Most people know it is very important to have a good virus protection software installed on their computers. What some do not know is that they do not have to spend a large amount of money, and that this software can be downloaded online for free.
One of the most popular free antivirus programs is AVG. Other than being free, the main thing users like about AVG is the fast scanning speed. A recent addition to the program added “smart scanning” which identifies some files as safe and will only rescan them if a change is detected. Another advantage of smart scanning is that scans will run more slowly, but without interfering with other tasks, when the computer is in use. Once the computer is idle the scan will run faster. AVG also updated the 2012 edition of their software, so that it now catches fake antivirus programs as well as ransomware, both of which can be very obnoxious.
The boot time, on the other hand, is a bit slower than other antivirus programs. AVG is considered to be a very reliable program, but does occasionally miss something it should have detected. For this reason, many people use it along with another program for extra backup protection. The download time for AVG is about five minutes, from beginning the download until it is ready to use.
Avast is another freeware antivirus program that has recently made extensive upgrades, making it much more user-friendly and adding to its growing popularity. The download process is fast and simple, although still slower than most paid programs. The biggest addition to Avast is its AutoSandbox feature, making it only the second free antivirus program to offer this function. Another important update is the Safezone feature, which will be very helpful if you use your computer for things like online banking. Avast does not offer the fastest scan speeds, but it is fairly competitive and has made improvements in speed with the most recent version of the software.
One downside of downloading Avast is that it automatically comes with WebRep, which some users do not appreciate because it reduces their browser’s performance. Since it can be tricky to uninstall this program, it is recommended to use the Custom feature when downloading the software to begin with, and unchecking the box for WebRep. Overall Avast is considered one of the best free antivirus programs, even thought it is not perfect. A paid upgrade is available, and comes with even more features, but the free version offers a high degree of protection for most users.
The thing to remember with freeware antivirus software is that most do a very good, or even excellent, job of protecting your system. However, some users who want even more advanced features will want to upgrade to the paid versions of the programs.