Welcome to Antivirus Software site!

Antivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). Antivirus software programs can contain between 40,000 - 100,000 "virus definitions" that are updated on a daily or as needed basis.

Free Antivirus Software

There are a number of different antivirus software solutions on the market. Two of the most popular antivirus software is Norton Antivirus and McAfee. Both of these companies have specialized in antivirus solutions for a number of years, and so have great experience in dealing with the specific problems that need to be dealt with in the area. Neither of these is free, but the problem with free solutions, is that someone has to pay for them! Why? Because quite simply, antivirus software is only as good as its last update and it needs to be updated a lot, because it's a never ending battle against the virus creators. The antivirus companies plug the holes in software, and as fast as they do so. The virus creators are busily trying to find new ones. So they are very staff and labor intensive operations, because the antivirus companies need to constantly be on their guard to make sure that they are up to date.

As noted, each of the three free antivirus softwares - AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic, AVAST 4 Home Edition, and AVG Free Edition - have proven ability to detect in-the-wild viruses. This is a core, basic functionality of any reputable antivirus scanner and thus serves only as the basis for inclusion in the review, i.e. no points were awarded for meeting this minimum qualification. AVAST 4 Home Edition had the highest rate of zoo virus detection (92%), followed by AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic at 85% and AVG Free Edition at 81%. However, AVAST's higher zoo detection was offset by a correspondingly higher rate of false positives, 9 total compared to AntiVir at only 2. Conversely, AVG scored the lowest in both categories, racking up 11 false positives. Of course, these particular antivirus softwares don't claim to have adware and spyware removal capabilities, so it would be unfair to judge them harshly if they do not. Still, if you are looking for a standalone antivirus scanner that can also offer spyware or adware protection, you'll have to shell out a few dollars to get it.

A computer virus is a program or programming code that replicates by being copied or initiating it's copying to another program, computer boot sector or document. So a virus is nothing but a small program made up of binary code i.e. ones and zeroes just like the other programs that run the PC and the precise order of that code is called the virus' signature. Each virus has a different signature. The most common methods of transmitting viruses include downloads from the internet, files saved from floppy disks, and e-mail attachments. Antivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software (malware). Antivirus software programs can contain between 40,000 - 100,000 "virus definitions" that are updated on a daily or as needed basis.

Computer viruses do not come into existence one their own, and they're not likely to be created by bugs in regular programs. A computer virus is a program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. Viruses are sometimes confused with computer worms and Trojan horses. Viruses are software programs. In contrast to viruses, Trojan horses do not insert their code into other computer files. Some viruses are programmed to damage the computer by damaging programs, deleting files. Some viruses try to trick antivirus software by intercepting its requests to the operating system. For this reason, some viruses are programmed not to infect programs that are known to be part of antivirus software. A computer virus reproduces by making copies of itself in the computer's memory, storage or over a network. Help avoid computer viruses that spread over mobile devices. Do not open or forward any messages not known to you. This will help prevent the virus from spreading.

It's dangerous out there on the wild and woolly frontier of the Internet. Whether you have an always-on cable or DSL connection or you use dial-up, you're on a road that can deliver all sorts of nastiest directly to your PC through downloads or e-mail attachments. Virus writers are becoming increasingly clever. Antivirus software is your absolutely essential first line of defense--if you don't have antivirus software, you need to get it now. A wide variety of antivirus software is available. For a detailed look at how the top seven packages stack up, see the feature story "Protect Your PC" in the July 2002 issue. Virtually every antivirus software package is capable of operating continuously, monitoring all files as they are used; confirm that this feature hasn't been inadvertently turned off. If your antivirus software offers a choice of which files to work on, choose all. In addition, enable special options such as ETrust's incoming- and outgoing-file scanning, shown here.