3 Buenos Antivirus Gratuitos

Tengo rato sin escribir nada en este Blog, Investigando para escribir sobre los Antivirus Gratuitos, encontre este Articulo de Jack Dunning y le di un copy-Paste.

The Best Free Antivirus Programs“Who says you get what you pay for?”
by Jack Dunning

Antivirus software is like an elephant repellent. As long as there are no elephants around, it must be working. As long as you don't get a computer virus, then your antivirus software must be working. For Windows PCs, it's a requirement to use antivirus software. In the most recent versions, Windows will complain if you don't have protection installed—and won't let up until you do it.
Most new computers come with some type of antivirus package installed—often Norton AntiVirus. Due to the cost of Norton's software (and other systemic problems), users often immediately replace it with their favorite free software. Judging by how rare real computer virus infections have become, most of the antivirus software available must work pretty well.
Most viral infections come as a result of human error. Someone clicks through all the antivirus software warnings and operating system warnings, then downloads some infected software. If users practiced good computer hygiene, then it is quite possible that they wouldn't need antivirus software at all. (See Edgeword this week for tips on computer hygiene.) However, since most people are walking (or I should say sitting) error conditions, especially in an office environment, it's not worth the risk to forego installing the best protection possible.
If you're running a computer at home with the possibility that one of your kids—or your spouse—will use it, then you'll want to get a program that's both effective and inexpensive—preferably free. (The free antivirus packages discussed in this article are for personal use only.
Each has a professional version that you can buy and run guilt free, but you're not supposed to install the free version on all of your work computers.)In preparation for this article, I did in-depth research into which free antivirus program is being widely recommended by reviewers and users. In some cases, I read reviews, while in others I scoured forums and blogs on the topic. My goal was to find the free antivirus programs that inspired the most confidence in both users and reviewers. The only program that I have actually looked over is AVG—and that's only because I've been using it for years. To remove AVG and install another program would not only have been tedious, but unhelpful—especially if the new installation didn't find any viruses missed by AVG. While the three programs that I've included in this article are not necessarily the absolute best free antivirus programs available, they are certainly the most popular in the computer community. (It's quite possible that there are other free virus-protection killer apps that will run rings around these three, but most people have never heard of them.)
Before digging into the winning free antivirus programs, there are a few questions about free protection programs that should be addressed.Do Free Antivirus Programs Work as Well as Commercial Versions?Many people insist that the commercial (paid) antivirus programs easily outperform the free programs. They say that since the program is free, it couldn't possibly get the support needed to keep the protection up-to-date. While there is no doubt that you will get more features in the paid versions of antivirus software, it is difficult to say that the free versions of the highlighted programs are not as effective as the other commercial programs. All three of the programs listed here have a paid upgrade available for their professional-level software. While each of the companies would like to give an incentive for people to upgrade to the paid version, it would be counterproductive for them to offer a less-than-effective free version. It would hurt their reputation. Since the goal is for you to upgrade to the commercial virus-protection software, each company must offer an effective free product to protect their good name.Why Not Use All the Best Free Antivirus Programs?Unlike Web browsers, you don't want different antivirus programs running simultaneously. They will interfere with each other and probably generate numerous errors. Based upon the nature of how antivirus software works, it's necessary to choose one. You may want to store the better programs available on your computer, but only one should be active. Then, if you do run into a virus problem that one program can't resolve, you can deactivate the first while trying a secondary program. Pick only one for your active program.Antivirus Programs Can Make You Think You Have a VirusWhen antivirus programs run a scan of your hard drives looking for viruses, unless you have limited the scan parameters, they will check every file on your system. This both takes time and slows down your computer. Generally, it's a good idea to schedule these scans for late at night, but even then a scan can take hours. When a computer slows down due to a virus scan, people often think that the slowdown may be caused by a virus. (In fact, anytime something doesn't seem right, people often jump to the conclusion that they have a virus.) Pausing or stopping the scan will clear the system slowdown.Cookies and other common files are usually noted by the antivirus software, since this is a common method used to track computers—especially in spyware. However, cookies are not viruses, but an essential function of Web browsers for many sites. Although some may be associated with spyware, do not be alarmed by the existence of cookies on your system.

The Three Most Popular Free Antivirus ProgramsWhile there are many free antivirus programs, there are three that get almost universal acclaim from both users and reviewers. They are Avast! Home Edition, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, and Avira AntiVir Personal Edition. (These programs are listed in alphabetical order since the opinions are so varied on which program is the best. It is notable that all the program names start with "av"—maybe a requirement for good antivirus software.) It is probable that any of these programs will do the job for you—especially if you have good computer hygiene.The ratings and download numbers for each program were taken from CNET's Download.com. This was done because CNET actually did a short review of all three programs, giving each a five-star rating. There are extensive user reviews for each program at CNET, which is where you will get the real-world answers to your questions. Plus, CNET checks all of the software it offers for download for spyware, viruses and other malware.

Avast! Home Edition As of this writing, Download.com has had 46,683,617 downloads of Avast! Home Edition. Users have given it a 4.5-star rating. Download Avast! Home Edition.People who have done testing of Avast say that it "comes in slightly behind Avira in terms of detections." This is a test that can vary widely depending upon when the detection test is run, what viruses are being detected, and how good the software is at keeping the virus database up-to-date.CNET editor's said, "Though it took quite some time to run, we're impressed with this application's boot-time antivirus scan." This is important because the most insidious viruses embed themselves in parts of the operating system that are impossible to root out once the system is fully loaded. This seems to be the major advantage that most people gave to Avast.

AVG Anti-Virus Free EditionBy far the most popular, CNET's Download.com has had 194,092,118 downloads of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. However, AVG has a slightly lower 4.0-star user rating than Avast's 4.5. Download AVG Anti-Virus Free EditionAlthough AVG is still the most popular program based upon downloads, the Web word is that "AVG is not what it used to be, it now scores low in detections." However, "AVG Free Edition is the smallest antivirus scanner we've tested and may well be the best choice for an older PC with limited system resources.""Unlike most free antivirus software, [AVG] will automatically check for updates so your virus protection remains up-to-date." Any decent antivirus software needs to automatically update the database. Otherwise it will soon become useless. All those listed in this article do. "Another bonus is that you can run it in Windows Safe mode." Running the software in the Windows Safe mode is similar to the boot-time scan done by Avast, since it can check the system without everything being loaded.Noted by CNET editors: "Should a virus create serious system problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode."AVG Free Edition has both an e-mail scanner, plus "the major change over Version 8 is that it now includes LinkScanner Active Surf-Shield, which provides real-time protection against malicious Web pages."

Avira AntiVir Personal EditionThere have been 40,202,288 downloads of Avira AntiVir Personal Edition at CNET's Download.com.The CNET user rating is the lowest of all three at 3.5 stars. Download Avira AntiVir Personal Edition.Many people were annoyed by the "Avira 'pop-up' offering you a chance to upgrade from the free edition."Avira AntiVir Personal also "can be used in Safe Mode, a definite plus for removing stubborn infectors or cleaning a system that might otherwise be unable to boot into Windows."There was also confusion about setting up the automatic update, but it was eventually cleared up.
Which One Do You Use?It seems that any of these programs will do the job for most people. It may come down to personal preference. There are literally hundreds of other free antivirus programs out there. If you have one that you are particularly fond of, please leave a comment and it will be attached to this article.If you can't decide which program to use, then you can follow the advice I came across a number of times: "Buy a Mac!" o "instala Linux" diria Jorge.