Quality free antivirus software can be challenging to find for a variety of reasons. Many of those you find online will scan your computer for free, but require you to purchase the software in order to remove viruses. With the numbers of false positives involved with these scanners, their methods are suspect. There are programs that actually install viruses, so it isn't wise to download a program on the basis of the website. Find out more about the programs you find by checking out what others have to say about it. Regardless of the issues involved in downloading free antivirus software, there really are some free antivirus programs that will do the job sufficiently.

AntiVir Personal Edition Classic 8 for Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME and 98

This is the top free antivirus software according to several reviews because it has a good success rate in finding and removing viruses and can run in tandem with popular downloading applications. It has scanning abilities in common with paid software. It has a 5 Star Rating on Download.Com.

The positives of AntiVir 8 are its manual scanning features that let you scan individual files and folders by right clicking on them or dragging and dropping them into the application window. It is configured to run in safe mode - a very convenient feature! You can choose to have full reports on every problem issue or receive just the basic information concerning viruses. It updates automatically, runs on a schedule and has various options for scanning tasks.

This is not the best program for spyware detection in spite of its antivirus capabilities. The little spyware it does detect cannot be removed without purchasing additional AntiVir software. It is often criticized for slow connections while downloading updates.

Number Two: Avast! Antivirus v4.8

This free antivirus software has good ratings on CNET and Download.Com. It offers great protection against viruses and can detect one-third of the spyware programs that are downloaded on your pc. While the numbers involved with spyware detection are small, it does also include free removal of the horrible little pests in addition to its much better virus removal.

Avast! Is not feature-restrictive and is not a "free trial" program. It is growing in popularity as a decent antivirus program. It downloads detections and definitions without faltering and installs them quickly.

The most complained about feature of Avast! Is that you have to register it before 60 days are up and then register every year if you want to continue to use it. Even though some see this as a problem, the truth is that even paid programs require annual subscription and you have to pay for it, too! Free registration isn't so bad if you think about it.

If you have a computer and an internet connection, there is no getting around it: You need antivirus software on your computer. If the price of paid programs is a bit too steep for you to cover, AntiVir and Avast offer comparable protection for free. Don't let an inability to pay for virus protection keep you from protecting your PC. Be careful when downloading these programs and be sure to get them from their official sites. There are fake sites that try to get you to buy the products and there are also sites out there that will install viruses or spyware in their place.