Two More Ways to Fight Viruses, for Free

Avast offers tech support only via e-mail -- not that Symantec and McAfee are much more generous. (The only major anti-virus program with free phone support is Trend Micro's PC-cillin.)

AVG ( http://free.grisoft.com/ ) doesn't even offer help via e-mail. But it makes up for that in other ways.

This program installed quickly and then blocked access to every virus without any goofy sound effects. Unfortunately (just like in Avast), AVG's "Virus Detected!" window fails to make deleting or at least quarantining a virus the normal action -- and if you do elect to delete it, the default choice in a second dialog is "no."

Microsoft Outlook users need not worry about that problem, though; AVG's Outlook plug-in automatically quarantines viruses as they show up in e-mail.

This program wasn't quite as disciplined with Outlook Express and Thunderbird. I could save attached viruses to the hard drive, and I could forward messages with viral payloads (although my Internet provider's own virus scanners rejected them). I could also send and download viruses via AOL instant messaging.

But in no case could I run a virus; AVG stopped that every time.

AVG's systemwide scans took anywhere from one and a half to twice as long as Avast's.

But when I scanned an individual file, AVG clearly identified it as safe. AVG's interface is in general far cleaner than Avast's, putting all the relevant controls and status indicators in one window.

Neither program's screening was quite as far-reaching as that offered by competitors -- for example, Avast and AVG allowed me to preview a .zip archive containing a virus using Windows XP's Compressed Files tool, while Symantec and McAfee's software denied all access to that .zip file.

Also, neither Avast nor AVG will stop spyware that you choose to download and install on your own -- each pronounced a freebie, spyware-riddled download as safe. So you'll still need a separate anti-spyware utility such as Microsoft's free Anti-Spyware for Windows 2000 and XP.

But if you define an anti-virus utility's job as ensuring that no virus sent your way can run on your computer (as opposed to also ensuring that no virus can even land on your computer), these two programs were just as capable as their pricier competitors. And while I've gotten more reader reports than I can count of PCs immobilized by malfunctioning Symantec and McAfee software, I've yet to hear of such trouble with Avast or AVG.

Whichever virus scanner you use, make sure you keep one other active -- the one that came pre-installed at birth: your brain.

Even the most rigorously updated security software can miss a just-created program that hasn't been entered into virus databases, but any reasonably aware human should still be able to spot a con job when it arrives.

Be as skeptical and smart about strange files as you would any other strange solicitation, and you won't have to rely on somebody else's software as your only line of defense.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at

rob@twp.com.