Why use Anti-Virus ?

This is a really simple question to answer – you need to use antivirus software to protect your own computer, and to prevent your computer from being used to pass on infections to other machines without your knowledge. If you use the internet and you don’t take precautions, you’re going to get infected. And you’ll infect others, including those you care about most like your friends, family, and business contacts because their information is in your email address book and other files on your computer.

Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2010

The good: Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2010 offers basic antivirus and antispyware protection.

The bad: This stripped-down program from Trend Micro lacks many of the bells and whistles that made its siblings worth considering.

The bottom line: Going by older detection and removal numbers, Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware offers competent if basic security protection. However, so do many free competitors. This year, we recommend giving Trend Micro AntiVirus plus AntiSpyware 2010 a pass.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 (CD-ROM, 1-Year License)

Like its more robust sibling, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 leverages anonymous data from its customer base to create a behavioral engine to further strengthen security safeguards. Other than that, though, there's not much to differentiate KAV from its freeware competitors--some of which score better on efficacy tests. Frustratingly, a significant flaw in the interface design stands out because it's related to a key feature. KAV's performance felt fine but benchmarking revealed inconsistencies.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0.686

AVG Free provides the bare necessities when it comes to security, but that should be enough for savvy Windows users. You'll get a combined antivirus and antimalware engine, LinkScanner, and e-mail scanning. AVG Free 9 introduces a few new features, with improvements focused on performance, including claims of faster scan and boot times. One new feature is the Identity Theft Recovery Unit. Only for users in the United States, ITRU is a business partnership with Identity Guard which provides "consumer identity theft solutions," accessible only from the AVG toolbar in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 9.01.00

Enables you to forget about viruses, spyware, hackers

The new Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 is the easiest-to-use and most intuitive protection for your computer. Just install it and forget about viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers, online fraud and identity theft. Chat, share photos and videos, bank and buy online, read your favorite blogs or simply surf the Web, with complete peace of mind. And thanks to the improved Collective Intelligence technology, the solution is now much faster than previous versions.


Furthermore, Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 will offer maximum protection with minimum impact on your computer via its easy-to-use and intuitive interface.

Rising Antivirus 2009

Protects your computers against all types of viruses, Trojans, Worms, Rootkits and other malicious programs. Ease of use, Active Defense technology, Patented Unknown Virus Scan&Clean technology and Patented Smartupdate technology make RISING Antivirus ' install-and-forget ' product that lets you focus on what you really want to do.

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 9.0.0.407

Consistently at or near the top of independent efficacy testers, Avira's AntiVir remains one of the best freeware security solutions around. Its scans are flexible, allowing the user to fully scan both internal and external hard drives, run a preloaded scan--for rootkits, for example--or customize a scan. The latest version introduces antispyware protections, scanning tech that can crack open "locked" files, improved internal security to prevent AntiVir's files from being maliciously altered, and one-click threat removal--no more baby-sitting. . .