Top 6 Free Antivirus Programs
Posted on 10. Sep, 2008 by Kyle Judkins in Software
In a recent post, I discussed the Top 5 Free Programs to Clean up Your Computer. In that post, I mentioned the free antivirus AVG Free, as one of the top free programs. After some thought and a little user feedback, I decided to do an extended post about the best free antivirus programs available.
AVG Free
AVG Free was mentioned in my list before, and it must be in this list as well. It is probably the most used free antivirus software out there. It provides great antivirus and antispyware protection, and it also uses Safe Search which helps protect you from those bad webpages that can sometimes come up in your search results.
Avast
Avast is often seen as the biggest competitor to AVG Free due to its simplicity and ease of use. In addition to the normal protection, I find the P2P and IM shield to be a great feature of this client. However, there is one negative with this client. You will have to take the time to register it in order to keep using it. This registration is free, but it does take time. Are you lazy like me?
Anti Vir
Anti Vir has been gaining a lot of support from the techies around the Internet. I believe the basis from this comes from great protection with the ability to scan up to 20% faster than other clients.
Bitdefender
Bitdefender provides the same basic virus and spyware scanning, and it adds immediate scanning, a skinable interface and statistical reports. The reports are always a nice touch, because some people want to know everything that is going on with their computer.
Comodo
Comodo provides a very basic antivirus software that is easy to use. It also has an extremely small memory footprint, so you can actually do other things while it is running on your computer.
Clamwin
Clamwin is obviously the most basic antivrius on the list, but that isn’t always a bad thing. Clamwin may not be as robust as some of the others on the list, but if you don’t need lots of bells and whistles this would be a great choice.
(By) Kyle Judkins is a marker researcher, tech enthusiast, social media contributor and the owner of LostInTechnology and UpYourSocial. If you want to connect, you can find me on FriendFeed and Twitter.
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40 Responses to “Top 6 Free Antivirus Programs”
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Toz: PhotoRec is really good too. http://www.cgsecurit...
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James: I would like to recommend the Windows Key Finder 1...
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Kyle Judkins: You're welcome!...
Doug Woodall
10. Sep, 2008
I agree with you on AVG, Avast and BitDefender.
Many users are happy with AVG and Avast.
I myself am using BitDefender on my new lappie with Vista right now.
Thanks for the great work.
Zach Jones
13. Sep, 2009
i have been using the so called “best anti virus system” Norton. and i wouldn’t recommend it to anybody, even if Norton was the only one left. i would just tell them that norton is pretty much like having no anti virus system at all. all it does is just tell you that you are 100% protected, when in actuality or reality your not!
Talk Binary
10. Sep, 2008
I just noticed I don’t have an anti virus running.
I should fix this ASAP.
I personally use AVG since I like how small and compact it is. Best of all free. Also, when you know how to navigate the internet, there is a better chance you won’t get infected (key word: better; not invulnerable).
I also use AdAware.
Madhur Kapoor
13. Sep, 2008
I have been using Avast for a long time. I like it lot as it uses very less system resources
Sean
13. Sep, 2008
I’ve been using Avast Free for the longest time and I’ve never had a problem with it. Where I used to work, the computer was using AVG. I never found anything wrong with it, but I rather Avast. Other than those two, I’ve tried Avira AntiVir. It was good, but again I rather Avast.
Kayren
13. Sep, 2008
I have been using Avast since I have owned my computer, I have tried a couple others, but always return to Avast. I like the simple usability & it does it’s job well.
liinet jossy
03. Oct, 2008
residential use
Ellie
05. Oct, 2008
I love Comodo! It is possibly the best antivirus program I’ve used. I was a huge Avast fan until I met Comodo and tried it out. It uses less memory – even on my Vista machine than Avast; and Comodo has a nice, clean interface that makes me think Web 2.0!
BrainBug
05. Oct, 2008
Unfortunately Comodo ranks 40th on the Virus.gr independent tests in detecting malware. Avast ranks 13th, BitDefender ranks 12th, AVG ranks 11th and Antivir ranks 10th.
BrainBug
05. Oct, 2008
Also, Clamwin is not a realtime antivirus scanner meaning it won’t monitor your system. It will only scan your system when you ask it to.
TabZ
05. Oct, 2008
I feel Avast is well worth the bother of taking a few minutes to re register once every 14 months.
