It constantly amazes me that I still meet people who pay good cold cash for anti virus software, Norton anti virus being the obvious candidate, and so I felt that I would do a hub showcasing the best free anti virus software out there on the web. And this stuff should not be under estimated, I will never pay for anti virus again and my particular favourite is better than Norton. If you are one of those people that pay for anti virus software then please please read this article, and stop paying for the stuff!

NOTE: All of the anti-virus programmes on here offer free regular updates, you MUST ensure that any alternative free programme offers this service. Hackers can create viruses very quickly and new ones are appearing all the time.

Anti-Norton:-I have already established that I seriously dislike Norton and the way that they try and make money from a very average product, and if you have Norton on your computer then the best thing to do is to remove it completely and then install one of the three programmes listed below. Removing Norton can be very difficult, luckily Symantics themselves have a piece of software that will remove this for you easily, this can be found HERE.

MAC USERS:- This article is not for Mac users, but it is increasingly necessary for Mac Users to have anti virus software. I will be following this up with an article on free software for Mac's.

AVG has been around for donkey's years and is currently on version 8.5, this is my personal favourite and the only anti virus that I have used for the past 4 years; suffice to say that during that period - despite some pretty heavy downloading - I have never been aware of a virus that AVG hasn't picked up and protected. Why is it free? This is the most obvious question for the cynics, the answer is simple; AVG makes enough money from selling its software on license to small businesses to give away the product for personal home use. In fact giving it away for free is the way that it generates its business as some of the people that use AVG for their personal use may be in a purchasing position within their organisations, or indeed already have relevant business interests.

The protection is very thorough and I only have one problem with AVG, and that is that it does not provide a technical support service, I suppose the reason is pretty simple and doesn't need to be explained. The one time I did have a query however I was able to consult one of the estimated 20 million AVG users on a computer forum! The best thing about AVG is that it uses next to no CPU so you can do whatever you want without it slowing you down or getting in the way, I wish that I could say the same for Norton but I just can't, Norton is a system hogger and can be incredibly irritating. The latest version of AVG also offers real-time threat protection for the first time, which catches up with the most expensive programmes around, to check out links whilst you are surfing the web. AVG provides frequent updates for all users in order to counter the newest threats, never at any cost to the user.

Download AVG Free Edition HERE

Avast, from Alwil Software, is another fantastic free anti virus programme which is on par with AVG with regards to protection, and actually has an easier interface than AVG. Although Alwil's software is not my favourite, and I will tell you why in a moment, it does have something which may prove very beneficial to users which AVG does not - and that is technical support! So although you can always find an answer to your problems somewhere no matter what piece of software you use, Alwil have a dedicated team just an email away! Avast covers exactly the same bases as AVG, it has just as thorough and frequent updates, and like AVG it does not hog your system resources.The major downfall with Avast, and the reason why I choose to stick with AVG, is that you have to re-register your free edition once every calender year.

I know that may not sound like too much effort, but the one serious virus I have ever had - a few years back - prevented me from accessing the Internet. Now, imagine that I get some sort of virus on my computer, I open up Avast for a scan and it asks me to re-register before I can use it. I swiftly click on the prompt to re-register and I am prevented from accessing the web because of the virus that Avast will not remove? I know that the chances are slim, and I know that I am probably just being a little too paranoid, but that is the only thing between AVG and this software which for me says that I get 100% protection from AVG and 99% protection from Avast.

Either way, Avast is a fantastic piece of free software - which is in my opinion still better than Norton - and you can download it HERE

AntiVir completes my list of software based applications and I do have to make an admission, I haven't actually tried it! However, almost everybody I encounter who has/does use it has commented that the anti virus protection of this software is more comprehensive than either of the above. To be honest, I can't see how a piece of software can be any more than AVG but I will give those people the benefit of the doubt. The reason I haven't tried it is because it does lack in other areas, one significant area is computer resources, AntiVir is well known to use a fair bit of CPU so can slow down whatever it is that you are doing. My computer is getting a little old and dated now, probably time to replace within the next 12 months, so I will leave my trial of AntiVir until I have a high spec machine. If you feel that you already have a high spec machine, in today's terms, then AntiVir is another one to consider. If like me you have a pretty average processor and 1gb of RAM, then maybe its best to stick with the much lighter and less obtrusive AVG or Avast!

Like Avast! you will also have to re-register occasionally, which for me personally is another good reason to use AVG, and it also does not scan your emails when you open them. Although my email provider is already very secure, this might be something to consider before trying to use AntiVir. That said, I am being very bias towards software that I actually possess; my instinct suggests that AntiVir may lack a little in a couple of key areas. For a free programme though, based on the good reviews I have seen, I would still take it over most paid programmes! If you would like to try AntiVir then you can do so by clicking HERE

We have all seen recently the positive effects of innovation in an era that is known as 'Web 2.0', especially the appearance of completely browser based software packages. These are programmes that can be used without the need to download or install any software. This section features two trustworthy and reliable anti-virus scanners that will do an effective job. I cannot emphasise enough that anti-virus is one area where browser based programmes should be used as a secondary source or backup only, particular when we all know that issues can arise with our Internet connections. I personally use these for a second opinion sometimes if I have any doubts about AVG picking anything up, only once have I ever found anything - but that's only because online programmes are occasionally updated a little quicker (often due to software users cancelling updates etc..) Anyway, on with the show, these are the two browser based programmes that I can personally recommend:-

Trendmicro's Housecall 6.6:- Housecall is a great utility that will search through every crevice of your computer to find infections and fix them as it goes, in addition it will even fix many other vulnerabilities and registry problems that it finds too. A great tool which offers a little more than your standard anti-virus. It is updated daily by a dedicated team, I would recommend that you run Housecall sporadically - maybe once every couple of weeks - just to see if it can find anything that your normal software may have missed. You can find Housecall HERE

Panda Security's Activescan 2.0:-Activescan 2.0 does not go quite as far as Housecall but it does have a particular benefit that Housecall does not, and that is to search individual drives/locations/files upon demand. If you think therefore that you may have something nasty in a particular file, then Activescan 2.0 can be used quickly to establish whether or not you have. Beware however that Panda will try and sell you something, just make sure you say no! HERE