Free Anti-Virus Software Showdown: The Best of 2012

Please note that the OPSWAT antivirus market share report referenced in this article is available at:

It's nice to see Tom's finally publish a review like this, but it would have been nicer to see more detailed coverage, like what we are used to in product reviews, benches, browser grand prix, etc. When I clicked on this I was hoping to see real quantitative comparisons, not ambiguous 0-5 star ratings. I'm interested in seeing the cold, hard facts, not personal opinions and conjecture.

I need to know if i'm really safe without my Norton.

Personally I run the free versions of SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes along with a customized HOSTS file and (here is the best defense) some common sense.

MSE + Built-in Firewall + Modern Browser + Competent User > Any other tool or combination of tools out there. So darn simple

sorry tom's guide but you are good only for hardware's purposes. signed: Avira

Eh...according to AVAST!'s website the free version doesn't come with the sandbox features listed. If the testers' copy used them it was obviously the 30-day trial version of AVAST! Internet Security which as you might have guessed, is only free for 30 days, and maybe shouldn't have been included. Anywhom, the guys up there^^^ are right; anti-virus software is nothing without some basic common sense. Ergo, knowing there is no such thing as a free iPhone.

Must admit I was surprised to find MSE built into the latest Windows 8 release.

Nice surprise I may add. However, I can see lengthy court cases ahead for MS on that.

@mjmckevitt

It may not have a fully featured sandbox mode but it has some form of it as it pops up every now and then when I use 3DP net to install network drivers asking if I want to run it in sandbox mode...slightly annoying as the program is fine but at least it shows it's working.

Interesting that Avast's boot time scan was left un-mentioned, an insanely handy feature that can clear out those more stubborn viruses that cant be removed from inside windows. Even though I don't use any AV software (common sense all the way) I recommend Avast to anyone asking about free protection (that and shoplifting condoms...)

Good unbiased review. I always knows that Avast 7 and MSE 4.0 is the best free anti virus software's. If you maintain your windows 7 OS up to date with latest security updates then the built in windows firewall combined with an Avast 7 offers solid security and that too without compromising any system performance.

There is an online Firewall efficiency testing site at https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
after updating my windows 7 I tested the windows firewall and I got "True Stealth" rating as the result. Whereas my previous firewall Comodo firewall, failed on that "All service ports" scan test.

I would like to know if Panda Cloud had internet access during the whole test?

/W

I used Avast last year and it was great while I had it installed. Seemed a little bloated and resource hungry.
As soon as my license ran out and i uninstalled 30 seconds later a fake AV suddenly appeared in my system tray then a virus overtook my computer with rootkits and destroyed my Win7X64 partition. Completely unable to boot into the system. I had to format the drive and use a different OS boot to recover files.
Might be great while you have it but it seems to just hold things back until the program is uninstalled.

Avira and not changing anytime soon!

Great review thank you!

I use online banking services. My bank is security paranoid. This is a trait I like. They give me a FREE internet security suite, a full professional license for 3 computers and the same for 3 mobile devices, including firewall and cloud supported antivirus. It also gets a free application and license update every year. It's called Kaspersky and it won TomsHardware's latest roundup beating all of the above in the AV category. The only real price was opening an internet capable savings account with £1.

my anti-virus expires in 17 days.Can I renew now?