malicious software. It includes an e-mail monitor (a popular access point for viruses), anti-spyware protection, along with various other features.
Panda Cloud Antivirus Free
A unique, lightweight, and easy to use anti-virus solution from the reputable Panda Security company. If your current anti-virus program is causing your computer's performance to dip, try this for size. Cloud Antivirus works on the concept of "cloud computing" and as such aims to do much of its processing "in the cloud" (that's via remote servers rather than your computer).
Immunet Anti-Virus
A free anti-virus utility that can be used in conjunction with your existing anti-virus program, or alternatively on its own. Rather than taking information from a downloaded "virus pattern" (database), Immunet uses the concept of "cloud computing" - gathering shared information via the Web. In theory, this means the program has access to up-to-the-minute virus information. It is recommended as a fail-safe for anyone serious about protecting their computer.
Sophos Klingon Anti-Virus
Do you speak Klingon? If you do, you're in luck. Sophos (a world leader in anti-virus research and technology) has created a free Klingon language virus scanner, which is highly capable at locating and cleaning general viruses, trojans, worms, and other malware. The program can function in tandem with your existing anti-virus software to add an extra layer of protection.
ThreatFire
This program claims to provide "up to 243% more protection" when running in tandem with traditional anti-virus software. ThreatFire is free, lightweight, fast and can improve the security of your PC by a considerable margin. The patent-pending "ActiveDefense" technology used by ThreatFire keeps a watchful eye for threats that have not even been officially classified by the major anti-virus research organisations.
My Free Antivirus
This freeware antivirus program is ideal as an alternative to more popular software, such as AVG. It offers protection against generic viruses, trojans, worms, and other Internet nasties. The program is easy to use, regularly updated to cope with the latest threats, and compatible with Windows Vista.
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 anti-virus freeware utility, 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.