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Seth Rosenblatt, Senior associate editor April 29, 2010
You don't need to pay for your PC's security, and there are currently six excellent free security programs on CNET Download.com that are rated 4 stars or higher. These include the three most popular programs on the site: AVG, Avira AntiVir, and Avast, as well as ThreatFire from PC Tools. There are also two cloud-based security solutions in the group, Microsoft Security Essentials, which replaced the company's OneCare paid suite, and Panda Cloud AntiVirus.
None of them will replace smart browsing habits. For example, Google announced earlier this week that fake antivirus scams account for 15 percent of all malware. So if you get a pop-up trying to get you to download another antivirus program, ignore it. One of these six security will be more than enough to protect most users, although there's nothing wrong with paying for a security program if you feel you'll get better protection.
| Product Name | Avast Free Antivirus | AVG AntiVirus Free 2013 | Avira Free Antivirus 2013 | Microsoft Security Essentials | Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition | ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date Added | May 09, 2013 | May 20, 2013 | May 08, 2013 | February 20, 2013 | February 19, 2013 | October 11, 2011 |
| Editor's Rating | | | | | | |
| Average User Rating | | | | | | |
| Review Date | March 05, 2013 | September 07, 2012 | October 23, 2012 | December 22, 2010 | July 20, 2012 | September 11, 2012 |
| Summary | Looking to compete with both paid and free security suites, Avast wants to create a unified approach to your computer security. Long gone are the ... Read more | Review: AVG's updates for 2013 look to the future while struggling to overcome the problems of the past. There's a new interface optimized ... Read more | Review: Avira returns to the security field with a second major revamp in as many years of its flagship free antivirus and paid upgrades. Whereas ... Read more | The bottom line: Microsoft Security Essentials 2 will protect you, and it will generally do it well. However, its impact on system performance could be ... Read more | The bottom line: Panda Cloud Antivirus Free 2.0 gets impressive marks for its detection rates, making it a solid dark-horse candidate even though it ... Read more | Let's get one thing clear: PC Tools' ThreatFire Antivirus Free isn't supposed to be your system's primary antivirus solution. This behavior-based virus ... Read more |
| License | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Limitations | No limitations | No limitations | No limitations | No limitations | No limitations | No limitations |
| Downloads Last Week | 1115228 | 720815 | 36913 | 7706 | 4704 | 77 |
| Total Downloads | 253395559 | 470962460 | 143975495 | 3232623 | 3437698 | 3630007 |
| File Size | 112.04MB | 4.26MB | 2MB | 10.58MB | 789.28K | 9.42MB |
| Operating Systems | Windows 7 Windows 8 Windows XP Windows Windows Vista | Windows 7 Windows 8 Windows XP Windows Windows Vista | Windows 7 Windows XP Windows Windows Vista | Windows 7 Windows XP Windows Windows Vista | Windows 7 32-bit Windows 7 64-bit Windows Vista 64-bit Windows Windows XP 32-bit Windows Vista 32-bit | Windows 7 Windows XP Windows Windows 2003 Windows Vista Windows Server 2008 |
| Additional Requirements | No additional requirements | No additional requirements | No additional requirements | No additional requirements | No additional requirements | No additional requirements |
| Publisher | AVAST Software | AVG Technologies USA | Avira | Microsoft | Panda Security | PC Tools |
