Free virus scan on Windows
Unless you never use the Internet and never install software on your computer, you probably need a virus scanning solution of some sort. A virus can come from pretty much anywhere: a word doc provided to you on floppy disk, an email message, a web site, downloaded programs, or even vulnerabilities in the operating system itself. What’s even more annoying is that infected PCs usually attempt to infect other PCs, be it with email worms, broadcasts on the network, or other more sinister mechanisms. If all computers ran virus scanning, there’d be a lot less network congestion. Companies like Symantec and McAfee have been selling virus scanning software for years, and often offer free year subscriptions with new PCs.
But why buy virus scanning software when you can get it for free? Sure, there’s extra support there (theoretically) if you have any issues, but most people get by with just running a virus scanner.
If you need to just quickly scan a previously infected computer without installing software, then Trend Micro’s Housecall is the way to go. This online scanner uses a Java applet to run right from your web browser and deal with problems. Unfortunately, this free scan doesn’t support cleaning of files, just deleting of them. Be forewarned!
If you’re looking for an actual virus scanner to install, then Grisoft’s AVG Free Edition is a good choice. This won’t allow you to scan network drives and also doesn’t run on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, but most computer users don’t have to worry about this. With one scheduled scan and one scheduled update per day, it’s a solid choice. Email messages get a tag noting that they have been scanned with AVG, which can be annoying at times.
Another good choice is avast! Home Edition. I’m actually leaning towards this version these days, as I appreciate its email scanning more than AVG’s. What’s more, it runs on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, which is nice.
With free options available, there is no reason to be running unprotected. If you’ve been putting off that Norton anti-virus renewal or just don’t have virus scanning, download and install one of the above today. The rest of the world appreciates it.
