by Jordan Cropper

Created on: April 13, 2009

Just as humans seem to be under constant assault from the more biological form of virus (common cold, I'm looking at you!), PCs are exposed to the danger of their own, digital, viruses. To protect against viruses, and other forms of malware (shortened from malicious software), anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are used.

The trouble is, these software packages can be expensive, often in the region of $50/35, a cost which frequently must be paid again in a yearly subscription. But now, with the open source movement and the free software revolution, is it really still necessary to spend money on these products?

Several free anti-virus packages are available on the internet. These software packages frequently equal or better their commercial counterparts in many ways, and are available for free over the internet. I shall look at two different free anti-virus products.

The first free product I will be looking at is Alwil Software's Avast! (it does end in an exclamation mark). This is my chosen anti-virus suite for my home use. Avast is a free download from the website (www.avast.com, though you then need to register for a license key, which is sent to you by email. Registration is free, only takes a minute, and to date, Alwil have never sent me another email other than that with my license key on.
Avast has many good points. It is frequently updated, and seems to do a good job of detecting viruses. It does not flag up very many false positives, which is a problem with some other anti-virus tools. The interface is easy to use, and the setting are easily accessible. On top of this, I find myself drawn to comment on the way avast alerts the user, either to a virus being discovered in a scan or in response to a successful update avast pops up a small message box, but then sounds out an audio message, telling you what it has just done in a robotic voice that slightly terrifies when you first hear it, but amuses thereafter. On a more useful note, avast also has anti-virus and anti-spyware scanning built in, though using it in conjunction with a dedicated anti-spyware program such as Spybot S&D is the best option to be sure.

Avast has few bad points. However, some options are only available in the paid for option, such as an enhanced user interface that presumably adds a few more options. However, avast does not nag you to upgrade, and in my view, the home edition provides all you need.

The second free anti-virus product is Avira AntiVir free edition, downloadable from the website at www.free-av.com. Avira AntiVir contains most of the features of avast it too is frequently updated, and also contains other useful tools, such as protection against Dialers and Rootkits, but I can find no mention of it being an anti-spyware tool, so again a dedicated anti-spyware tool is a necessity. The scanning speed of Avira is, in my experience, slightly faster than that of avast, though this should not be too much of an issue.
Avira shares similar bad points to avast, with features missing that are only available in the paid for versions, but again the free version seems to be suitable for most users.

So there are two free anti-virus products, with a basic review and information of where you can get them from. Both seem to do their job more than well enough, so it is really down to personal preference which one you choose.

Learn more about this author, Jordan Cropper.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.