Free Antivirus Software
Avira AntiVir Personal
Avira AntiVir is a free antivirus solution. It is the free version of Avira AntiVir Premium and the Avira Premium Security Suite. This program periodically scans the user's computer and gets rid of viruses and other malware such as worms, trojans, dialers, hoaxes, backdoor programs, rootkits, and phishing attacks.
Scanning is up to 20% faster than the average antivirus software. Avira AntiVir monitors the system closely and reacts quickly when attacks are detected. Avira AntiVir is designed for personal use and is available for Windows or Unix systems.
Norton Security Scan
Norton Security Scan comes free with a Google Pack and is compatible with all versions of Windows. The main advantage of this antivirus software is its simplicity of use. There are no dialog boxes or options to select. There is only the start button. When it is clicked, Norton Security Scan proceeds to scan the user's computer and cleans it of viruses and other malware including worms, Trojans, dialers, hoaxes, backdoor programs, rootkits, and phishing attacks.
Norton Security Scan is not integrated into the computer operating system. This means the user can install another antivirus software for added protection. Norton Security Scan is not known to conflict with other applications.
This software has good detection rates and provides periodic updates. The user can also configure it to run scans at selected intervals. However, Windows does not recognize Norton Security. If it is the only antivirus software installed, Windows will continue to warn the user that his or her computer needs virus protection.
AVG Antivirus Free Edition
This edition of the AVG Antivirus offers the widest choice in terms of configuration. Users also have the option of simply opting for the default settings.
The program features a Test Center where scans and other usual tasks can be performed. A Control Center where configuration options may be set and a Rescue Disk that creates backups of system areas such as boot sector or MBR and copies the DOS version of the scanner to floppy disks are also available.
AVG Antivirus offers the following features:
- Protection in real time
- On-demand scanner
- E-mail protection in real time
- Auto updater (virus definitions and programs)
- Log viewer
- Scheduler
- Quarantines infected files in virus vault
- Rescue disk
- Heuristic scanning
The program has good detection rates, offers regular updates, is very configurable, and is multilingual. It operates on Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP. The free version is available at no charge only for single home computer use.
Avast! Antivirus Home Edition
Avast! Antivirus Home Edition is a free virus protection software intended only for home use. It incorporates anti-spyware protection and anti-rootkit detection. Daily updates are automated, ensuring continuous protection from virus, malware, and spyware infections.
Avast! Antivirus features an easy-to-use interface where the user can activate on-demand scanning. Additional Avast! Antivirus modules such as Updater, Virus Chest, or Log Viewer can also be started from this interface. The software package contains three skins for the interface but more can be downloaded from the Avast! website.
The software incorporates resident protection that shields the computer's files, emails, and news. Complete or selective scanning of computer files is available. Email and news protection has two modules, namely a generic scanner and a plug-in for MS Outlook.
Generic scanning works on the SMTP/POP3/IMAP4/NNTP protocol level. Avast! Antivirus also offers heuristic scanning of emails.
Other protection modules added to avast! Antivirus are the Network Shield and Web Shield. Network Shield protects computer files from known Internet worms and attacks. Web Shield monitors all HTTP traffic from the internet. It serves as a transparent HTTP proxy and can filter viruses and other malware such as spyware, adware, and dialers. It is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.
Avast! Antivirus integrates with the program. This enables the user to start scanning directly from Windows Explorer. Scanning can also be started before a virus is activated through the boot time scan option. However, this feature works only with Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista 32 bit.
Avast! Antivirus works with Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Vista, except for a few selected features that work only on later versions of Windows platforms.
|
|
|
Bookmark Free Antivirus Software
