Running an Anti-Virus program in the background of your PC is vital to ensuring you’re kept safe against cyber threats – spyware, adware, malware, viruses, Trojans – those types of things. Things aren’t quite like they were several years ago, where you have to pay $40+ just for a half-way decent AV program. Today, you can get a full suite, absolutely free, and there’s even a variety of different options to choose from!
1 – AVG AntiVirus Free
A long running competitor in the free AV industry, in-fact, one of the very first to offer a free suite, was AVG. Now, several years later, they’ve listened to user feedback and have managed to vastly improve their software, and it gets better and better every year. AVG offers full protection for you PC, Laptop, and mobile devices, and gives you real-time defense against threats as you browse the internet and download files.
2 – Avast! Free Antivirus
Currently, I’m using Avast on my laptop, and I’m really pleased with it so far. I do a lot of gaming on my laptop, and AVs can be bothersome when running full screen programs, but fortunately Avast offers a “gaming mode” which is guaranteed to not be an inconvenience when playing games. It has quickly removed a couple annoyances from viruses that managed to make their way onto my PC, and I’d highly recommend Avast to anyone looking for a good free Anti-Virus.
3 – Ad-Aware Free Antivirus
Ad-Aware once offered a very popular free Adware removal program, but has since moved on to bigger and better things – now offering a completely free to use AV suite. Like AVG, Ad-Aware has also been around for a very long time, and it’s evident that experience does wonders for a company developing AV Software, as this suite is one of the best on the market today.
4 – Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
This AV advertises itself as a non-intrusive suite, and a major complaint most users have about their Anti-Virus program is that it’s very annoying with all the constant alerts. Bitdefender will only display a small text box message on the corner of your screen, and even these are rare to see. Since most users don’t really care what their AV is doing, and just want it to protect them, it’s no surprise Bitdefender has become a very popular choice.
5 – Avira Free Antivirus
If you’re looking for a well-organized Anti-Virus, look no further than Avira. While offering similar protection as the rest of the programs on this list, Avira has intelligently categorized menus to help users find exactly what they’re looking for – without any hassle. Mobile protection is also included with Avira, giving you security at home, in the office, and everywhere in-between.
You should have no trouble picking out the right Anti-Virus Suite for you, given the fantastic choices listed above. Each one of these is great in its own way, and you can decide for yourself which features will benefit your PC usage habits the most.