Free Antivirus Help Blog

    ClamWin 0.95 is a free antivirus that uses the GNU license (completely free and open to modification software).  Two key features of ClamWin are the open source capability and the ability to be installed on any version of Windows including server editions.  This is in contrast to almost all other consumer antiviruses excluding PC tools antivirus.  Since ClamWin AV is an open source project, anyone can contribute to the software.  This includes adding new virus definitions and even new program functionality.  In fact, within the last eight days there have been eight code additions to the antivirus engine.

Virus Detection and Scanning:

    Since ClamWin 0.95 is based on user contributions, virus definitions will be frequently updated and have a human touch to them.  What I mean is that ClamWin users might get so frustrated with a particular virus that they will suggest a custom tailored virus definition to fix the problem.  This process of constantly tweaking the AV engine and definitions produces a highly effective antivirus solution.  In fact, many users report that ClamWin 0.95 detects few false positives and even viruses that several Norton versions had previously missed.  
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    Hitman Pro 3.5 is a new type of cloud antivirus that offers a “second option” approach.  First, a cloud antivirus functions by submitting suspicious files to a server farm (cloud).  Once on the cloud or uploaded to the server farm, the immense computing power at the Hitman Pro’s offices can be used to scan a file with 5 different antivirus scanners at once.  The “second option” means that Hitman Pro should be used in addition to existing antivirus.  The premise is that even well secured computers with antivirus and firewalls tend to miss 32.5% of viruses and malware.  Therefore, Hitman should be used as a “second option” and run upon every computer startup.  Read More...

    ThreatFire is a behavioral detection antivirus that studies a system for malicious changes (similar to Prevx).  Any malicious activity is then detected as a virus etc. and deleted and or uploaded to PC tools servers.  The advantage to all of this is the most advanced detection possible because of collective intelligence (virus discovery and detection) from millions of users.  This makes ThreatFire 4.7 an excellent addition to a free antivirus program.  However, ThreatFire 4.7 is not recommended to be used as a standalone program as per our tests.

Installation:

    The ThreatFire download was extremely small at only 8 megabytes in size.  The download is eclipsed only by Prevx’s 1-megabyte size.  The installation was smooth other than the annoying and mandatory security advisor.  The security advisor attempts to detect how secure the target computer is by testing for a firewall, antivirus, spyware, and a threat scan.  The threat advisor will then link to products that can satisfy the above protections.  Unfortunately, a novice user might interpret this as the actual ThreatFire program.  Regardless, after the security advisor has completed, the program will immediately start and update; no system restart is necessary.

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    EScan antivirus 10 is a new type of antivirus that works in the WinSock area of Windows.  WinSock is the way that software (e.g. a browser) hook up to TCP/IP (computer communication standard) to send information to Google or download a program.  Since eScan operates at such a low level on the computer, all internet traffic and network activity (Skype, ICQ, updates) are checked for viruses and malware.  This technology is similar to the security used on corporate networks via packet inspection.  EScan also utilizes a variant of Kaspersky’s engine for even more application protection.  To top the cake, the software even includes a firewall, which is surprising considering it is advertised as a standard antivirus.  Does WinSock integration improve antivirus performance compared to standard application protection?

Installation:

    The installation executable was 97 megabytes in size, which is moderate compared to other free antivirus.  In general, the installation was pretty smooth and did not require a system restart.  There was an initial virus scan but the virus definitions didn’t update before the scan started.  I felt that the scan was very informative in that it showed exactly the locations it was scanning and the antivirus recipe (what specifically the scan was looking for).  The quick scan also completed within 5 minutes.  
    One thing that I like about the installation was that it was highly automated.  At every point, the user is completely aware of everything that the installer is doing.  The automation theme is also repeated throughout every function of eScan.  Finally, the program launched immediately after the installation and didn’t require a restart even though a firewall was installed.

