Security
The arrival of Microsoft’s new 7 operating system means that it may be time to update your antivirus. In our selection we have looked at the best free antivirus programs currently available. These are Avast, AVG, Avira AntiVir Personal, Microsoft Security Essentials, My Free antivirus, and PC Tools AntiVirus. These are all compatible with Windows XP, Vista and Seven, while all support x86 (32 bit) versions, others also have x64 bit versions available. With a reworked interface, real time protection, integrated antispyware, file and folder analysis, Web protection, P2P, email and instant messaging protection, everything is here to protect your workstation!
My Free antivirus is a protection program which doesn’t really stand out as its basic user interface can only be described as very "old school". The analysis algorithm detects classic viruses, Trojan Horses and worms. The program is free and comes with 1 180 485 viruses definitions, with this new version working under Windows XP, Vista and more recently, Seven. After having tested it, for the moment we can only recommend using the 32 bit version, as the x64 lead to the program locking up a lot, leaving your computer rather annoyingly unprotected.
My Free antivirus comes with real time protection but, rather surprisingly, this option isn’t activated by default! Another thing to point out is that the updates aren’t automatic, which means that the user has to manually download and install the files. Once most of these updates were complete, it was frequently required for the machine to be rebooted. When resting, the program only takes up 6MB of memory, which is excellent, but once the graphical interface has been opened then this takes up an addition 178 MB, for a total of 184 MB without even having started a single analysis. It is possible to perform a full scan of all drives, a single drive and even a "scan" of a specific folder. It is also possible to perform a scan on a specific folder by right clicking the mouse on it, although you can’t do this on a specific file.
The Options tab provides you with a range of default actions to be taken in the event a virus is discovered (place in quarantine, ignore, repair, delete) and especially the "Control archives" (ZIP, CAB, RAR…) options which must be checked! It is on the same tab that you can add the proxy server for updates and folder exceptions to avoid scanning (although not single files). The malicious elements are grouped together in the Quarantine panel and you will have to select the most appropriate action to perform on each of these (repair, delete, restore).
My Free Antivirus doesn’t have analysis of email attachments, a Web shield, or specially adapted controls for instant messaging. It even detected a false positive for us! Simply, you can do better.
Creator: Smart PC Solutions
Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista, 7
Version: 2.2
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