The best free antivirus available (AVG AntiVirus Free Edition)

Member Name: Dave89

Product:	AVG AntiVirus Free Edition
Date:	18/05/09 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great at detecting viruses, doesn't slow your PC down very much

Disadvantages: Virtually none, although a firewall would be useful

I used to have a mcafee antivirus suite on my old computer, but in all honesty I didn't want to pay a subscription to keep the database up to date, so it was a bit pointless really. After buying a new laptop, I wanted to make sure it remained healthy and virus free, so I had a look around at various free antivirus software so I could keep it up to date and not pay any money. I tried AVG and I haven't regretted it for a second.
It is very easy to install and use, and it is very easy on resources. You can run a virus scan in the background while using your PC as normal, and you will notice very little difference. The performance will drop slightly, but in my experience mcafee was a lot worse.
This program has a great ability at detecting viruses, better than some programs you pay money for. I have had a few viruses on my laptop, and AVG has found and deleted all of them.
The latest free version also comes with antispyware software built in, whereas before AVG only provided a premium antispyware package. Another useful feature is the Linkscanner. When using any major search engine, google etc, an icon will appear beside every site, listing if the site contains any viruses. This feature is fantastic because it stops you accidently going to a website that will be harmful to your computer.
One major feature that is missing from the free version is a firewall, but you can't expect to get everything for nothing. There are plenty of free firewalls available, so it isn't really a major issue.

Summary: Contains everything you need to keep your PC healthy apart from a firewall

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