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Best Free Antivirus Software
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Introduction
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Antivirus software provides an essential layer of protection from a multitude of virus, trojan, worm, spyware, adware, dialer, keylogger and rootkit infections. Traditionally antivirus programs just detected viruses and spyware removers just detected spyware but nowadays the boundary between antivirus and spyware removers is unclear. Most current antiviruses have at least reasonably good detection rates of all forms of malware. Malware includes viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, adware, dialers, keyloggers and rootkit threats that perform malicious activities on a computer. With the huge increase in malware, antivirus software cannot keep up with detecting all of it. Despite vendor's claims, no single antivirus solution, or indeed any one security software, can be relied upon for total protection without safe surfing and computing practices. But using more than one real-time antivirus uses much more system resources, can cause conflicts and even reduce protection. So I recommend you only choose one antivirus for real-time protection. Instead, you can increase your protection using other security software; for more information check out our Security Wizard. I looked at several free antivirus programs which are vital in protecting your computer from virus threats and other types of malware. |
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Discussion
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The main downsides are the slow scan speeds and the lengthy amount of time it takes to quarantine malware, though in my opinion these are rather trivial concerns, as for example a scan just be run overnight. MSE also is not available in certain countries so users there will have to look elsewhere. Note that Microsoft Security Essentials requires a genuine copy of Windows to install.
Panda Cloud Antivirus has a behavioural blocker and web protection, which will certainly increase your security. However as you can simply use one of the other free AV's with a separate behavioural blocker (for further details see our Security Wizard) to achieve possibly even better protection, this is not necessarily an advantage. One minor reservation I have is that PCA seems to erroneously detect certain browser/system-related applications, for example VideoCacheView, and because of the automatic quarantine this made it a fraction bothersome.
However, there are some minor reservations. First, AntiVir does not include web or e-mail scanning capabilities; this is only available in the paid version. The lack of an e-mail scanner is not a disadvantage, it just means that AntiVir won't warn you of infected emails before you open them. But should you open an infected email, AntiVir will still spring into action, so it doesn't mean that you're not protected from email-based infections. Also, AntiVir contains a rather intrusive advertisement every time it updates. Although AntiVir had signature updating problems in the past, this issue seems to be fixed now.
These free antivirus programs are excellent software that provide a real alternative to the major commercial antivirus products. Please help us by rating this review |
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free antivirus, antivirus software, antivirus download, best antivirus software, anti-virus, anti-virus software, avast antivirus, avira antivirus, microsoft antivirus, free anti virus, anti virus software. |
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Please visit our freeware forum to share and discuss your views and get advice on free security software, including antivirus software. To post in the forum you need to register first but that's quick and immediate. |
Quick Start Guide: http://www.avast.com/download-documentation
Forum: http://forum.avast.com/
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Editor
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| This category is maintained by volunteer editor JonathanT. |
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free antivirus, best free antivirus, free antivirus programs, free antivirus program, antivirus software, free antivirus software, antivirus program free, anti-virus programs, antivirus scanner, best antiviros, best antvirus |
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As MC said, I would like to wait and see for further testing by established organisations first. Basically I aim to be very conservative in the AV category, as 1. the recommendations have to fit a large target audience of average users and 2. there are already so many established AV's that work. I'm not saying Comodo AV is necessarily bad, but not as reliable as other tried and proven AV's out there.
The editor of this category will of course make his own decisions about which products to include. It is unlikely however you will see Comodo featured until they begin to participate in more independent testing. I understand the failings of such testing (as stated by Comodo) and in the most part I agree, but even so our readers want a selection of resources to compare products with. Therefore, until we see Comodo featured on AV Comparatives, VB RAP and AV-Test.org etc., these conditions are not met. MC - Site Manager.
Why include Microsoft Security Essentials then? It too failed to pass even 30% of the AV-Test.org test samples. Microsoft should be lauded for including an antivirus product in Windows, because it seems that half the computers I repair have no working AV product. However, it requires a great deal of resources to just maintain the quality of an antivirus product, not to mention improvements. Although a good product at launch, it seems to have fallen off in detection precipitously. I have tested it myself on an extra PC I use for such a purpose, and it allowed half of the items Avira flagged right through...and then allowed execution of the viral losds. As a result, I have advised my clients to uninstall MSE and use Avira instead. I would prefer AVAST, but it confuses novices and makes even PCs with Core2 Quad processors seem like they are running on 1Ghz single-core Atom processors. AVAST does not cripple my PC, but then I have a 2500K, 12GB DDR3 and an SSD. Which is why I play safe and recommend AVIRA along with MALWAREBYTES or SUPERANTISPYWARE free versions.
