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Free Antivirus Software

You can find lots of free software made to stop worms, viruses, and other malware. We tested several such programs to find the free antivirus you can depend on.

Edited by Nick Mediati

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1. Avira AntiVir Personal

Bottom Line: Avira Antivir Personal offers great, thorough protection and top-notch scan speed, but some nontechies might find its interface frustrating.

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2. Alwil Avast Antivirus Home Edition

Bottom Line: Avast Antivirus Home Edition provides solid antimalware protection and a good set of features, but its outdated interface needs a makeover.

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3. AVG 8.5 Free

Bottom Line: Though AVG 8.5 Free has a good, straightforward interface and useful blocking of Web-based attacks, its malware blocking is below average.

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4. Microsoft Security Essentials Beta

Bottom Line: An effective but somewhat slow utility, Microsoft Security Essentials will be a solid contender when it comes out of beta around the end of 2009.

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5. PC Tools Antivirus Free Edition

Bottom Line: PC Tools Antivirus, which neglects to detect spyware, allows far too many pieces of malware through for it to realistically protect any PC.

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6. Comodo Internet Security

Bottom Line: Comodo Internet Security is not a good antivirus choice, owing to its lackluster malware detection and its tendency to produce false positives.

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