How to Download the Best Anti Virus Software for Free

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By Norman Stein
eHow Community Member

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(22 Ratings)

In the age of virus's, spam, spyware and other e-nasties, going online without some form of anti virus protection is akin to committing e-suicide. Instead of going out and buying one of those mainstream 'corporate' anti virus programs, and then paying 10, 20 or more dollars a year for a yearly subscription, try one of these top rated, free anti virus programs. And, since they are free, you can download and run more than one anti virus program. I've linked the more popular ones in the resource section below, but you will of course find more links to try on this page.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Internet connection

Step 1

Avira anti virus personal edition. This is one of the best available. It's extremely light on system resources and has good detection capabilities. It doesn't include any email scanning or spyware protection, so run adaware in conjunction with this free download able anti virus program.
Step 2

Avast home edition. This is great for the online or power gamer. It has an unusual, media player style interface. This free download able anti virus program has anti root kit and anti spyware capabilities built in and is very light on system resources.
Step 3

AVG anti virus. This is my personal favorite, I've been using this one for years it's been constantly been updated and improved. Although the scanner is slow and a bit heavy on system resources it gets regular updates and includes anti spyware, phishing and email scam protection as well. If you don't do any gaming, go for this one. It's one great, free, download able anti virus program.
Step 4

Adaware personal edition. Another program I've been using for years. This one specifically searches for spyware on your system but has no anti virus module. A great adjunct to use with any of the other anti virus programs.
Step 5

ClamWin. This is another free, download able anti virus program. It's open source and light on system resources. It does NOT have a real time scanner though, you'll need to schedule scans.
Step 6

Spyware blaster. This isn't technically an anti virus program, but it's incredibly useful and you should run it. This one detects browser hijacking, you know, when you open up internet explorer and it always goes to some page that you don't want it to. Also has anti spyware built in. A great free, download able program!