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    TrustPort antivirus 2010 is a relatively new antivirus with Czech roots.  The antivirus is similar to G-Data Antivirus in that it utilizes two antivirus engines; the Bitdefender and the AVG engine.  As with G-Data Antivirus, the combining of two free antivirus engines produces excellent detection results.  According to AV-comparatives, Trustport has some of the highest adware/spyware detection rates but also suffers from slower scanning speeds because of the dual engine burden.  Trustport also offers many unique features including internet protection and the ability to selectively disable antivirus engines.  We will now see how Trustport 2010 stacks up against the competition. 

Installation:

    The installation of TrustPort was relatively smooth and completed in about 5 minutes.  The whole executable was a whopping 144 megabytes in size, which is by far the largest antivirus executable available.  In addition to the large size, the download server was particularly slow.  The large executable is also interesting because the internet security version is only 19 megabytes larger but also includes a personal firewall and a whole slew of other utilities.
    One thing that I like about the installation is that the software alerts the user to verify if other antivirus programs are already installed.  This notice is important because often users will attempt to install a free antivirus program on top of an antivirus that might have been included with the laptop/computer.  This situation creates problems especially if both antiviruses include real time protection.  If one antivirus accesses a file, the other antivirus program will also access the file creating a slowdown.

Interface:

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    Sophos is an antivirus company based in the United States and England and has been around since the 1980s.  The antivirus software is frequently used in business and educational environments.  Therefore, Sophos is often available as a free antivirus by the institution (the way I was originally able to test the antivirus).  The software is fairly basic in that it only provides virus protection.  However, Sophos does an excellent job at mitigating virus and malicious software threats.  The software also has excellent memory and CPU resource management capabilities.

Installation:

    The download file was 66 megabytes in size, which is on the smaller side for standard antivirus.  The installation had a fair amount of menus and options to configure.  A user will also need to enter in the provided username and password to download updates.  The installer also needs to first extract files to a location however, this type of installer is usually indicative of a more manual experience.  Interestingly, the installation process hasn’t changed for probably about 5 years.  The whole installation process took about 5 minutes.

Interface:

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    Free AVG is probably the best-known free antivirus on the internet.  A simple Google search for “antivirus” will answer anyone’s question if they are unaware of this fact.  Girsoft offers many different versions of security software in addition to AVG antivirus.  The little known AVG Internet Security offers a lot of benefits over the free versions.  The addition of a firewall, Web shield, anti-rootkit protection, and helpful system tools are just some of the increased functionality available.  With the release of version 9, AVG Internet Security promises increased security comparable to Norton etc.  We will now see how AVG stacks up against the competition.

Installation:

    The installation of AVG Internet Security 9 was an average experience when compared to other antivirus installations.  As always, I chose the custom installation to see the guts of the program.  As with Avira, AVG Internet Security gives the user the option to selectively disable antivirus components.  This is helpful if a user already has desired protection (i.e. antispam).  The next step of the installation is the AVG link scanner toolbar.  Unfortunately, there is an option to make yahoo the homepage and default search engine etc.  While I can understand including the advertising in the free version, if they are going to provide it in the internet security product, I think they should also provide a free license.  The next option is to configure the definition update frequency.  I was kind of bummed that the most frequent update option was only every 4 hours especially because “increased update frequency” is an advertised function of the Internet Security version.  On the other hand, Norton Internet Security can update in as little as every 5 to 10 minutes because of the company’s extensive corporate network.  The final configuration option was to select the role of the computer.  There are two options and a user must select whether the computer is a laptop or a desktop.  However, AVG will not configure itself to save battery life (ala Bitdefender Internet Security) rather, it just simply configures the firewall for “extra” protection if a notebook connects to a hotspot.

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    Avira is best known for their free antivirus, Avira AntiVir antivirus.  The free software has won numerous accolades from hundreds of sites for its excellent protection.  However, little know to most computer users, the company also offers excellent internet security software.  In addition to antivirus and antispyware, the software includes an internet firewall, web guard, and a mail guard.  We found that while Avira lacked an excellent interface, it made up with exceptional antivirus detection and fast scan speeds.

