Comparison of Free Vs Paid Internet Security - Top 10 Free and Paid Products

First it is useful to point out who is choosing free software vs. paid programs. When new computers are sold, they are typically pre-loaded with at least one full featured security suite - available as a free trial for a month or two. This recommended paid product is optional and is made available for those who are new to computers, and may not be aware that alternatives exist, or where to go to find them - knowing that most who default into this category will opt to follow recommendations and stay with, and pay for the program.

On the other hand, if you've been around the block a few times, you have by now enough savvy to know that anyone will try to sell you anything. You're likely aware of other options and programs available to achieve the same results - whether self taught, by word of mouth, or doing your own web research. Regardless, you still end up wondering how exactly can free internet security compare or compete with the paid versions?

Contents: What's the difference?

Save Money on Your Antivirus Software

Regardless of what it is you want to do to protect your computer system, there are a lot of free available options. Virus removal software can be very expensive as most antivirus programs out there require a monthly or yearly subscription fee which can be quite hefty. If you prefer to save money, but want complete virus protection, the best solution is to find reliable free PC virus protection software for free. Here are some suggestions on the benefits that free malware protection software can provide for you without costing you an arm and a leg.

A lot of users often wonder are free antivirus download programs really any good? The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Free spyware protection programs can be as good as paid ones if downloaded from a reliable vendor. Various companies offer free PC virus protection software that are just as quick and effective at detecting viruses, malware and spyware as the pay-for antivirus versions.

Free Antivirus and Firewall Software: What is Good?

Free antivirus is one of the most in-demand downloadable software on the Net today. Even with the limited protection they offer, computer users still use them because they're free. There are actually good antivirus firewall software programs that can be downloaded for free.

Take a quick look at some of the antivirus firewall software programs that are actually reliable yet free.

AVG Free. AVG Free is one of the widely used free antivirus applications. It has real-time threat scanner and checks out which website is safe to visit and which has a possible threat (for Internet Explorer and Firefox only). It updates regularly and does not require large system resources.

Avira Antivir. This is a technical user's choice of antivirus program. The average computer user may find it not very easy to use because you have to be knowledgeable about some technical stuff to be able to use this. But, despite that, it is considered the most meticulous in protecting your computer and also the fastest.

Avast! 24.8 Home Edition. It has all the features that the commercial Avast! Antivirus program has. It is good in protecting your computer and detecting possible malware, though it may not be as good or as aggressive as Avira Antivir.

Searching For Free Antivirus

These are some of the best, completely free antivirus software and add-ons available on the internet for download.

Avast Home Edition: This is a completely free but one of the best antivirus applications available anywhere, which is intended for non-commercial use. You can download and register it on their website (www.avast.com) free of cost. The Avast Home Edition features an On Demand Scanner, On Access Scanner (to protect e-mail clients, instant messengers, etc). It also has P2P protection and a lightweight firewall. The NNTP Scanner can scan all Usenet Newsgroup traffic and all operations with files on PC. It also has a real-time protection feature which is rather powerful. Program and database updates are also incredibly fast.

602LAN Suite (http://www.software602.com/products/ls/): This secure mail server has an inbuilt antivirus and anti-spam guard. The firewall is meant to control internet sharing and is equipped with NAT and Web content filter proxy. It also features standards based SSL SMTP/POP3 e-mail server that enables encrypted communication, junk mail protection and an integrated fax server. Access to the Web mail client, shared address book, remote administration and user home pages is provided by the integrated Web server. Other features include includes text content based Bayesian spam filter, Web Mail Client with WAP support, network address translation, attachment filter, PureSight proxy content filter, auto-update and ActiveReports.

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic (http://www.free-av.com/): Another one of the few, but great free antivirus software available for download. The AntiVir PersonalEdition is for individual and private use on a single PC-workstation only, which can detect and remove more than 230,000 known viruses. It features a resident Virus Guard which monitors file movements automatically such as downloading of data from the internet. It scans and repairs macro viruses and protects against boot record viruses and master boot record viruses, Trojans, worms, and other malicious activities. You can easily update the database and support is free of charge through the AntiVir Bulletin Board (http://forum.antivir.de/).

