Best Free Antivirus Softwares in 2009

Live-Guard Antivirus software, On-Demand Antivirus software, Portable Antivirus software, Online Antivirus software: Get it all here! Antivirus softwares are a must have in everyone’s computer. There should not be any excuse for not using an antivirus software since there are many excellent free antivirus softwares available for download from the internet.

If you can afford it, you can purchase premium full version of antivirus softwares which includes various types of protection which includes antivirus, anti-spyware, email scanning, rootkit detection and many more. Meanwhile, free version of antivirus softwares might not have all these extra features, but they have excellent virus scanners and some even throw in features that only paid version used to have.

To see how all Anti-Virus softwares fare against each other, check the following: View comparative test results of Anti-virus softwares. 

Free Antivirus Softwares

avast! antivirus Home Edition – Free Antivirus software
avast! antivirus can be considered as one of the best among free antivirus softwares as it has excellent virus and spyware detection rates. It’s features includes Integrated Virus Cleaner, Antivirus kernel, Anti-spyware, Web Shield, Anti-rootkit, Resident protection, Network Shield, P2P and IM Shields, Strong self-protection, Virus Chest, Automatic updates, System integration, Simple User Interface, Support for 64-bit Windows, Internationalization.

Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus software
Avira AntiVir Personal is a reliable free antivirus solution that constantly and rapidly scans your computer for malicious programs such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc. It is meant for home-users and for personal use only, and is not for business or commercial use. Avira AntiVir Personal features includes: Antivirus protection against viruses, worms and Trojans, Anti-Dialer, Anti-Rootkit, Anti-Phishing, Anti-Spyware.

AVG Anti-Virus Free – Free Antivirus software
AVG Anti-Virus Free is the most popular free antivirus software. It has a user-friendly interface and is quite comfortable to use. AVG Anti-Virus Free features includes: Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, LinkScanner Active Surf-Shield, LinkScanner Search-Shield, AVG Security Toolbar.

Free On-demand Antivirus Softwares

BitDefender Free Edition – Free On-demand Antivirus software
BitDefender Free Edition uses one of the most effective scanning engines. Unfortunately, this free version is an on-demand scanner and not an always-on protection mode. You can use this as a secondary virus scanner. BitDefender Free Edition features includes: On-demand virus scanning and removal, Scheduled scanning, Immediate scanning, Quarantine.

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool – Free On-demand Antivirus software
Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is an utility designed to remove all types of infections from your computer. Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool implies effective algorithms of detection used by Kaspersky Anti-Virus and AVZ Antiviral Toolkit. Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool is not capable for real-time protection of your computer.

a-squared Free – Free On-demand Antivirus software
a-squared Free is an Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware bundled software. It scan your PC for malwares and infections of Trojans, Viruses, Spyware, Adware, Worms, Bots, Keyloggers and Dialers.  a-squared Free features includes: Ikarus Anti-Virus engine, Anti-Spyware; Detects Trojans, Backdoors, Keyloggers, Spyware, Adware, Tracking Cookies, Worms, Bots, Viruses, Dialers; Surf-Protection, HiJackFree, Background Guard.

Dr.Web CureIt! Utility – Free On-demand portable Antivirus software
This is a free anti-virus and anti-spyware utility based on Dr.Web Anti-virus scanner, which will help you quickly scan and cure, if necessary, a computer operated by MS Windows 95OSR2/98/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista without installation of the Dr.Web Anti-virus. No installation is required, just run it.

Free Online Antivirus Scanners

Kaspersky Online Scanner – Free Online Antivirus scanner
Kaspersky has one of the most effectice virus detection rates.

Panda ActiveScan – Free Online Antivirus scanner
Find hidden threats on your PC, such as rootkits, banker Trojans and malware designed to steal your identity.

Trend Micro’s HouseCall – Free Online Antivirus scanner
Trend Micro HouseCall is an online application for checking whether your computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware.