The Best Free Antivirus for Windows?
November 1st, 2009 | by rey |
AV-Comparatives, a non-profit independent Antivirus software tester (it just rolls off of your tongue doesn’t it?), has just published their latest Malware Removal Test results. It shows Microsoft’s Security Essentials version 1.0 as the most effective free antivirus solution besting the free AVG, Avira, and Avast. It ranks alongside Symantec and Escan (both of which have to be paid for, mind you) getting a “good” score for both removal of malware and their “leftovers” based on the below table:
The core engine of Security Essentials is the same as what’s found in Microsoft’s Forefront Client, client-based security software aimed at businesses. But, it includes new protection technology called “Dynamic Signature Service (DSS)” which delivers real-time threat signature updates to the client when it detects something suspicious, whether code or behavior. Suprisingly, this technology is yet to be implemented on Microsoft’s Forefront Client slated for release in the first half of 2010.
I have been using MSE as my antivirus for nearly a month now since I installed it last Oct 6 and I have had no issues whatsoever with it. I have not experienced any performance hits on my PC or any false positives. Just to make sure it’s even there, I tried downloading an Eicar anti-virus test file (only do this if you’re confident in your system’s security settings) and promptly got the following warning:
Clicking on “Clean Computer” got me this window:
So in short it’s actually working in the background, quietly doing it’s thing and announcing its presence only when it really needs your attention.
Before you can download and install MSE you need to be in one of the countries where MSE is available for download. Click here to check if you are. If you get a page telling you it is not available in your country or region, you must be using Internet Explorer. Opening the page in Firefox or Chrome should get you around that limitation allowing you to download the installer. You must also have a genuine copy of either Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 in order to successfully install. To get timely updates to your virus definitions, your Windows Updates must be set to Automatically download and install updates for hassle-free security.
