Updated
July 19, 2011
Please, E-Mail me:
with
your observations on
any of these programs.
Microsoft
Security Essentials
The NEWEST version of MSE is now
available for download HERE
I REALLY LIKE
IT -
WHEN IT WORKS!
I have had problems on 3 different machines now when MSE takes over the
system.
System Idle Time drops to 3-7%, and it
takes - literally - minutes for a simple
mouse click or key stroke to register.
AND,
Be aware, it
DOES
turn on
FULL WINDOWS UPDATE!
(Weirdly, I have 2 machines that run
just fine!)
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Avast
Free Antivirus 6
by AVAST
Software
Avast is one of
those anti virus programs
that has been around for a while. I currently run it on one
of my
personal computers,
and am quite happy with it.
Ranked highly
by CNET,
the FREE VERSION is a very
valuable addition to
your computer
protection scheme.
IT NOW HAS SOME FEATURES
THAT WERE
ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE PAID VERSION!
This is one that I recommend.
(Free Edition,
for personal and non-commercial use only)
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AVG
Anti-Virus Free
by AVG
(was Grisoft)
This is a very good anti-virus program that I have
used in the past.
I was very happy with it's performance. As with other "free"
programs,
it offers a limited set of features, but still a good product.
NOTE:
It is for private, non-commercial, single
home computer use only.
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Avira
AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 10
by Avira
Given a 4-1/2 star rating by CNET
Avira is a German company that produces this free
version, and also
2 paid versions, including their Avira Antivir Premium, and
Avira Premium Security Suite (see comparison HERE)
They also have
a group of FREE TOOLS in their Download
section.
NOTE: Avira AntiVir Personal - FREE Antivirus is
only available
for single computer use for home and non commercial use.
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BitDefender
Free
"Free
Anti-Virus for ALL!"
This is an ON DEMAND scanner, meaning it does not do
real-time scanning, but must be called to scan the system.
It is a VERY GOOD scanner, and can be used when you
suspect there may be something lurking unseen by
whatever AV you are using. |
RATED:
5 STARS
ClamWin
Free Antivirus
ClamWin A/V is
a product released by Source
Forge. These wonderful folks have a LOT of FREE software,
released
under the
GNU
General Public License (GPL)
I have used
ClamWin and this is one of the
Source Forge projects I recommend.
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PC
Tools AntiVirus Free Edition
This is a free version of their paid AntiVirus
software. As
with some other "free" offers, the free version has a few less features
but still offers a good product.
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ON-LINE SCANS OF YOUR
COMPUTER
Below are listed some free,
on-line computer scans to detect malware on your computer.
These
are sites I trust.
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Housecall
An on-line test by Trend
Micro! I use the Trend Micro PC-cillin
Internet Security
2007 Suite on several computers I am in charge of, and this test
actually
detected problems that their PC-cillin didn't! Rating
- 4 STARS!
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Zillya!
Realtime
Antivirus
Free
AntiVirus from Zillya.com.
They also
have a PAID Internet Security Suite. |
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