Free virus protection and free online virus scan

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Free Antivirus Software, Free Online Virus Scan

The free antivirus programs listed on this page allow you to detect computer viruses, remove or repair infected files, prevent infection, detect and remove email viruses, etc. There are also free online virus scanning services available for those who prefer (or need to) scan for virus that way.

Note that this page does not list commercial antivirus solutions like Symantec's Norton Antivirus 2007, McAfee Security VirusScan Software or Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 6 (which apart from its antivirus and anti-malware facilities, has a built-in host intrusion prevention system to protect against rootkits and other malware surreptitiously running on your system).

Disclaimer

The information provided on this page comes without any warranty whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book or service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other standard disclaimers also apply.

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ:

If you find that the links to the free software below go to pages which require you to pay money to get software, it means that your computer is badly infested with spyware and adware. You can no longer trust any link you see in your browser. The malware or spyware loaded in your computer has modified the addresses of every page you visit so that you are redirected to the spyware site. You may have to revisit this page from a clean computer to get the real software that is listed on this page.

After you clean your computer, you should use a safer browser like Firefox or Opera. ( Get Firefox with Google Toolbar )

Free AntiVirus Utilities

AOL Antivirus Shield is an antivirus software based on a substantially stripped-down version of the well-regarded Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal software. It provides real time scanning and automatic updates of the virus definitions. You will have to register with an email address to get a serial number which can be used to activate the software. Once activated, the serial number will be tied to the machine on which you installed it; if you need to install onto another machine, you will need to register again with a different email address. The software works on Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP.

Comodo Antivirus provides real-time scanning, where it resides in memory and checks your programs for viruses as they are run, as well as on-demand scanning for viruses. You can also schedule your scans. It automatically updates itself through the internet. Note that you have to activate your copy as well as supply your email address to get and use this software.

ClamAV is a free command line antivirus scanner for Unix systems. You can also integrate it with your mail server for scanning your email messages and attachments. It is able to scan inside archives like RAR archives, Zip archives, Gzip and Bzip2 archives (that is, it has unpacking engines for those types of compressed archives). If you are a programmer, you can even integrate the antivirus scanner into your own programs. This free antivirus program comes with source code that is released under the GNU General Public License. Prebuilt binary packages are available for numerous Linux distributions (Debian, RedHat / Fedora, PLD Linux, Mandrake), Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, AIX, OSF and Solaris 8 (Sparc).

AntiVir Personal Edition is a free antivirus program for Windows computers. It has a resident component that monitors file movements for signs of viruses. It also allows you to scan your computer and repair files that have been infected. The program comes with a facility to automatically check the AntiVir website for updates to the virus definitions and download them. Updates are free.

The AVG Anti-Virus software comprises a resident program that works in the background, an email scanner (checks your email for viruses), an on-demand scanner (eg, you invoke it to scan your system), the ability to repair certain infected files, and automatic updates of the virus definitions. A more fully featured commercial version, AVG Anti-Malware is also available. The commercial version not only protects against viruses, but also spyware and other malware.

F-Prot Antivirus for DOS, Linux and BSD (FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD) is free for personal use on personal workstations. (Note: these are separate downloads; scroll down on their page to find the link appropriate for your system. Also note that the Windows and Solaris versions are not free.)

avast! Home Edition is free for home users on non-commercial computers. You have to register your copy and supply them your email address (get a free email address here if you wish) so that they can send you a license key to activate the program.

Free Online Virus Scan

The free online virus scan from Freedom Internet Security and Privacy scans your hard disk, diskettes, CD-ROMs, network drives, directories and specific files for viruses, Trojans and worms.

This site scans any file that you upload to it with a variety of antivirus programs. It is particularly useful if you are suspicious about a particular file, and want to see if different antivirus software detect anything in it.

This free online virus scanning service will check your system for viruses. Note that the service only works if you use Internet Explorer on Windows since it uses ActiveX controls to do the scanning. Alternatively, you can buy their software product, BitDefender Antivirus, which will allow you to protect your computer from virus, rootkits and malware threats.

Scan your computer for viruses free with Trend Micro's online service. You will need either Netscape (3.01 or above) or Internet Explorer (4.0 or above). The European version of this service supports Internet Explorer, Firefox and the Mozilla browser only.