The days of having to pay for anti-virus protection look certain to be over. We check out 10 freeware tools you can use.

Not long ago, anti-virus was considered one of those must-have features you either had to pay a yearly subscription for or hope you got in a decent bundle when you bought a new notebook computer or PC.

However, that’s all changed as competition in the market has pushed more and more vendors to release freeware versions that while not fully featured, still do the basics of covering your PC against viruses.

But not all of them are the same and many have varying licenses. So what’s on the market and where can you get it?

1)      AVG Free - http://free.grisoft.com

Grisoft’s AVG Free has become an internet favourite since its release due to its high catch rate, low false-positives and highly configurable design. It offers daily updates to keep your system up to date and easily slots into Windows Vista or XP as a designated anti-virus kit. Grisoft has since released freeware anti-spyware and anti-rootkit tools as well. It can only be used for personal use and doesn’t come with any support other than what you can get from the Grisoft website. While it obviously lacks other protection features such as a software firewall and anti-spam protection, these can be downloaded elsewhere (such as Zone Alarm Free). Still, one of the better freeware options available.

2)      ClamWin - http://www.clamwin.com/content/view/18/46/

ClamWin is based on the open-source ClamAV anti-virus originally built for UNIX. Its licensed under the General Purpose License (GPL) agreement, which means it can be used for personal or commercial use. Being open-source, the developer provides no warranty so if a virus gets hold of your PC, you’ve been warned. The user interface is fairly basic but it does have considerably room for tweaking. ClamWin does not have a real-time scanner – that means you have to scan your files manually. It does offer automatic update downloads however. You must have Windows XP to run this one. Another version for Windows is ClamAV for Windows, which is a more basic command-line based version that uses the same Clam Anti-virus engine.

3)      PC Tools Anti-Virus 3.1 Free Edition -
http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/

The free edition of PC Tools Anti-Virus is designed for Windows 2000, XP and Windows Vista. It has real-time protection of viruses thanks to its OnGuard feature plus automatic updates. It can scan and remove viruses and has a scheduling option. What you don’t get is any support other than what’s available on the PC Tools community website. It’s similar to AVG Free although just slightly less configurable in our view. Still, there is no restriction on commercial use for this one so if you’re looking for something similar to AVG Free for your small business, this is definitely one worth trying.

4)      A-squared Free - http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

A-square Free from Emsi Software handles removing of viruses, Trojans and rootkits, (something AVG Free requires a separate tool for). We found this one to have a problem producing false-positives on programs written with Rapid-Q BASIC, which we have confirmed. It erroneously considers the programming language’s library to be a virus, a fault not picked up by NOD32 or AVG Free. Still, this one offers a broader scope of security than the others in this group. A-squared Free is licensed for private use only but works with everything from Windows 98 up to Windows XP.

5)      AVAST 4 Home Edition -
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

This is a popular choice however the licensing is very strict and meant for home and non-commercial use only. If you’re looking at a free anti-virus solution for even a non-commercial institution, look away now. This tool is one of the more complete options available, including extras such as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Instant Messaging (IM) protection. It offers automatic updates as well as live web and email protection. It also introduces the idea of a “virus chest”, a folder location that AVAST has certain execution restrictions on. You can consider a good place to download secure-questionable files without fear of its contents running all over your system, according to AVAST. It even supports 64-bit versions of Windows. Its full operating system support includes all client versions of Windows from Windows 95 through to Windows Vista (server editions not supported).

6)      Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic - http://www.free-av.com/

Boasting 15million users worldwide, this freeware edition from Avira of its AntiVir software offers a more basic level of protection with no support for spyware or adware viruses and no email plugins. It does handle rootkit extraction and basic protection against viruses, Trojans and worms. There’s no protection against spam and there’s no firewall either. It supports all versions of Windows from 98 through to 32-bit Windows Vista however support for Windows 98 and Windows Me ends on June 30, 2007. There’s no support however the support forum is available to answer any questions.

7)      BitDefender 8 Free Edition - http://tinyurl.com/34nzqo

This version of BitDefender provides basic protection against viruses but does not include real-time “always on” protection. That means it’s designed for manual use however there is a scheduling option available. It can also quarantine suspect files.

It supports Windows 98 through to Windows XP and Internet Explorer from version 4.0 up. There are no limits mentioned regarding commercial use but the fact that it doesn’t contain live protection may reduce its appeal against some of the other freeware anti-virus options.

8)      Google Pack -
http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html?hl=en&gl=us

Google Pack is Google’s collection of little freeware applications and while it previously included a special edition of Norton AntiVirus 2005, it has recently been updated to include Norton Security Scan and PC Tools Spyware Doctor.

Normally, Norton Security Scan is simply a virus detection tool, it has no ability to remove anything it finds however the Google version does include virus removal.

It doesn’t offer live protection so you have to consider this one an on-demand tool rather than keeping a watchful eye on things. Google’s FAQ for its Google Pack software says Security Scan will protect against viruses and Trojans as well as offer scheduled scanning and free updates. However, even Google says this is for basic protection only.

9)      TrendMicro HouseCall - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

TrendMicro doesn’t offer a freeware download but it does offer a web-based virus scan service called HouseCall. It requires web access and works on all versions of Windows from 98SE through to Windows XP Media Center Edition, but not Windows Vista. HouseCall has two execution engine options, either JAVA or ActiveX. The website gives details on what you need in order to run either version.

It runs via a browser (IE or Firefox) and can detect and remove viruses, Trojans as well as spyware and other malware. If you’re after a freeware service that’s always up to date rather than a download tool, this is a great option but remember it offers no real-time protection.

10)   VCatch Basic Version 5 - http://www.vcatch.com/download.html

VCatch is one of the lesser known antivirus tools available however this Basic Version 5 offers a decent array of protection options include all the major freeware email clients (except Thunderbird) as well as automatic updates. It also offers protection for P2P access as well. It’s a small tool with only a 1.9MB download file. The word is however that this tool tries to add in extra applications but you can refuse this option. This one wouldn’t be our first choice but it is free and should provide basic protection.