AVG Free Edition: The free edition is available to home users for personal and non-commercial use on a single computer. Though it is limited in features compared to its professional counterpart, the AVG Free Edition does include useful features such as Automatic healing, Reliable scanning engine, Scheduled scanning frequency and Scheduled update frequency (both once a day only), Optional automatic update upon Internet detection, and Options to define file name extensions. There is also no technical support available.

Futureca AntiVirus Outlook: This is a special add-on designed specifically for Microsoft Outlook. It scans all incoming and outgoing mail messages for viruses in real time, and immediately alerts the user if it detects one. It is quite useful if you are a regular Outlook user, and the virus definition database can easily be updated over the internet. You can download it from [http://www.futureca.com/downloads.htm].

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Free Antivirus Software

It is important for you to install antivirus software at your computer or notebook. Antivirus software will give protection from various harmful things such as viruses, spywares, adwares, worms, Trojans, rootkit infections, and much more. The old version of antivirus only detected the viruses while the old version of spyware removers just detected spyware. Now, the limit between antivirus and spyware removers is unclear. The antivirus software available today provides better detection rates for various malwares.

Those malwares are including viruses, worms, adware, keyloggers, and many dangerous threats for your computer. Since the number of malware keeps increasing, it is impossible for antivirus software to keep up. However, using more than one antivirus can cause the conflicts and reduce the protection. Because of this reason, it is more recommended for you to choose the best antivirus for real time protection. You will be able to increase the protection using security software. Here are some free antivirus software programs which can be your consideration.

The first program is Avira AntiVir Personal Edition. Due to its high quality, many people choose to use this program. Avira faced some controversies related to re-branded Ask toolbar in their installer and temporary spate of advertisement to promote a possible scareware company. Despite of its negative issues, Antivir is still top notch antivirus. It offers outstanding detection rates of malware. The ability is higher than other antivirus programs. Because of the ability, Antivir is still a good choice for free antivirus software programs especially for high risk users.

When you are using Avira, you will not be able to scan any website or e-mail. You can only get this feature from commercial versions. For the people who are using the free version, you will not get any warn of an infected emails before you open it. However, when you open the infected email, Avira will take the action.

Another option you can get is AVG Anti virus. In the past days, this antivirus provides some shaky results in detection. Current AVG antivirus provides higher level protection due to Identity Protection. It provides very important layer of protection. The weakness of AVG free antivirus software is its big size and slow scan speeds. It also has advertisements but you can disable them.

Avast free antivirus software can also be good option. This program improves the detection rates over these past years. It offers real-time capabilities such as web, e-mail, IM, behavioral blocker, and much more. The latest version even offers more features such as internet site ratings plugin, script malware, and much more.

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Best Antivirus - Free vs. Paid Antivirus

Like many people I thought that my computer was well protected against viruses and other malicious software by the name brand antivirus software that was included with the computer when I bought it.

I browsed the Internet with no problem and everything seemed to work smoothly until one day something took over my machine. Random sounds and music began playing and the screen would flicker. Little cartoon characters would briefly appear on the screen. Yikes. What had infected my computer?

I cleared the browser cache, shut down the computer, and rebooted. The thing was still there. I ran a complete scan using the antivirus software that came with the computer. It did not find the problem.

I was still able to access the Internet, so I started searching for better antivirus software. I wasn't looking for a casual recommendation on a forum or someone's blog. I wanted to find some test results from a recognized authority. I was looking for an antivirus program with high detection rates, whether it was free or required payment.

I found that testing antivirus software is a specialized business now. Even the people at PC Magazine said that they don't do their own tests with live viruses. They rely on tests conducted by independent testing labs, including AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, ICSA Labs, Virus Bulletin, and West Coast Labs.

