Avira AntiVir Personal - Best Free Antivirus Software

Avira AntiVir Personal

Avira’s AntiVir is a popular and compact freeware antivirus solution. It not only protects against many types of malware, but also provides real-time protection. With AntiVir Guard, it removes viruses and repaires the system automatically in case of an infection.

Installation of Avira AntiVir:

• Smooth installation
• Immediate update of the virus database during installation, enabling a thorough full system scan immediately.
• Quick system-scan.

Interface

The interface is not the most elegant, but it is functional. Navigation tabs are on the left in the main window, and there is a central pane to see more detailed information. AntiVir opens with the Status menu displaying details of the last scan, the last definition file update, and whether the real-time guard is active. The Events screen logs program changes, and the Reports tab maintains the history of threats – both sections’ information being exportable.

Scanning with AntiVir

A pop-up window shows the scan-progress. Unlike other Free antivirus software, AntiVir scans for rootkits. You can pause, stop, and resume a scan. As with any anti-virus program, there is a noticeable performance-lag during scanning. It can be scheduled to system-scan during off hours. You can choose a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule and time for the scan, and even for “off-hours”. Scanning display can be Maximized, Minimized, or Invisible. Also you can have your computer shut down after the scan to save power.

Reporting Scans and Updates

AntiVir gives you a detailed text-based report for all scans and updates. Detection of a virus is accompanied by detailed, handy information from the Avira database. You can know the threat-level of malware, specific removal instructions if necessary, or determine it is a false positive. A pop-up nag-screen appears during update, a small price to pay for this Free, efficient antivirus software. Download Avira.