Totally Free Antivirus Software - The Top Two for XP!
Quality free antivirus software can be challenging to find for a variety of reasons. Many of those you find online will scan your computer for free, but require you to purchase the software in order to remove viruses. With the numbers of false positives involved with these scanners, their methods are suspect. There are programs that actually install viruses, so it isn?t wise to download a program on the basis of the website. Find out more about the programs you find by checking out what others have to say about it. Regardless of the issues involved in downloading free antivirus software, there really are some free antivirus programs that will do the job sufficiently.
AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 8 for Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME and 98
This is the top free antivirus software according to several reviews because it has a good success rate in finding and removing viruses and can run in tandem with popular downloading applications. It has scanning abilities in common with paid software. It has a 5 Star Rating on Download.Com.
AntiVir Personal Edition 8 has many advantages. It allows for scanning when your computer is started in safe mode and for individual scanning of files in your hard drive by right click or drag and drop. It offers a choice between basic or comprehensive reporting on discovered viruses. This free antivirus software works the same as paid software in that it updates frequently and automatically, can be scheduled to run on specific dates and offers fast or full scanning.
People do complain that it is very slow when downloading definition updates and does not detect a majority of the spyware that may be on your machine and that spyware it detects requires you to buy the software for removal.
Avast! Antivirus v4.8 for XP, Vista and ME
With a good CNET rating and great Download.Com rating, this software offers protection against viruses, spyware and adware. While its rates of spyware detection are not all that great (finds 1/3 of spyware), it does include removal of spyware in addition to virus removal.
Avast! Is not feature-restrictive and is not a “free trial” program. It is growing in popularity as a decent antivirus program. It downloads detections and definitions without faltering and installs them quickly.
The most complained about feature of Avast! Is that you have to register it before 60 days are up and then register every year if you want to continue to use it. Even though some see this as a problem, the truth is that even paid programs require annual subscription and you have to pay for it, too! Free registration isn’t so bad if you think about it.
You simply can’t have an internet connection without installing antivirus software. It will only be a matter of time before you are infected. If your are unable or unwilling to pay for virus protection, AntiVir Personal Edition V8 and Avast Antivirus v4.8 are intelligent alternatives you can download and use for free. Defend your computer against viruses by using one of these free programs. Visit the official site of each of these antivirus programs to download each. There are warnings about false sites that sell the free versions or infect your computer with a bad download. Don’t let it happen to you!
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