These independent testing labs have reliable data on detection rates for both free and paid antivirus software. However not all of these testing labs have user-friendly websites for the general public.

Pros and Cons of Free Antivirus Protection

The antivirus industry is one of the fastest growing global markets, which is successfully driving users to get the protection installed. Various virus attacks are unleashed on regular basis online thus safety is always imperative. Advent of free antivirus software has certainly changed many things thereafter. Free antivirus software isn't that good in comparison to its commercial counterparts but irrespective of that it is pretty good for most users.

There are advantages as well as disadvantages for free antivirus programs which come up with advanced detection technologies. Most of the people are of the opinion that commercial antivirus software is a complete rip-off of technology. With free programs, it's always necessary to get the renewal of license by asking a user to pay a certain amount of money in return. If the license gets expired, such commercial antivirus protection software would stop detecting newer viruses. Free antivirus softwares thus requires regular renewal of licenses. They are guaranteed to be free to download as they are easy to download, install, run and update when necessary.

An antivirus program is a really good option as it helps detect all the hidden malwares and one doesn't require paying for it too. Virus signature database can be very well updated without paying a fee for it. Unluckily these free versions are however meant for personal and non-commercial use only. There are many other antivirus free programs out there, which aren't that good enough to provide proper security to your system. Free antivirus softwares don't really come-up with advanced detection technology and thus they fail to detect different variants of viruses.

Such antivirus software isn't certainly worth anything if you are planning to get it for free. It's important on part of user to make an informed decision to install it to your system. Virus guard supplied is typically lower than that of commercial security tools. There is complete confidence that catalogued Trojans, worms and spywares can't breakthrough from outside. Pests that have already infested compatibility of your system can be easily spotted and neutralized easily. Some internet defence should be bundled with the distributive to receive the features of the best antivirus protection.

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Top Free Antivirus Software

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If you suspect that your PC has been infected by malware (virus, Trojan, adware, spyware, etc.), one of your first stops should be at a web site that allows you to download a free antivirus package.

Many companies offer free programs that are cut-down versions of their commercial products. Some programs are also available as freeware or Open Source. In general, these antivirus programs are free for non-commercial use only. This means that the program can only be used at home or college and is for your personal use only. If you use the program at work, or install it on more than one computer system at a time, you are usually required to pay for it.

Some companies ask you to register the software before using it. Registration is often required if you want to be able to update the program via the Internet. Although it might be a little inconvenient, registration costs nothing and helps software developers continue to let people use their programs for free.

Although antivirus programs may offer lots of different features, most work in basically the same way. When the program first starts, there is a short delay while it checks the computer's memory and other locations for signs of virus infection. Next, the program will usually attempt to update its internal database of virus information via the Internet. The amount of time this takes will vary according to the speed of your Internet connection but shouldn't take more than a minute of two. Once any updates have been downloaded, the program will then carry out a full scan of your machine. This can take a long time, so be prepared to wait patiently or, better still, go and grab a coffee!

Different Types of Antivirus Software

If your computer runs normally, it is a sign that it is working properly. If however, your computer starts to function in a way that it is far from normal, consider that as a warning sign that your computer is about to suffer from a viral attack. Computer viruses and trojans can have a serious impact on your computer such as deleting your hard drive and even taking control of your computer. With sufficient and adequate antivirus protection, you can counter the effects of an unwanted attack.

There are good free antivirus programs, however the only drawback is that it consumes a huge amount of memory. If installed on a laptop, there is a chance that this program will cause the laptop to hang. A desktop computer carries more memory than a laptop, therefore it may withstand the free antivirus software's memory consumption. This is what happened in my case. As my commercial antivirus program expired, I was left with the dilemma of protecting my computer. As I searched for a good antivirus, I finally selected one which protects against most viruses and at the same time consumes the least amount of memory. Best of all, it's free.