Besides Microsoft’s free Security Essentials that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software — there’s seven other free offerings to protect your Windows 7 computer:
avast! Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for non-commercial & home use only.
Anti-rootkit, anti-spyware built-in Outstanding performance Reasonable memory requirements ICSA certifiedAVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0 – Basic antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows available to download for free. Limited features, no support, for private and non-commercial use only.Avira AntiVir Personal – Protects your computer against dangerous viruses, worms, Trojans and costly dialers.BitDefender Free Edition uses the same ICSA Labs certified scanning engines found in other BitDefender products, allowing you to enjoy basic virus protection for no cost at all.
Virus scanning and removal – On demand scanning – Powerful scan engines ensure detection and removal of all viruses in the wild every time you need it. Scheduled scanning – The Scheduler lets you plan ahead, and schedule full system/drive scans in the off hours, when you won’t be using your computer. Immediate scanning – With just a right click you can check your files and folders. Quarantine – By isolating the infected files in quarantine, the risk of getting infected diminishes. You also have the possibility to send these files for further analysis to BitDefender Labs. Reports – When launching a scan you may choose to create a report file where you can see statistics about the scan process.Comodo Internet Security combines the latest versions of their Firewall and AntiVirus software.Panda Cloud Antivirus – Free Edition
Antivirus Anti-Spyware Anti-RootkitSpyware Doctor with AntiVirus (part of the Google Pack)
Protects your PC with advanced anti-virus detection and removal Detects and removes spyware, adware, trojans and keyloggers
UPDATE =======================================While Avira’s forums & press release states Avira AntiVir Personal "will" be Windows 7 compatible — I didn’t include Avira because their current documentation does not reflect they are indeed Windows 7 compatible.However after a little prodding by Lebohang Bucibo & Kory Ingole, a few tests, and email exchanges . . . I’m adding Avira AntiVir Personal to the list of Free AntiVirus Anti-SpyWare software for Windows 7.
UPDATE #2 *sigh* ===================================Stop bugging me with the emails! ha ha I’m not sure how I forgot AVG, BitDefender & Comodo (all added above) – Are there more?
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Not forgetting the higly rated Avira AntiVir, which I found to perform extremely well, small memory footpring and and easy on the CPU. I used it before switching to MSE.
Most recently I was an Avira user. Avira is an awesome program that gets the job done. My only complaint with Avira was the pop up window that would show itself every so often. Since the release of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) I no longer use Avira. I find that MSE is a great program that is reliable and performs very well, except for the slow scan speed.