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Top 5 Choices For Free Anti-Virus
Jun 21st
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
AVG Free provides the bare necessities when it comes to security, but that should be enough for savvy Windows users. You’ll get a combined antivirus and antimalware engine, LinkScanner, and e-mail scanning. AVG Free 9 introduces a few new features, with improvements focused on performance, including claims of faster scan and boot times. One new feature is the Identity Theft Recovery Unit. Only for users in the United States, ITRU is a business partnership with Identity Guard which provides “consumer identity theft solutions,” accessible only from the AVG toolbar in Firefox and Internet Explorer.
The interface is nearly unchanged from the last version, and generally it’s easy to use. From the main window, though, you must double-click to get further information on any feature, whether virus scanning, LinkScanner settings, or updating. Streamlining this to one click would be helpful. A scheduling utility automates both scans and updates, while the upgrade ad at the screen’s bottom can be easily hidden using the Hide Notification button. When starting a scan, a slider makes it easy to jump between Slow, Automatic, and Fast scans: the faster the scan, the less comprehensive it is, so users should take advantage of the scan optimization that is recommended during installation to speed up that first scan. A progress meter for regular scans would’ve been useful, though. Should a virus create serious problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode.
The LinkScanner feature protects you from third-party code exploits before they load in your browser and for ranking search results. Annoyingly, when you install its optional toolbar, it commandeers your new-tab page, decidedly inappropriate behavior. The program doesn’t obviously tax your system when scanning or when running in the background, although CNET Labs determined that it will significantly slow down your system’s boot time, and slightly delay shutting down. AVG also detected some image files as threats, when two other scans decided they weren’t–we decided these were false positives. AVG might not be the fastest or the most effective free security option, but it still gets the job done and you’re better off with it.
Top 5 Choices For Free Anti-Virus
Jun 21st
Online Armor Free
- CNET editors’ rating: 4.5 stars
Online Armor has a professional feel that is typical of freeware versions of advanced security tools, pared down to its firewall options. The installation is blazingly fast, taking under 30 seconds from double-clicking on the installer to running the firewall. Once installed, Online Armor defaults to running its installation wizard, which it calls a Safety Check.
In addition to the firewall, which configures as much as possible during the start-up wizard so you’re not bothered later, Online Armor comes with a keylogger guard, tamper protection, malicious script and worm protection, and limited autostart protection. The paid versions offer more, such as antivirus and anti-malware protection, phishing filters, online banking protection, and e-mail filtering. Even with these limitations, if you’re not satisfied with the much-improved Windows firewall, Online Armor defends you from a wide range of sophisticated attacks.
Top 5 Choices For Free Anti-Virus
Jun 21st
ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition
- CNET editors’ rating: 5.0 stars
ThreatFire offers real-time prevention of virus and malware infections by identifying suspicious behavior (“zero-day” events) as it happens, before malicious code installs itself on your PC.
ThreatFire does do some things very well. It seeks out rootkits, heuristics-based threats, viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, keyloggers, and buffer overflows. The software real-time protection didn’t noticeably slow down our computer, and the customizable advanced settings were excellent. Users can pick and choose their preferred trusted processes and create rules for detection, such as scanning for SCR files created by an e-mail client. You can also avail yourself of the scheduler, and create a system restore point before moving threats into quarantine. Working as a complement to your currently installed antivirus, ThreatFire has improved markedly in the past few years.
Top 5 Choices For Free Anti-Virus
Jun 21st
Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus
- CNET editors’ rating: 4.5 stars
Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus does double duty, protecting against spyware and viruses alike. The latest version introduces antispyware protections, scanning tech that can crack open “locked” files, improved internal security to prevent AntiVir’s files from being maliciously altered, and one-click threat removal–no more baby-sitting the program to get it to complete a scan. Third-party testers have determined that while AntiVir has one of the highest detection rates around, its false positives are also high. AntiVir’s scans are flexible, allowing the user to check all hard drives, choose a preloaded scan–for rootkits, for example–or customize. The heuristic scan can be turned on or off completely or partially, with three different intensity levels. The quarantine offers extensive support, too, although the definition file updater can be sluggish.
One of AntiVir Free’s biggest drawbacks is the pop-up ad that pesters users to upgrade to the paid version after each definition file update. There are ways to disable it, but using the program as it was intended has the potential to frustrate gamers and those who enjoy full-screen video playback. Nevertheless, AntiVir’s protection is highly regarded, as it should be.
Top 5 Choices For Free Anti-Virus
Jun 21st
Avast Free Anti-virus
- CNET editors’ rating: 5.0 stars
In the tripartite competition between the most popular free antivirus software, Avast Free Antivirus has arguably gotten the least attention outside of Europe, but we expect that to change. Avast’s recent independent third-party testing has been notably solid, able to hold its own against better-known programs from Symantec and Microsoft.
Avast doesn’t skimp on the protection it offers, either. It guards your PC with multiple shields that scan files and the network connection. It comes built with a robust set of tools, including antivirus, antispyware, antirootkit, heuristic-based detection, and shields for P2P transfers, instant messaging, network traffic, and the Web. You can select parameters for scanning, choose wild cards to exclude specific file types, and block certain URLs and file operations, such as writing to files or even renaming, deleting, or formatting them. You can adjust the sensitivity level for the program’s detectors. The clean new layout won’t seem unusual to new users, but old fans will note that this is a dramatic change from the unhelpful previous design. With immediate real-time protection, clockwork updates, and much more, this free software is highly regarded.
