Best Free Antivirus Softwares

Ok there are a lot of anti-virus progs out there. But as always with whatever we do when we set out to buy something or in this case to give them the freedom to sit on our PC and place our faith in them, let us filter the bad out there and narrow down on the best choices among the free Antivirus softwares.

AVG ver 7.5.4

This latest version of AVG is a great free AntiVirus tool. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product. Version 7.5.4 includes improved virus detection based on better heuristics and NTFS data streams scanning; a smaller installation and update files; and an improved user interface. The newest version is also compatible with Windows Vista.

It is easy to install and use and has real-time antivirus protection of files and e-mails, maximum security - recent certifications include VB100%, ICSA, and WestCoast Labs Checkmark. And as usual it offers regular and automatic database and program updates
It supports both Windows and Linux.

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic 7 6.36.01.01

This latest version features enhanced protection against unknown boot-sector viruses, issuing alerts for boot sectors suspicious formats. Through the permanent update of the detection engine, the protection is ensured constantly: the user can set the product to download any updates when available, thus keeping you clean and safe.

Avira PersonalEdition Classic constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs (such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc.), monitoring every action executed by the user or by the operating system and being able to react promptly when a malicious program is detected.

Avast! Home Edition 4.7.892

This latest version is a free complete ICSA certified antivirus software for home noncommercial use. Avast includes the following components: On Demand Scanner--with skinnable simple interface--just select what do you want to scan in which way and press the Play button; On Access Scanner--special providers to protect the most of available e-mail clients; Instant Messaging--ICQ, Miranda; Network traffic--intrusion detection--lightweight firewall; P2P protection for Kazaa, BitTorrent; Web shield--monitors and filter all HTTP traffic; NNTP Scanner--scans all Usenet Newsgroup traffic and all operations with files on PC.

• Free online scanning by all the top ranked AntiVirus software makers:-

One thing everyone should keep in their mind is that all t he free softwares are good but not as good as the paid softwares. And the good thing is that all the paid softwares offer free online scanning and one would want to take advantage of that.

BitDefender--Free online scanning ..go here.
Mcafee--Free online scanning..go here.
Kaspersky--Free online scanning..go here.
F-secure--Free online scanning..go here.
Symantec(Norton)--Free online scanning go here.

Keep in mind that all these online scanners use Java script and Active X and hence you need to have Internet Explorer ver.5.0 (ver 4.0 in the case of BitDefender) or higher to take advantage of these free online scanners.

Like any other security software whether it is an AntiVirus or Anti-Spyware it is always good to use a combination of at least two. But using two Anti-virus software at the same time or two firewalls at the same time can lead to a clash and sometimes even a PC crash. So when it comes to Anti-virus it is always good to have one good software installed on your PC and use the free online scanning offered by another.

Note:- It is very true that no free Anti-virus comes close to the top paid Anti-virus such as Bit defender, Mcafee and kaspersky when it comes to performance. If you want real protection you have shell out that 40 or 30 dollar. With an avg of more than 10 new virus breaking out each day it is always nice to be on the safer side. But it is better to have some protection rather than having no protection at all. A good Anti-virus, firewall, Anti-Trojan and Anti-spyware/malware are the four essential softwares everyone should have on their PC for protection. Constantly upgrade each of these and all the OS and browser patches supplied by the vendors.

Special Mention:- Among paid Anti-virus softwares that NOD 32 Anti-virus is making waves now a days with it's light weight features that goes very low on CPU usage. Available on many platforms, including DOS, Linux, and NetWare, NOD32 has great speed and very excellent virus protection.

The Control Center layout and modules are a little bit confusing. The terminology is very technical. It is best for experts who would love the customization abilities and scanning power. But not an ideal choice for beginners.

Among the many feature it has is one called Dmon which scans every document before you open it in the background to prevent from script attacks and you won't even realise it. That is just one of the features available. You can get a good review of the software at softpedia.com.

Or visit the Nod32 website.

Related reading:-
27 steps to prevent Virus/Trojans.
What are rootkit viruses and steps to prevent them.