Best Free Anti-Virus Software
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Antivirus programs provide a good layer of protection from a multitude of viral, Trojan, and rootkit Internet threats. A simple explanation is that antivirus companies find malware and write a unique signature to detect the particular malware. This signature is then packaged into an update so you will be protected against that threat when you update your antivirus. With the huge increase in malware, anti-viruses cannot fully keep up, so it's best to use other security programs as well. Using more than one real-time antivirus can cause conflicts, so in most cases it is recommended you only choose one product for real-time real-time protection.
If you're looking for the best possible protection against viruses, our top recommendation is Avira AntiVir Personal Edition. It is very light on resources and the detection rate of viruses and rootkits is outstanding, however, there are some reservations. First, it does not include antispyware protection or e-mail scanning, they are only available in the paid version. The lack of an e-mail scanner means that AntiVir won't warn you of infected emails before you open them. However, 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 is quite an intrusive product with advertisements that appear with every update. Finally, AntiVir Personal Edition Classic has a time-limited license. It is renewable, but be aware that you'll have to periodically go through the hoops.
If you're not prepared to accept the drawbacks of AntiVir, we would suggest either AVG Free or Avast!. Neither is quite as effective in detection of viruses as AntiVir, but both are more complete products, and less intrusive in use.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has been continuously refined since it was initially released in 1991. The latest version makes further improvements to an already solid product. It now includes spyware, phishing, and email scam protection. Although it has grown considerably in size and is very heavy on resources, its detection rate is very good. By default, it installs the AVG Security Toolbar with Yahoo search. Regular automatic updates come quickly as before and, despite rumors, the new email scanning feature is not trial limited to 30 days. Free and pro versions are available; the only difference is that the free version has anti-rootkit disabled, provides Linkscanner Lite instead of Linkscanner Pro and has no technical support other than a free user forum .
Equally effective is Avast! 4 Home Edition, although its funky media player style interface is not to everyone's taste. Avast is the least restricted product out of the three, with anti-rootkit and anti-spyware capabilities. It also has full real-time capabilities, including a web scanner, an e-mail scanner and IM and P2P protection. Avast also requires periodic re-registration, whereas AVG Free does not. However, Avast does not seem to suffer the signature-file update problems that plague some AVG users. I give these guys an A+ for continued support of older Windows platforms from 95 up.
AntiVir, AVG and Avast are excellent free products that provide a real alternative to the major anti-viruses.
You can increase your protection slightly if you run regular on-demand scans with an additional separate anti-virus product. On-demand scans can be run regularly to check for viruses and other malware that may have been missed by your main scanner.
You can run AntiVir, Avast or AVG with the real-time protection disabled. With AntiVir and Avast, you have to choose custom install when you are installing the product.
Another good option for on-demand scanning is BitDefender 10 Free Edition, the free version of the commercial BitDefender Antivirus. It's has good detection rates, but because the free version lacks an email scanner and a resident virus guard, it's only suitable for use as an on-demand scanner, not as your main AV program. There are some other limitations as well. It has an annoying habit of detecting malware products that have been quarantined by other security products, and you can't exclude these areas from subsequent scans. The program itself is using an old version of the engine, so the detection is weaker. And it's only available with a one year non-renewable license.
