Software
Consistently at or near the top of independent efficacy testers, Avira's AntiVir remains one of the best freeware security solutions around. Its scans are flexible, allowing the user to fully scan both internal and external hard drives, run a preloaded scan--for rootkits, for example--or customize a scan. The latest version introduces antispyware protections, scanning tech that can crack open "locked" files, improved internal security to prevent AntiVir's files from being maliciously altered, and one-click threat removal--no more baby-sitting.
There are few interface changes in version 9, and older users are not likely notice anything different in the interface besides a refreshed banner logo. The main window offers a left side navigation with drop-down menus and a central pane for more detailed information. AntiVir opens to the Status menu, informing you of your last scan, your last definition file update, whether the real-time guard is active, and premium upgrade link. Events logs changes to the program and the Reports tab keeps a history of threats. Both are exportable.
The Local Protection and Administration navigation options reveal the Scanner, Guard, Quarantine, and Scheduler features. Combined with the Configuration button located at the top of the central pane, users can customize their scans as necessary. Quarantined file information is on display, with options to scan it again, restore, delete, and e-mail the file to Avira. The rebuilt heuristic engine retains the same choices from the previous version's, and can be turned on or off in part or in full and offers three intensity levels. The scheduler offers much that other free antivirus programs don't, and the help features are excellent, with mouse-over information on each feature.
Savvy users will notice the removal of the on-demand e-mail scan, and AntiVir is still challenging to fully uninstall. Despite these hang-ups and the nag screen that follows definition file updates, AntiVir offers such effective protection and a well-rounded set of features that as long as the updates keep coming, it'll be our first line of defense.
-from cnet.com
Avira Antivir Personal - Not Just another Free Anti-Virus
Free antivirus for non-commercial use is a considerable help for all those users who want the best protection against security threats on their PCs, but unfortunately they haven't the possibility to afford the price of a commercial antivirus license. And today there are many such antivirus intended to protect non commercial user's PCs. Precisely, today I'm going to tell you about one of these free antivirus: Avira AntiVir Personal. What we have here is a security application that as I've already mentioned is free for non-commercial usage and its main feature is the ability to detect and remove more than 50 thousand viruses and other dangerous applications which can infect our PCs including macro and boot sector threats.
Really Low Resources Consumption
Avira AntiVir is quite simple and easy to use, because its development has been intended for the average user but looking for the best PC security. Other new features of Avira AntiVir are new user interface, a scan engine which is 20% faster than the previous version, support for netbooks with low-resolution screen and a new heuristic detection engine.
Fast & Smooth HDD Scanning
The disk scanning process can be perfectly performed in the background or you can watch what happens, anyway, it runs smoothly and it only takes around half an hour to scan an almost full 40GB HDD.
Real-Time Protection
This real-time analysis is known as Guard, a resident module that controls each of the movements which take place in our system, including file moving and copying, Internet downloads, control of the cookies generated by web browsing.
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Menu Integration
It is also able to integrate Avira with the graphical interface and Windows explorer context menus, in this way Avira gives the user the possibility to perform a quick analysis of any file, directory or storage unit connected to the computer. This action can be performed by right-clicking on any file, document, folder or unit that we consider suspicious, and Avira will offer us the possibility to scan it in search of malware.
Manual & Scheduled Updates
Updates for Avira Antivir Personal can be performed manually from the application' settings found at the main window under Overview > Status > Start update, or automatically adding the ability to schedule these updates at intervals of time going to Adminstration > Scheduler > Insert New Job (first icon found on the task chart). Anyway, updates only take a few seconds and are a vital part of any security program.
Details That Make a Difference
An interesting feature is the one-click threat removal, which detect threats during scanning and logs all activity placing it in quarantine without our intervention. In this way, we can leave the application running during the night and take the necessary actions to eliminate them on the next morning.
Avira Antivir 9 besides being free is an acceptable solution to keep our PC free of infections and protected from the many threats that exist on the web. Maybe it is not the most comprehensive and it is said to offer a few false positives, on the other hand we have that its resource consumption is lower than other suites that slow down our PC considerably, so it is a good option if you are looking for a free personal antivirus.
You can download the latest version: Click Here
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Security worries Galore! We all have them. Seems like rootkits are becoming crazy. If you have been infected, try this software.
Sophos Anti-Rootkit scans, detects and removes any rootkit that is hidden on your computer using advanced rootkit detection technology.
Rootkits can lie hidden on computers and remain undetected by anti-virus software. Although new rootkits can be prevented from infecting the system, if you had any rootkits before you installed your anti-virus, they may never be revealed.
Removing rootkits without compromising system integrity is particularly challenging and needs to be done with care.
Download Sophos: Click Here
If you have recently undergone the dreaded WIN32 worm give this a try: Worm Remover