Free Anti-Virus Softwares

1. Microsoft Security Essentials (NEW):
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

2. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0 (Not Recommend):
AVG Antivirus and Security Software - Download Free Antivirus

3. avast! Free Anti-Virus Edition:
avast! Free Antivirus - Download Software for Virus Protection

4. Avira AntiVir Personal:
Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus

5. Comodo Internet Security Suite (thanks wheelsmith):
http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php

Please post if there are anymore free anti-virus editions.
For #5 (Comodo Internet Security Suite), there is a bug. If you click the link, it will go to Comodo Anti-Virus, you can use Anti-Virus. If you want Internet Security, click it on the left side panel.

6. PC Tools Free Anti-Virus Software:
http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

I'm not sure if this counts as an Anti Virus program (as in one that actively runs in the background checking emails, webpages etc. opposed to a stand alone scan and remove virus program) but I still think it's definitely worth a mention:
Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: Malwarebytes

I'm not quite sure where this forum would be without it. :eek:

Oli

osholt said:

I'm not sure if this counts as an Anti Virus program (as in one that actively runs in the background checking emails, webpages etc. opposed to a stand alone scan and remove virus program) but I still think it's definitely worth a mention:
Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: Malwarebytes

I'm not quite sure where this forum would be without it. :eek:

Oli

Click to expand...

It is definitely a great program to have (and run) but it is not an Anti Virus program.

Antivirus Firewall Software and SSL Certificate - Internet Security Software from Comodo

comodo make a full range of free apps, good points are fully configureable rulesets, profiles and event logging. for eg if you create a rule that locks you out of the os for example all you have to do it boot in safemode and edit out and reboot, with some other leading apps you,ll have to uninstall the app to do this.
a small downside is there is a couple of apps that arnt needed in the install package, safesurf, yahoo and the new sandbox app which is buggy at mo but these are optional.
for quite a powerfull suite it has a quite small memory footprint so its suitable for netbooks etc. updating can be sheduled or automatic.

rhlhamlet said:

osholt said:

I'm not sure if this counts as an Anti Virus program (as in one that actively runs in the background checking emails, webpages etc. opposed to a stand alone scan and remove virus program) but I still think it's definitely worth a mention:
Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware: Malwarebytes

I'm not quite sure where this forum would be without it. :eek:

Oli

Click to expand...

It is definitely a great program to have (and run) but it is not an Anti Virus program.

Click to expand...

True, not an AV, but an awesome companion program. Luckily I haven't ever needed it, but have seen(read) about plenty of people that had their butts saved by it.

Here is some statistics on their efficiency. AVG would not be my choice - not only because of the chart but in my computer club it did not protect anything. We had about 20 systems infected that ran free AVG.

whs said:

Here is some statistics on their efficiency. AVG would not be my choice - not only because of the chart but in my computer club it did not protect anything. We had about 20 systems infected that ran free AVG.

Click to expand...

I never had any actual virus problems with avg, but it got to be a real big pain with the updating and bloating. I dropped it asap, and mine was a 2 year paid version. It was horrible.
It "used to" be ok, but the more recent versions were just plain annoying and "overdone".
Best virus protection is watching your browsing habits. I use MSE now, but I haven't had a virus in plenty of years, mainly because of that.

MWRed said:

whs said:

Here is some statistics on their efficiency. AVG would not be my choice - not only because of the chart but in my computer club it did not protect anything. We had about 20 systems infected that ran free AVG.

Click to expand...

I never had any actual virus problems with avg, but it got to be a real big pain with the updating and bloating. I dropped it asap, and mine was a 2 year paid version. It was horrible.
It "used to" be ok, but the more recent versions were just plain annoying and "overdone".
Best virus protection is watching your browsing habits. I use MSE now, but I haven't had a virus in plenty of years, mainly because of that.

Click to expand...

I too ditched my AVG paid version for free MSE.... It is totally unintrusive, small footprint and has worked perfectly. I highly recommend MSE.

rhlhamlet said:

MWRed said:

whs said:

Here is some statistics on their efficiency. AVG would not be my choice - not only because of the chart but in my computer club it did not protect anything. We had about 20 systems infected that ran free AVG.

Click to expand...

I never had any actual virus problems with avg, but it got to be a real big pain with the updating and bloating. I dropped it asap, and mine was a 2 year paid version. It was horrible.
It "used to" be ok, but the more recent versions were just plain annoying and "overdone".
Best virus protection is watching your browsing habits. I use MSE now, but I haven't had a virus in plenty of years, mainly because of that.

Click to expand...

I too ditched my AVG paid version for free MSE.... It is totally unintrusive, small footprint and has worked perfectly. I highly recommend MSE.

Click to expand...

That's EXACTLY why I switched. Much easier and lighter.

I use MSE and NIS (on different systems of course). But NIS has a smaller footprint than MSE. And with MSE I already caught a trojan and a Browser Highjacker (twice on 2 different systems). Fortunately I image every morning at bootup, so I could easily fix it. But I will switch all my systems back to NIS 2010.