ClamWin Free Antivirus

As security experts and security companies often remind us, the internet is a dangerous place. There are all sorts of viruses out there that would like nothing more than to infect your machine. The free antivirus program ClamWin, which is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, can protect against the viruses and spyware that threaten your computer.

To get started with ClamWin, you will have to go through an initial 40MB download; how long you wait for the download to complete depends on how good your internet connection is. It won’t take long on a high speed internet connection. During the installation process, you will be asked to download virus database files; again, how long you wait for this depends on your internet connection.

During the installation process, you will also be asked to install the Ask.com toolbar and make Ask.com your default search provider. If you’re not a big fan of toolbars or of changing your search provider, you can opt out. Another thing you will be asked during the installation process is if you want to integrate ClamWin with Windows Explorer and if you want to create a desktop. That’s nice if you like to keep a tidy, shortcut-free desktop. And since ClamWin’s functionality is integrated with Explorer, you hardly need a desktop shortcut anyway.

Having ClamWin’s functionality integrated with Explorer means that you can select a file, folder or drive, and a “Scan with ClamWin Free Antivirus” option will show up in the right click context menu.

ClamWin’s interface doesn’t have a lot of buttons and features to offer. It lists your drives, presents you with buttons to scan selected files for viruses, scans the memory for viruses, starts an update and accesses the “Preferences” menu. An interesting option in the Preferences menu is sending an email notification if ClamWin finds a virus.

From the Preferences menu you can schedule scans to take place at a specific time. This is much needed functionality as ClamWin does not have an on-access real-time scanner. This means that you have to run a scan in order to find out if your system is infected with a virus. You can run a scan manually or you can schedule an hourly or daily scan.

ClamWin is a free software project which means that you can use the antivirus for free on your Windows-powered machine (works with any Windows version from Win98 up to Win7) for as long as you want. If you like the application though, consider lending a helping hand by making a donation or by spreading the word about ClamWin.

The resource-friendly security solution ClamWin Free Antivirus identifies the viruses and spyware that made their way onto your computer.