All Windows computers need an anti-virus program that is current and updates
daily. The "free" anti-virus program that came with your computer will only
work for a limited period of time. If you don't purchase a subscription,
then the program will no longer be protecting you.
Your options are:
- Purchase a subscription for the program that came with your computer.
- Purchase a new program from another software vendor. See below.
- Use a free anti-virus program. There are several good free anti-virus programs. They are listed below. Some of the free programs have paid versions, which offer additional features and options.
If you are not going to purchase a subscription or upgrade for your current
program, then you need to uninstall it using the add / remove applet in the
control panel. You should not and can not have two anti-virus programs on
your computer, it will create problems.
If you have a Symantec / Norton program, they can be difficult to uninstall
and you may need to use the
Norton Removal Tool from Symantec.
Please heed the notice in the footnote at the bottom of this page. The
programs are listed in alphabetical order. The links below are to the actual
product pages. If you use a search engine to find a program, you may end up
at a fake web page.
Commercial Anti-Virus Programs
Avast
AVG
Avira
Kaspersky
McAfee
Symantec
Trend Micro
Free Anti-Virus Programs
Avast
AVG Free
Avira
Microsoft Security Essentials
Norton Removal Tool
You should also have an anti-spyware program
Free Spyware Removal Programs
Malwarebytes
Spybot Search & Destroy