This is why.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2013/01/16/lessons-learned-from-...
No one amongst my own circle of MSE users has become infected over the last year and I remain confident it is an obvious and ideal choice for Windows users. MC - Site Manager.
Is it light to run?
I am running it on 3 laptops. 2 Win 7 64 & 1 XP 32. Here, light on all the 3 systems. No probs here.
Win 7 64 with 4GB RAM
XP 32 with 512MB RAM
According to them...
"CIS 6 is the fastest and the least resource intensive product we have released so far".
Considering it was always light in general use anyway, this should appeal to a lot of folks. MC - Site Manager.
Yes, here the previous versions were light too & so is the latest version.
Thank you both. I might have given it a try on my old PC with P-III and 512MB RAM, but sadly, 256MB of RAM got bad somehow. I don't think I would run any AV on such meager amount of RAM.
Is the system XP? Coz the minimum requirement RAM for CIS6 on XP 32/64 is 256MB so you could give it a try.
http://help.comodo.com/topic-72-1-451-4687-System-Requirements.html
Yes, it is XP. Thanks, I might give it a try later :).
Is Avira's detection rate better than Avast's?
Apart from the nag screen, is Avira generally better at protecting your PC than Avast?
Avira generally scores higher than most in tests such as AV-Comparatives on-demand tests. However I honestly believe all the AV's listed in this article are equally good at protecting your PC in practical terms - if you use some common sense and good practices you will be fine with any of these AV's.
Has anyone tried out the Kingsoft Antivirus?
I've been using it for about 2 weeks now, and it has some interesting features. But it seems to have a lot of false positives. Does anyone else have any opinion on the use of Kingsoft?
If any is interested it is here...http://www.kingsoftsecurity.com/
I've been using Roboscan's Free Internet Security product on my netbook for a few months now and so far it seems to work quite well. It's a combination of their dual-engine antivirus product with what seems to me to be a decent firewall. More information is available here: http://www.roboscan.com/home/home_main.aspx.
Thanks again. This is the same as what George.J posted below. I am going to uninstall BitDefender AV free, and probably give this one a whirl.
A member has posted a thread on the forum for Roboscan :
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/security/10988-roboscan-i...
ALYac
Roboscan
They are having different homepages?
Yep. They have named and released it as Roboscan for US and some other countries, and as ALYac for others.
This is a new free antivirus: Roboscan ESTsoft ALYac. Has a brilliant UI and uses it's own engine as well as BitDefender. It is a Korean Antivirus and it's English version is what's depicted as "Coming Soon".
Here's a discussion at Wilders: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=311803&page=11
BitDefender has quietly released a free version of its antivirus product in the last few days. Details and downloads are available here: http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html
This product appears to require very little in the way of configuration, just set it and forget it much like Microsoft Security Essentials. Unlike MSE though, BitDefender free scans HTTP connections for malware and has behavioural scanning capabilities as well.
However, BitDefender does not play well with some other security software. In my particular case, I was advised that my copy of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware PRO needed to be uninstalled completely before BitDefender would be installed.
As much as I was looking forward to testing BitDefender's new offering, I was not about to give up the peace of mind I get from MBAM PRO and aborted the install process until I can see if there is a work-around solution to this problem.
I've read about some other users in a similar situation doing the following:
(1) ensure they've recorded their MBAM Pro ID and License key in a safe place
(2) uninstall MBAM (or any other installed security program)
(3) download and install the BitDefender software to be tested, then
(4) re-install the MBAM Pro.
Now, if this were me testing the new BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition, since it has a real-time component, I would be concerned about running it simultaneously with another security product that was also real-time (which MBAM Pro is, assuming that it's being used real-time, and not on-demand). Although I'm aware MBAM is a complimentary, not stand-alone, solution.
I'll look forward to others' comments.