Installation:

    The installation of Avira Internet Security was very easy.  The download file is only 33 megabytes in size, which is by far the smallest executable of any internet security software.  The installation has two options, standard or custom.  For the interest of this review, I chose the custom option.  The first thing that I liked was the ability to omit the installation any of the antivirus/firewall/mail protection components.  These options are really the most in-depth and welcomed if a user already has an exceptional antispam program etc.  The next option is an area where a user can select additional protection provided by Avira (i.e. protection against phishing, adware etc.).  I am personally confused why only select options were turned on.  Avira Internet Security 9.0 will actually omit application, security privacy risk, and application protection in a default installation.  It is beyond me why Avira would not activate the best possible protection by default.  Therefore, it is imperative to “select all” during this process.  If a user opts for the default installation, the protections can be reactivated in the Settings, “General”, and then Extended Threat Categories.  Interestingly, functionality turned off that should be turned on is a common theme throughout Avira Internet Security 9.
    One other option that I liked about the installation was the option to configure the firewall to allow default home network traffic (i.e. printer and file sharing) or opt for a more locked down private system.  This will save the user the hassle of manually allowing individual ports required for basic file sharing.

Interface:

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     The Trend Micro antivirus company is one of the oldest around.  I remember getting trend micro antivirus PC-Cillin CD’s over 10 years ago.  In fact, the company actually owns antivirus.com.  The company’s latest product is Trend Micro Internet Security 2010.  The software offers internet security protection with antivirus, antispyware, firewall, antispam, and parental controls.  Surprisingly, Trend Micro’s Internet Security stacks up to the competition and really brings a lot of unique features to the antivirus industry.

Installation:

    Trend Micro’s Installation was probably the most hassle free of any of the antivirus reviewed on this site.  The actual download is about 77 megabytes in size and comes with both 32bit and 64bit options.  Two things that I liked about the setup were the option to disable the firewall (if a user already has a firewall solution) and the ability to run an installation malware scan.   The later is a more and more common occurrence in free antivirus installations.  However, Trend Micro’s option to omit the scan is important especially if the antivirus is going to be implemented on multiple systems or for a generally fast and slick installation.  The antivirus setup also downloaded additional patches automatically.
    Trend Micro needed to download a 10 megabyte update after installation.  The company really provides fast updates maxing out at 1.6 megabytes per second (my cable modem’s capacity).  This is in contrast to AVG and Quickheal in which their download servers may be located outside the US or heavily burdened by a throb of free users. 

Interface:

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    F-Secure is a Finish antivirus company that was established in 1988. The software firm is credited with several firsts in the antivirus community; F-secure discovered the first Windows Vista virus and made foray into accurate rootkit detection.  The company’s most recent antivirus offering is F-Secure Internet Security 2010.  In the 2010 version, F-Secure has abandoned the Kaspersky engine for the Bitdefender Engine for definition-based detection.  F-secure also has added on 4 additional detection engines in addition to the basic definition engine.  We will now look at some of the unique features that F-Secure supposedly offers.

Installation:

    The installation of F-Secure was very seamless as they really aren’t many options to configure.  A user can decide to use the full installation or custom installation option.  The later includes the parental controls, which I decided not to configure for this review.
    The installer download is very small at only 70 megabytes.  This is even more amazing when you consider that one installer includes the antivirus and the internet security programs all in one executable.  What’s also nice is how FSecure automatically checks and downloads newer versions or patches within the installer.
    Once the installation was completed, F-Secure immediately updated the virus definitions.  Surprisingly, unlike most other free antivirus, F-Secure does not alert the user to a full scan not yet preformed, rather a large green check mark was displayed with the words “your computer is protected”.  Unfortunately, some users may interpret this message that their computer is already virus free, when in reality; this cannot be the case if a full virus scan has not been completed.

Interface:

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