Anti-Virus Tools

avast! Home Edition is a complete anti-virus package, that is is free for registered home non-commercial users. It contains an on-demand scanner with two interfaces (simple for novices and advanced for experienced users), an on-access scanner with Standard Shield (which protects against execution and opening malware programs) and an embedded e-mail scanner which scans incoming and outgoing email messages. avast! Home integrates with the Windows Explorer right click menu and also includes a special screen saver which is able to scan your system while your computer is not in use. Updates are incremental and frequently made available for manual or scheduled download. You will download a 60 days demo, if you would like to continue free usage beyond that time, you`ll need to register from the home page to obtain a free activation key by email.

Avira AntiVir Personal offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. It detects and removes more than 50,000 viruses and an Internet-Update Wizard for easy updating. The built in resident Virus Guard serves to monitor file movements automatically, for example when downloading files from the internet. Heuristic scanning protects Protection against previously unknown macro viruses.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is an anti-virus scanner that offers Resident Protection, e-mail Scanner, On-Demand Scanner, and Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files and automatic updates. The free version is limited in features, but includes all basic scanning functionality as well as real-time protection. It uses the same scanning engine as the commercial version, however updates are provided on a low priority basis.

Dr.Web CureIt is a standalone anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner that scans your PC for viruses, trojans, adware, spyware, hack tools, rootkits, and other malware. The program does not require an installation and can be run from a USB drive. This is an on-demand scanner only, it can detect and remove virus infections but does not provide any real-time protection. Dr.Web CureIt is based on the ICSA certified Dr. Web scanning engine and should provide reliable detection.

PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition is an anti-virus scanner, that provides real-time protection against viruses, worms and Trojans. It also offers on-demand scans, as well as automatic updates and real-time scanning of incoming and outgoing mail. Other features include heuristic scanning and scheduled scans. The Free Edition offers limited support and non-priority updates.

BitDefender Free Edition offers ICSA Labs certified virus scanning of your files. It includes an on-demand Virus Scan, Scheduler, Online Update, Quarantine and reports. In addition, the scheduler allows you to scan selected files, folders or drives automatically at user specified intervals. BitDefender can scan inside archives, mail databases (Outlook etc.) as well as the boot sector. The free version does not include on-access or email scanning, so it is not suited as your only virus protection, however it is useful as a `second opinion scanner` since it integrates into the Explorer right click menu, and lets you easily access it when you need to scan a file.

BitDefender MS DOS Edition is an anti-virus scanner for Dos, designed to run from the command line. It utilizes a high-performance file analysis technology, that accurately identifies viruses and other suspicious activity on local hard disks or floppy disks of MS DOS systems. It provides detailed reports and statistics, a Quarantine zone and regular signature database updates.

ScripTrap traps scripts when they attempt to run on your computer and provides the option of blocking them or letting them continue to run. You can also check the intercepted script with your anti-virus program before you decide to run it or not. This provides you with a chance of catching possibly malicious code before it causes damage. ScripTrap is particularly useful for trapping scripts that arrive in email attachments, such as the ILOVEYOU virus.

F-Prot Antivirus for DOS is the classic command line scanner for the DOS operating system. Among features included in F-Prot Antivirus for DOS is an effective heuristic scanner to scan for new viruses and suspicious files. F-Prot Antivirus will scan inside compressed files, as well as in Word documents and Excel workbooks.

ClamWin is a free anti-virus scanner that is based on the Clam AntiVirus engine. It can detect and remove a wide range of viruses and spyware and offers email scanning (Outlook integration), automatic Internet updates, scheduled scans and email alerts on virus detection. ClamWin does NOT include an on-access real-time scanner, you need to manually scan a file (or run scheduled scans) in order to detect a virus.

ClamAV/SOSDG (formerly ClamAV For Windows) is a Windows command line version of the GPL licensed anti-virus solution. It includes a set of command line tools, including a high speed scanning daemon, that can be used to scan computers for viruses, or used by mail servers or proxy servers (via command line) to clean incoming messages. The program offers free definition updates and comes with detailed (PDF) documentation. Suited for advanced users only.