Best free antivirus software 2012
Some of the best things in life are free, well not really but sometimes you get lucky. With so much identity theft, computer viruses, spyware, and other malware, there is a great demand for antivirus and internet security software. Protecting yourself and your family online does not have to cost you any money. In this article I will list my favourite free antivirus and internet security software.
Avast Free Antivirus
Avast has certainly proven itself to be of high quality. Avast has been the recipient of praise and excellent benchmarks in terms of speed and detection rates. The free edition does not have as many features as the paid versions but it provides excellent protection against viruses and spyware.
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free security app from Microsoft that provides real-time protection against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It runs quietly and efficiently in the background. Microsoft Security Essentials has a great detection rate and is simple and easy to use.
By default it scans archive (zip, rar, etc.) files which is not optimal in my opinion but this is common to nearly all antivirus software. I always prefer to gain the extra performance by turning off the option to scan archive files since a virus inside a zipped file can't do any harm until it is extracted out of the archive container.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a heavy-hitting but lightweight anti-malware application. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can detect and remove malicious programs from your computer. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware combines powerful new technologies designed to seek out, destroy, and prevent malware.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware detects and removes malware where even the best known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail. The free version does not allow real-time protection but MBAM is an excellent choice as an on-demand scanner. I would suggest installing MBAM together with other antivirus applications and using it to periodically scan your computer.
