Free antivirus software
If you don't want to pay for antivirus software, you have many options, but according to reviews, free programs are not as good as commercial antivirus software. We found popular support for three free programs:
Grisoft's AVG Anti-Virus Free ,
avast! 4 Home Edition and
AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic.
Mary Landesman, Guides to Antivirus Software, had the free programs professionally tested and found that AntiVir PersonalEdition does the best job of
detecting viruses, but only manages to find three-quarters of them.
AntiVir
AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic provides free antivirus protection for Windows
XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The svelte scanner installed only 34MB and 3 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, making it an excellent option for those with older PCs or
limited system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Comprehensive reporting options
Scans can be run in Safe Mode
Cons
Sluggish connections to update server
AVAST 4 Home Edition
AVAST 4 Home Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The scanner installed just under 40MB and 6 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, taking a slightly bigger toll than other free antivirus scanners, but still well suited for older PCs or those with limited system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Scan on bootup helps thwart resuscitators
Removes some adware and spyware
Cons
WinAmp-style interface may not appeal to all users
AVG Free Edition
AVG Free Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. Installing only 30Mb of files and 4 running processes, AVG Free Edition is the smallest antivirus scanner we've tested and may well be the best choice for an older PC with severely limited
system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Easy-to-use, attractive interface
Cons
Limited support for compressed/archive types
Higher than average rate of false positives
According to the guiding site's...
Here are the capabilities of Free AV Software.
The Final Scores
If we left spyware/adware removal out of the mix and focused only on the scanner's ability to detect traditional virus threats, out of a possible 125.6 points, AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic scored 94, AVAST 4 Home Edition scored 89, and AVG Free Edition scored 66. However, when we included adware/spyware removal in the judging, the results were dismal, with AVAST scoring highest at 66 points, AntiVir following at 58, and AVG with only 30.
Zoo Detection
AVAST 4 Home Edition had the highest rate of zoo virus detection (92%), followed by AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic at 85% and AVG Free Edition at 81%.However, AVAST's higher zoo detection was offset by a correspondingly higher rate of false positives, 9 total compared to AntiVir at only 2. Conversely, AVG scored the lowest in both categories, racking up 11
false positives.
Adware and Spyware
When it came to adware and spyware, none of the free scanners peformed well. The best of the worst was AVAST, which removed 33% of the active components of the adware and spyware installed to our test system. AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic removed 5% and AVG removed none. (Paid versions of these same products proved more capable thus a low score for the free products has no bearing on their paid counterparts
Footprint
Each of the free antivirus scanners was conservative in the amount of disk space used, installing 40Mb or less on our test systems. (The smallest was AVG at only 30Mb). AVG installed four running processes, compared to three for AntiVir and six by AVAST. The footprint on the system can be particularly important for those running older operating systems (i.e. Windows 98/ME) where hard drive space and memory might be at a premium.
Fortunately, any one of the three meets those needs.
You have decide what suits you,I personally found Avast is the best...
If you don't want to pay for antivirus software, you have many options, but according to reviews, free programs are not as good as commercial antivirus software. We found popular support for three free programs:
Grisoft's AVG Anti-Virus Free ,
avast! 4 Home Edition and
AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic.
Mary Landesman, Guides to Antivirus Software, had the free programs professionally tested and found that AntiVir PersonalEdition does the best job of
detecting viruses, but only manages to find three-quarters of them.
AntiVir AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic provides free antivirus protection for Windows
XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The svelte scanner installed only 34MB and 3 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, making it an excellent option for those with older PCs or
limited system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Comprehensive reporting options
Scans can be run in Safe Mode
Cons
Sluggish connections to update server
AVAST 4 Home EditionAVAST 4 Home Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The scanner installed just under 40MB and 6 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, taking a slightly bigger toll than other free antivirus scanners, but still well suited for older PCs or those with limited system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Scan on bootup helps thwart resuscitators
Removes some adware and spyware
Cons
WinAmp-style interface may not appeal to all users
AVG Free EditionAVG Free Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. Installing only 30Mb of files and 4 running processes, AVG Free Edition is the smallest antivirus scanner we've tested and may well be the best choice for an older PC with severely limited
system resources.
Vendor's Site
Pros
Small footprint ideal for even older PCs
Easy-to-use, attractive interface
Cons
Limited support for compressed/archive types
Higher than average rate of false positives
According to the guiding site's...
Here are the capabilities of Free AV Software.
The Final Scores If we left spyware/adware removal out of the mix and focused only on the scanner's ability to detect traditional virus threats, out of a possible 125.6 points, AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic scored 94, AVAST 4 Home Edition scored 89, and AVG Free Edition scored 66. However, when we included adware/spyware removal in the judging, the results were dismal, with AVAST scoring highest at 66 points, AntiVir following at 58, and AVG with only 30.
Zoo Detection AVAST 4 Home Edition had the highest rate of zoo virus detection (92%), followed by AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic at 85% and AVG Free Edition at 81%.However, AVAST's higher zoo detection was offset by a correspondingly higher rate of false positives, 9 total compared to AntiVir at only 2. Conversely, AVG scored the lowest in both categories, racking up 11
false positives. Adware and Spyware
When it came to adware and spyware, none of the free scanners peformed well. The best of the worst was AVAST, which removed 33% of the active components of the adware and spyware installed to our test system. AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic removed 5% and AVG removed none. (Paid versions of these same products proved more capable thus a low score for the free products has no bearing on their paid counterparts
Footprint Each of the free antivirus scanners was conservative in the amount of disk space used, installing 40Mb or less on our test systems. (The smallest was AVG at only 30Mb). AVG installed four running processes, compared to three for AntiVir and six by AVAST. The footprint on the system can be particularly important for those running older operating systems (i.e. Windows 98/ME) where hard drive space and memory might be at a premium.
Fortunately, any one of the three meets those needs.
You have decide what suits you,I personally found Avast is the best...
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