This is exactly the same advice I ultimately received from the MBAM Support team. Sorry, I should have posted this sooner but was sidetracked with all of the Christmas hoopla the last day or so.
Thanks for this update. Will download and install, as I was in need of a lightweight solution for my old PC. Will see how it goes.
Update : Posted in forum, with due credit given, for the find :
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/security/11018-bitdefende...
How about AD-Aware free anti virus,
I am testing stuff, I have been coming on here for about a year, Looking at reviews, And have never heard it talked about What are peoples views on it, I dont no what too make of it my self, What confuses me is, That im not sure if its anti mail ware or anti virus, It says that it is both. In the corner and when i found it i thought it was they antivirus i was downloading, I am not sure what too make of it and would like too no if anyone else has, Tried it, I have been an Avira user for the past year, I went from MSE,
But this is free and i don't no any suggestions on what it is And can i run it along side any other antiviruses,
You should never run two antivirus programs together if they both have a real-time scanner. Some folks of course will say you can and some vendors say their product is even designed this way but ultimately something will happen to cause you grief with such a setup. The most likely scenario is protection will actually be reduced this way instead of increased which is what folks believe when they set out down this road.
I used Ad-Aware some time ago and found it to be very good except for some high CPU spikes and quite a delay when opening program folders. Recent test results have not been so good however and although it is dangerous to rely on these totally, I have since changed to Zone Alarm Free Antivirus + Firewall (Windows 7) and have not had a single issue with it ( uses Kaspersky antivirus engine).
http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/sepoct-2012/
The daft thing is I always had issues with ZoneAlarm firewall but not so when using it as part of the free suite. :) It certainly out performs many of the paid solutions in the above tests so if you think these are relevant to how you use your computer, then ZoneAlarm might be another option to consider. MC - Site Manager.
How does Zonealarm compare to these antivirus products above? I currently have zonealarm, but I will consider switching to Avast if it is significantly better.
Thanks.
Avast is a lot better than ZoneArlarm; it has better overall detection rates. Avast has auto sandbox where suspicious programs are now automatically placed inside the avast! Sandbox. Avast has a Boot-time scanner that scans your computer for infections before the OS can start to activate any viruses beneath it.[Removed unnecessary list of program features which users can see for themselves on the Avast! website].
Bear in mind that depending on where you look, variable test results can be found for all products. Some of these are more reliable than others, but none will be exactly relevant to how you use your own computer. This is one that gives ZoneAlarm a higher rating than many commercial programs.
http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/sepoct-2012/
I use the ZoneAlarm suite including firewall myself (Windows 7) and have been completely satisfied with it. MC - Site Manager.
Hi John,
I highly suggest that you remove MSE from second place. It has a poor detection rate (look at the latest tests).
Brian
Tests are tests and although they can be a useful guide, users should not rely on these solely when choosing a product. You give no link to the test referenced but if it is AV-Test then their results take no account of MSE's integration with Windows firewall, UAC or other Windows security components. Additionally, many of the exploits they reference require users to click through Windows system warnings several times in order to get infected. Another point is the higher scoring products are employing heuristic elements to make these detections, the majority of which require user interaction with the general tendency being to click through.
The bottom line is I see no more infections in MSE installed machines than I do those installed with Kersplonsky and other commercial programs.
Additionally, MSE is licensed for business use at up to 10 machines and in this environment, employees generally take far less care with their habits than they would for home use. This being the case, their respective forums would be awash with infection reports, and they are not.
The Windows PC security industry is alive with hype, unverifiable claims and sponsored tests tailored to the ability of individual products to pass them at one snapshot in time. This is one of the reasons why folks insist on installing a third party firewall they don't understand instead of relying on the excellent Windows firewall to do the job it was designed for.
Even accepting that some antivirus products are better than others, the average detection is still no better than 95% and a 5% exposure to malware is massive. This means that all users need to adopt additional measures in order to reduce this exposure to the minimum possible. In light of this, MSE performs as good as anything else and better than most in terms of system integration and the need for user interaction.
Others may find these articles of interest. MC - Site Manager.
http://windowssecrets.com/langalist-plus/mse-delivers-mixed-results-in-a...
http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/safe-computing-under-hour.htm