Avira AntiVir Personal Edition
Website: www.free-av.com/en/products/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html
Download link: www.download.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html
Author: Avira
Version: 8.1.0.331
Date: August 25, 2008
Download File size: 23.92MB
License: Free for personal use
Operating systems supported: 2000, XP, Vista
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: German
Additional Software Required: None
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Website: free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition
Download link: www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html
Author: Grisoft
Version: 8.0.173
Date: September 30, 2008
Download File size:48.79MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: 2000, XP, Vista
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: No
Additional Software Required: None
Avast! 4 Home Edition
Website: www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
Download link: www.download.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10019223.html
Author: Alwil Software
Version: 4.8.1229.80923
Date: September 23, 2008
Download File size: 26.19MB
License: Freeware
Operating systems supported: 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: Yes
Additional Software Required: None
BitDefender 10 Free Edition
Website: www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-Free-Edition.html
Download link: filehippo.com/download_bitdefender/
Author: SOFTWIN
Date: August 23, 2007
Version: 10
Download File size: 21.08MB
License: Free for one year, requires registration
Operating systems supported: 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable version available: No
Other languages supported: Yes
Additional Software Required: None
Related Topics
- Best Free Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover
- Best Free Trojan Scanner/Trojan Remover
- Best Free Rootkit Scanner/Remover
- Best Free Firewall
- Best Free Intrusion Prevention and Detection Utility for Home Use (HIPS)
- Gizmo's Guide the Securing Your PC
- How to Surf More Securely
- Best Free Browser Protection Utility
- Best Free Spam Filter for the Average User
- Best Free Spam Filter for the Experienced User
- Malware Removal Guide
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor JonathanT. Registered site uers can contact JonathanT by clicking here.
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The list is great and very helpful.
It would also be useful to have a similar list of the best AV freeware for linux.
Do you know if that is in the pipeline?
Many thanks.
I believe we're planning to start Linux applications soon, but not in the immediate future.
I think that Linux doesn't need an AV though.
Linux doesn't need anti-virus programs.
That's not strictly true!. Each and every day there are new threats being released into the wild, which can infect Linux systems in one way, shape or form.
Some off topic posts were removed, but there were some legitimate posts inside that, so I've copied it here:
Anonymous: I would like to know if Avira should still be the first choice, due to its failure regarding the VB100 list ?
keroffs:The response from Avira (at their forums) is that the October test (the one they failed) was done on Windows Server 2008 Operating system, which the Personal and Premium versions don't support. The last tests for Vista and XP were in April and August 08 and Avira passed these with no FPs.
http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?page=Thread&postID=681088#post68108...
Avira failed because of 1 false positive.
Anonymous: Thank you for clearing that up for me, and the prompt reply.
Keep up the good work !
Rumour has it that VB100 takes money under the table. So i would not take any of there comparatives seriously.
Do you have any evidence to back up this claim? That doesn't seem very likely.
Many people are saying that the VB100 test is flawed in today's environment:
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/The-AntiMalware-Certification-Problem/
And Trend Micro withdrew from the tests, saying it was irrelevant:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/06/09/trend_vb_test_criticism/
Anonymous: In the interest of end consumer and internet community, probably all the other virus vendors - and I am surprised that Kaspersky didn't do it - should have followed the path of Trend Micro. What's the point of collecting irrelevant certifications ? That's bad markenting, simply misleading.
In the Wild tests mean nothing these days.
Sunbelt did some internal testing on AV performance, results here:
http://www.vipreenterprise.com/Why-VIPRE-Enterprise/vipre-stats.htm
Interesting, but not very useful to us that are interested in free solutions, none of the 3 "big" free AVs are on that list.
Why not ? I know where my free Antivir stands. Besides, there are a lots of coupon codes arround, major AV also provide free rescue CD. Major AV are cheap.
Sunbelt didn't included AntiVir in that test. How do you know where it stands exactly?
Thanks
Exactly I can't say, my machine is slightly different. All these tests can only be used for reference anyway.
Hello guys!
I came across the PC Tools site (because of their interesting ThreatFire utility) and I have noticed the free PC Tools Antivius. I have installed it and it seems very lightweight and usable.
However it looks like a bit outdated and I am not really sure how the automatic update mechanism works (or does not work).
There are too few reviews and test results about PC Tools Antivirus, so any expert advice will be appreciated :)
Thanks!
I've been using PC Tools Antivirus as well. I used AVG then Avast, but had problems after updating (both after about 1 1/2 years each, so still good values). So far I haven't had any problems. It seems very unobtrusive- so I don't know whether that's good or not. PC Tools seems a very good choice for those of use with slow dial-up connections, but I agree there aren't many reviews on it's effectiveness.
