Cloud

I am sure if you are reading this article, you can not claim that you have never been hit by some form of virus. Don’t worry almost everyone who has a computer and is mostly connected to the internet is hit by viruses, malware and trojans in one way or another. So the first response after being hit by the calamity is to search for an anti virus system. Therefore, i decided to write a blog to list down the best 8 free anti virus softwares that are available for download. Here is a quick tip, its always better to have one before you are actually infected by the antivirus so do not hesitate to have one if you are still operating in this new world of virus filled applications without having an antivirus software.

1) AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5.336

Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000

AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files. Version 8.5.336 is a bug fixing release
Click here to Download AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition (62 Mb)

2) Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus 9.0.0.394

Operating Systems:Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows 2000, Windows XP

Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection to home-users only. Avira offers: Extensive Malware Recognition of viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, worms; Automatic incremental updates of antivirus signatures, engine and entire software; Permanent virus protection, with Virus Guard real time monitoring; Install and configuration in just a couple of steps, setup to protect your PC in minutes; Virus protection against known and unknown threats, using an advanced heuristic system; Scheduler where you can set the scanner to make automatic virus scans or updates on your system; Forum and phone support; Knowledge Base with virus descriptions available on web site; Rootkit Detection and Removal; A modularized AV-search engine for improved scan performance.

Version 9 introduces a quick-removal button for eliminating viruses with a single click, enhanced anti-spyware and anti-adware engines, and support for low resolution netbook screens.

Click here to Download Avira AntiVir Personal Edition

3) PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition 5

Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition protects you against the most nefarious cyber-threats attempting to gain access to your PC and personal details. Going online without protection against the latest fast-spreading viruses, worms and Trojans can result in infections within minutes. Once infected, the virus will usually attempt to spread itself to your friends, family and associates by accessing your e-mail contacts and networked PCs. The infection may also allow hackers to access files on your PC, use it to launch attacks against other computers and Websites or to send mass spam email. That’s why PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition provides protection, with rapid database updates, IntelliGuard real-time file, Internet & e-mail protection and comprehensive system scanning to ensure your system remains safe and virus free. Version 5 features new improved scan engine, smaller memory footprint, and much improved system performance.

Click here to Download PC Tools Anti Virus Free Edition 5

4) ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition 4.0

Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000

ThreatFire is unlike traditional antivirus products that rely on old fashioned “signature” technology and require updating every time a new threat occurs. ThreatFire’s patent-pending ActiveDefense technology provides powerful protection against zero-day and emerging threats. It constantly monitors for both known and unknown viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, buffer overflows, spyware, adware and other malware. It uses behavioral analysis to hunt down and paralyze threats that are too new or too clever to be recognized by traditional “signature-based” antivirus software. ThreatFire is the perfect complement to traditional antivirus programs.
Version 4.0 improves protection of new and unknown Internet threats.

Click here to Download ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition (8 Mb)

5) Rising Antivirus 2009 Free Edition 21.22.30

Operating Systems: Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 98

Rising Antivirus Free Edition protects your computers against all types of viruses, Trojans, Worms, Rootkits and other malicious programs. Easy to use, Active Defense technology, Patented Unknown Virus Scan and Clean technology and Patented Smartupdate technology make Rising Antivirus install and forget product and entitles you to focus on your own jobs with your computers. Rising Antivirus also uses cloud security mechanism.

Click here to Download Rising Antivirus 2009 Free Edition (61 Mb)

6) Multi Virus Cleaner 2009 9.0.1

Operating Systems: Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows Server 2008, Windows 3.x, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 98

Multi Virus Cleaner is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove major viruses and spyware. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when cleaning infected systems. Multi Virus Cleaner is regularly updated and can detect hundreds of common viruses, worms, Trojans, dialers and spyware (including all variants of the Sober, MyDoom, Nyxem and Bagle viruses). The program offers a scanner that requires minimal processing power for repairing a compromised system. Multi Virus Cleaner detects over 6,400 viruses variants. The new 2009 version also detects and removes major spyware.

Click here to Download Multi Virus Cleaner (3 Mb)

7) Panda Cloud Antivirus Beta

Operating Systems:Windows Vista, Windows XP

Panda Cloud Antivirus protects you while you browse, play or work and you won’t even notice it. It is extremely light as all the work is done in the cloud. It provides you with the fastest protection against the newest viruses thanks to its cloud-scanning from PandaLabs’ servers. Panda Cloud Antivirus is truly install and forget. Don’t worry about updates, configuration or complicated decisions ever again. TechNama already wrote in detail about Panda Cloud Antivirus in a separate post here.

Click here to Download Panda Cloud Antivirus (18 Mb)

8 ) BitDefender Free Edition 10.0

Operating Systems: Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 98

Benefiting from previous experience, the new BitDefender Free Edition was designed with a centralized management console, which allows protection options configuration for all BitDefender modules. It is enough to open the management console in order to have access to all modules: Virus Scan, Scheduler, Live! Update, Quarantine, Reports. On demand scanning – Powerful scan engines ensure detection and removal of all viruses in the wild every time you need it. You can schedule the checking of your system at any time, periodically, without any other intervention. With just a right click you can check your files and folders. Automatic and manual update are available. Intelligent update of antivirus protection, without your intervention. The update can be done from the network over the Internet, directly or through a Proxy Server. There are over 90,000 Virus Definitions.

Click here to Download BitDefender Free Edition (49 Mb)

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Security Software firm Panda has announced the public beta of its first free cloud-based antivirus thin-client. Cloud based antivirus system means that extensive data analysis are done at the server while the client side enjoys safe and smooth computing. Therefore, Panda Cloud Antivirus beta needs an active internet connection to reach Panda Security’s Collective Intelligence malware and goodware online database. The Panda Cloud AV explains the new model and their objective in the following words on their blog:

With Panda Cloud Antivirus we introduce a new protection model based on a thin-client agent & server architecture which services malware protection as opposed to locally installed products. By combining local detection technologies with cloud-scanning capabilities and applying non-intrusive interception techniques on the client architecture, Panda Cloud Antivirus provides some of the best protection with a lightweight antivirus thin-client agent that barely consumes any PC resources.

Our objective is to release a solution based on this new protection model which helps solve the malware problem by improving user experience. After almost 20 years fighting viruses and malware we have changed our mentality at Panda. We would like to open ourselves to you and show you how we pretend to do things. In this blog we’ll explain in depth how this new model works in order to help improve it with you, our users.

Do keep in mind the fact that this new Cloud Antivirus keeps a local cache so you will not need an active internet connection at all times to keep your system safe. In this new era with increasingly complex viruses, updating of virus definition is now required every few hours so Panda Cloud Antivirus will truly match the future requirements. At least i am already tired of resource heavy anti virus programs and even then i have to update then every few hours to remain safe. So i would definitely prefer Panda Cloud AV system over the traditional anti virus systems.

Click here to download the beta version of Panda Cloud Antivirus system.