Ad-Aware Free Antivirus & Antispyware

Totally Free protection against viruses, spyware and adware.
Downloaded over 400 million times.Ad-Aware Free Antivirus offers real-time protection against viruses, trojans, spyware, rootkits, hijackers, keyloggers and more!

Avira Free Antivirus

The bottom line: An aggressive redesign aimed at making its best-known suite more accessible than before, Avira Free Antivirus 12 combines fast scans with above-average protection for a solid security combo.

Avast Free Antivirus

The bottom line: After the last version’s radical new interface that brought this security stalwart into a visual comparison with its competitors, Avast looks to the future with version 6’s edgy improvements.

Review:
Avast made great strides in its previous update. Version 5 set the stage for the modern, massively popular, and free security suite with a new interface that ditched a quirky, late-’90s jukebox style for a more polished look. Easier to navigate, it also became easier to add new features.

Make no mistake; Avast 6 adds features both big and small. Some that had previously only been available to paid upgrade users are now free for all versions, and newer features have been seamlessly added to the interface experience. If you’re familiar with Avast 5, upgrading to Avast 6 won’t be that big of a leap.

AVG Antivirus Free Edition

The bottom line: AVG Free 2012’s renewed focus on performance keeps scans zippy, but struggles with slowing down your boot time and too many false positives.

Review:
The never-ending mantra chanted by security suite vendors sounds a lot like “faster scans, easier to use, better performance,” and AVG has released a new version that it says accomplishes all three. Certainly, the scans are faster, it does install more quickly, and some tweaks to the interface have made it easier to view. Two new core security changes will make you safer, too.

BitDefender Free Antivirus

System Requirements

Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (32/64 bit) or higher

• 800 MHz or higher processor
• 256 MB of RAM Memory (512 MB recommended)
• 170 MB available hard disk space (200 recommended)