Five of the Top Free Antivirus Programs - Avira AntiVir Personal Edition
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If you are looking for absolute protection against viruses and that is your main concern, then you might get Avira AntiVir Personal Edition. None of the other free antivirus software suites offer detection capability that matches AntiVir’s, so if you have no other concerns, you have found your perfect match. In addition to the excellent detection capabilities, Avira AntiVir is also very light on system resources. While this is good for users with an older system, the software is not supported on the oldest Windows operating systems.
Unfortunately for anyone looking for an extensive free antivirus package, there are numerous weaknesses in AntiVir’s arsenal. One of the largest of these is that the features are much more limited than they are with Avast!. While AntiVir does include virus and rootkit detection, it does not feature antispyware protection or e-mail scanning in its free version. Of course, you can pay for these features, but then the software is not free. On a side note, though AntiVir does not scan e-mails before you open them, if you download an infected e-mail or attachment, AntiVir will let you know right away and help you get rid of the infection.
AntiVir does not update nearly as quickly as its counterparts for some reason. This is not a huge issue for most users, but some might find it annoying. Also, you might miss out on updates for short periods of time, as the update server is prone to frequent down time. Every time you update AntiVir, you will be pestered by advertisements (it is free software, after all). These advertisements can be turned off, but it still poses a minor annoyance.
Just as with Avast!, you will find that you have to periodically renew your license for the free version of Avira AntiVir. Just as before, this is not a huge hassle, but it is still a little extra effort that you will have to put in if you want the free software.
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