Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus.

On my laptop, I have Norton Antivirus 2009. Symantec is supposed to let me install this program on three more computers for free. I tried different times to install it on my desktop and I failed. Don't know why. So I lost patience and I didn't want to lose more time waiting for a support answer.

I checked the Web for a good free antivirus and stumbled on Avira's AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus. You can check a review here on CNET.

From Avira :

Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection to home-users only. Avira offers: Extensive Malware Recognition of viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, worms; Automatic incremental updates of antivirus signatures, engine and entire software; Permanent virus protection, with Virus Guard real time monitoring; Install and configuration in just a couple of steps, setup to protect your PC in minutes; Virus protection \against known and unknown threats, using an advanced heuristic system; Scheduler where you can set the scanner to make automatic virus scans or updates on your system; Forum and phone support; Knowledge Base with virus descriptions available on web site; Rootkit Detection and Removal; A modularized AV-search engine for improved scan performance.

Version 9 introduces a quick-removal button for eliminating viruses with a single click, enhanced anti-spyware and anti-adware engines, and support for low resolution netbook screens.

The only criticism I would make, my desktop seems to take more time to be ready. But, I really need to buy more RAM. It is usually a torture, Avira or not.

Dustin Wax, project manager at Stepcase Lifehack, used to use the free AVG Antivirus, but he's found that at some point – in every version of AVG he's used – it stopped updating automatically. So a few months ago, he decided to try Panda’s free Cloud Antivirus, and has been very happy: updates happen in the background, files and problems are quietly taken care of.

So, now you have three possibilities to choose from.