If your willing to try their AV, maybe you want to try their Security Suite for FREE, featuring ThreatFire as HIPS and Spyware Doctor as AS:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/09/19/free-1-year-pc-tools-inte...
Firewall also seems to be doing well, according to latest Matousec tests (yeah, yeah, not everybody loves it).
Avira is the best then Avast and then AVG. http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/09_02
This conclusion is not right. The list on this web page is just ordered alphabetically.
It is alphabetically ordered but the results of the free anti-virus are there as well and Avast is better than AVG. But Avira is better than both of them.
Antivir free lacks AS and some users HATE the nag screen. So it's a matter of personal choice.
You can kill the nag screen in XP and Vista. Here's how:
1. Start -> Control Panel
2. Administrative tools -> Local security policy
3. Click on Software Restriction Policy -> Action (at the top) -> create new restriction policies
4. Right-click additional rules (on the right side) -> new path rule
5. Click Browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\(Avira)\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\ and double-click avnotify.exe -> set the security level to Disallowed -> apply -> ok
You mean XP Pro and Vista Business, Ultimate... Home editions don't have Policy Editors. But that's actually a good news, maybe we can do that through registry ?
The new results are in at http://www.av-comparatives.org/, and Avast is better than AVG. But Avira is better than both of them.
Excitement for Avast! Good for them! The real question is about prevention in today's complex world of malware with signature detection taking half of a back seat. Avast has a long way to go here, and It's easy to forget that on demand test results leave out heuristics and other cool things more advanced vendors are now producing. Hurry up signatures are only a portion of the real picture. Avast gets my accolades anyway because they run on all Win OS's unlike so many others that have pie in their eye, but, as usual, I'll hold out for the retrospective.
In all fairness I personally use Avira but since the review says Avast is less effective than AVG, I think it should be updated.
Also Sophos did better than Avira in retrospective but that doesn't make it better.
Your opinions are always welcome here. As I said, I will await the retrospective. In my opinion AVG is in a far more sophisticated prevention class than Avast, and yes, AVG is also bloatware (but it's worth it if you have the ram and processing power). This may surprise you, but I too use Avast on several systems that lack resources, however, barring resource and OS issues, AVG, Avira, or BitDefender would also be nice picks. When AVG is used with a firewall and an additional root-kit scanner that's really plenty for the majority of every day surfers. Again, security is about "choices beyond simple signature detection rates." Some AV softwares like AVG that are more than twice the install size of others really do go far beyond in protection class.
Avast's next move (if I'm correct) will incorporate better heuristics, whitelisting of programs and safe URL's, but that too will be at a cost of processing power. Because Avast's current detection rates are only one facet of good anti-virus, and since most AV's are so close in that category, I balk when folks get so excited. On the other hand, in an hour from now, the worst rated AV's signature's may be more up to date than all the rest (they all work hard getting signatures to you on time). I'll wait to change my review when all the data is on the table.
Thanks again for your comments. If you have further questions or comments feel free to contact me @ jeffrey@techsupportalert.com
Jeffrey Brown
IT Security Specialist
Hi
This is a sort of 'carry over' from my recent post in the firewall section. It may come as some surprise (or maybe not!) but my local tech support guy sees infected PC's almost daily containing rubbish that the owners cannot remove completely themselves. Almost all of them have installed firewall, AV and spyware apps ranging from the free to NOD32, McAfee, Kasp etc. From his own data the main source of infection is the user's tendency to "allow-allow" when they should be doing "think-think" first! No number of protect-me-all apps will guard you from a lack of common sense! Once you accept that surfing porn, file share and using an IE/Outlook Express combination instead of say Opera or Firefox/Thunderbird increases your vulnerability by a huge amount, then for the majority who like me don't fall into this category a reasonable protection level is easily achieved no matter which product(s) you choose to use. Common sense surfing habits, CORRECT CONFIGURATION and a right (or left) finger controlled by your brain rather than your PC are the keys to true, error free protection!
MIDNIGHTCOWBOY
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