- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
- Date added: December 20, 2005
- Total Downloads: 30,369,878
- Downloads last week: 658,460
- See full specifications
A newer version of AntiVir Personal Edition is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 2844 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
For a free antimalware and antivirus app that also runs in your system's background, AntiVir works surprisingly well.
AntiVir's scans are flexible, allowing the user to fully scan all hard drives, choose a preloaded scan--for rootkits, for example--or customize a scan. Combining the antimalware with the antivirus is a luxury in a free scanner. After testing on several machines no viruses turned up, although several malicious hidden files did rear their heads. The heuristic scan can be turned on or off completely or partially, with three different intensity levels.
The quarantine is extensively thorough, too. The spreadsheet layout displays all relevant information about the quarantined file, and gives you options to scan it again, restore, delete, and more. The scheduler is fully customizable. However, the updater slowly chugs along, but thankfully updated definitions files are available at Avira's Web site. The help features in AntiVir were excellent, as well, with a description box relaying mouse-over information on each feature.
Initial concerns about the real-time Guard protection hamstringing system performance proved groundless. Although we could shut off AntiVir and its Guard, there was no way to remove the icon from the system tray or stop the occasional ad placement by Avira. The Complete Scan is numbingly slow, but it will stop midscan and let you know when it's found a threat. That's good for killing nasties, but it also means that you have to baby-sit it.
AntiVir's volume of features might take a while to get used to, but as long as the definitions file updates keep coming, this app's a keeper.
Watch the CNET video review of AntiVir Personal Edition:
Publisher's description
From Avira :Even though viruses have now grown very numerous, one thing hasn't changed: our commitment to provide you with all-round protection. The reliability of AntiVir is demonstrated in numerous comparison test and references featured in independent trade journals.
The AntiVir Personal Edition offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. In order to make possible an easy operation, the AntiVir Personal Edition is developed to the essential points.
AntiVir detects and removes more than 80,000 viruses, is always among the winners of comparison test featured in computer journals, the resident Virus Guard serves to monitor file movements automatically (e.g. downloading of data from the internet), scanning and repair of macro viruses, protection against previously unknown macro viruses, safeguard against cost generating dial-up program protection against trojaner, worms, backdoors, jokes and other harmful programs, easy operation, Internet-Update Wizard for easy updating, and protection against previously unknown boot record viruses and master boot record viruses.
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User reviews of AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
- Average user rating: 3.9 stars out of 2844 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 46 user reviewsSee all 46 user reviews
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11 out of 15 people found this review helpful
Version: AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
Pros: Great~!!
Nothing more can described.
Cons: so far so good!
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11 out of 17 people found this review helpful
Version: AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
"Very good but there are better"
Pros: Detects and removes viruses well
Has an update function
Scan rate is fast
It's free
Cons: Hasn't got Auto-Update (AKA Live Update) which means you have to download updates manuelly
Interface is extremely retro looking and is a little difficult to navigate
On that basis 3 stars only. Avast is quite a lot better.
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Version: AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
Pros: Using shadowsurfer in shadowmode, I infect my com with Alcra.B worm & a trojan. AntiVir is able to detect both of them fast. OnGuard also detect them when I was able to install the virus. It also got a nice interface, scanning speed is rather fast too. Better than AVG as it din even detect both.
Cons: The only thing I dun like is it doesnt repair or delete infected archive files. It detects both my zip files containing my virus but cant delete them.
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Version: AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
Pros: I have been using this antivirus for many years and it never let me down.I had to reinstall my windows only once in 8 years since i have a computer and that is when I had Norton on it.Anyway the fact is that this antivirus detects a whole alot of viruses and other malware plus one must not forget that it is FREE.Now for those who say that it doesn't have Auto Update,I propese they should learn the programm better.By default the program doesn't have Auto Update On but there is a so called AntiVir Scheduler with wich you can program when to do the updates.Now this function of it is even better than other antivirus programs have.
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5 out of 9 people found this review helpful
Version: AntiVir Personal Edition 6.32
"Ranked third out of three good Anti-virus programs."
Pros: This is a solid performer.It does what is says and overall you can't go wrong with this. Very easy on system resources and has frequent updates.
Cons: Quite outdated interface and somewhat confusing to navagate thru all functions. Stick with AVG if you are a novice, try Avast if you like to tinker with settings, try Antivir if you are "old school"
- See all 46 user reviews Write review
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