Ryan G
07. Oct, 2008
I’ve tried pretty much all of these, and Avast still comes out tops.
ross
07. Oct, 2008
ever heard of threafire? http://www.threatfire.com
Dilbert
21. Nov, 2008
My Anti-Virus is Linux. tee hee.
Antivirus
08. Mar, 2010
You might be surprised to hear that many of the major antivirus companies are offering solutions for Linux. The reason? No OS is 100% secure and with all of the file movement today’s computing world sees among platforms, there is a definite need for a standard security protocol to adhere to.
Joky
24. Nov, 2008
AntiVir is the best of the best!!!
Patrick
14. Feb, 2009
Good list.
Micky Mouse
15. Feb, 2009
Avast Rocks
donald bebek
02. May, 2009
antivirus the best is avira
Ken
06. May, 2009
I can’t believe that the reviewer is saying that having to register Avast is a negative. It is, IMO my non-techie opinion, far superior to any of the others, far more comprehensive, works with Win98SE which I continue to use very successfully. The registration is very simple, can’t blame them for wanting to know how many people are using their FREE software, just requires, with a couple of mouse clicks, getting a new registration number every year. If the reviewer can’t do this, then he ought not be able to use this spectacular free software!!!
asif
12. May, 2009
avaira is the best of all…no other options……
Catalin
09. Jun, 2009
Very interesting this list with antiviruses. Avira is a good choice for a free antivirus!
unknown
13. Jun, 2009
1. Avg (best antivirus program ever)
2. Antivir (all in all also very good program)
3. Together (as I use) they are brilliant !!!
flazfun
26. Jul, 2009
@asif : Not Avira But AVG
schnurrbart
15. Sep, 2009
dropped norton used ant vir…………within one week…blue screen of death……………back to norton (rogers online protection)
Rinsoy
17. Nov, 2009
Avast>avira>avg>mse
84strat
05. Dec, 2009
Best kept secret – COMODO INTERNET SECURITY — and it’s free.
Never going back to memory hog Norton or any antivirus that starts with the letter “A”.
Try it — you will be impressed.
Thomas Allan
29. Dec, 2009
I have been running Avira for quite some time now and the program has been a great experience UNTIL it started giving me those screwed up avwsc.exe error messages!
And when it gives me those, neither the program panels will start either.
Plus, it seems that I cannot add specific files, that I KNOW aren’t virus, to an exception list. Same was with Avast. And it kept annoying me with the same files right after restoration.
And I stopped using AVG after I got fed up with the $AVG folders it creates on all drives. Hell.
Now I’ll continue the long journey in the search for my preferred anti-virus program.
I will try Comodo next and see if it works properly.
John Smith
19. Feb, 2010
Feel not safe using free antivirus, still renew my Norton.
Antivirus
01. Mar, 2010
The best solution for antivirus on Twitter is just to be smart and not trust ANYONE. Treat it like a real life version of X-files. Also, using a service to reveal the actual link that link shorteners are leading you to is crucial.
syahrizal vix
15. Mar, 2010
bitdefender is most wanted !!
LOL
28. Mar, 2010
lol the only good thing about C.O.M.O.D.O is its Firewall, the antivirus is not to good. and remember that no definition based antivirus will be able to protect to 100%.
steve
16. Apr, 2010
the best antivirus are avira and avast i used it for years
Rocky
19. May, 2010
East or west…………. Avast is the best
mithil deo
27. May, 2010
I like avast most because i am happy with it .specially with 4th version it cries when tit found virus.
sagar alias jackey
01. Jun, 2010
NOD32 Antivirus is the best
Naveen
28. Jun, 2010
Guys; I’ll recomend Microsoft Security Essentials…have been using NIS2010 and KIS2009 they were good; but this is even better and lighter than the previous paid versions. Other than this only Avira is worth mentioning
ramin
27. Jul, 2010
comodo is the best program ever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Juscelino M. Acevedo
29. Jul, 2010
I have personally tried 3 out of the 6 mentioned. I find it very interesting that 2 years later AVG Free is either at the top of a list, or somewhere within the list. I love this product and would recommend it to any home user.
Shiva
09. Aug, 2010
100% security
free
NavyAntivirus
http://navyantivirus.shivabhusal.com