Best Free Antivirus and Anti-Spyware Software for Windows

If you are a Windows user, you must install an antivirus and anti-spyware software in your system. We all install software, games, themes and many other stuff from various sources such as downloaded from Internet, from CD/DVD, USB drives, etc and if the downloaded file is infected, it can also install a virus or spyware in our system as a bonus.

That's why we need a good antivirus and anti-spyware software for Windows OS. This software protects our system from suspicious items. It continuously monitors our system and warns us whenever it finds a malicious item in our system.

There are many antivirus and anti-spyware software available on Internet to download. Some of them are free and some of them are paid. Obviously paid security software provide more features and control over them in comparison with free software programs.

But there are a few free antivirus and anti-spyware programs which provide almost all features which a paid security software provides.

Today in this topic, we are going to list top 5 free antivirus and anti-spyware software for Windows operating system for your convenience. We have tested many security programs in past and found following 5 programs best of them. If you are not using any antivirus or anti-spyware program in your system, you must install one of the following without wasting time:

1. Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)

Microsoft Security Essentials (also known as MSE) is one of the best free antivirus and anti-spyware software for Windows. Its an official security program released by Microsoft. Its available absolutely free to download but you'll need genuine Windows to install it.

It can be installed in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Windows 8 already comes with MSE preinstalled. You can install it in both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)

2. Avast! Free Antivirus

We put Avast! antivirus on 2nd position. It comes with antivirus, anti-spyware, firewall and many other security components. It can be installed in Windows 2000 professional SP4, Windows XP SP2 or higher, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Both 32-bit and 64-bit editions are supported.

Download Avast! Antivirus

3. AVG Antivirus Free Edition

AVG antivirus is almost equivalent to avast! antivirus. It also comes with antivirus, anti-spyware, link scanner and many other security features. It can be installed in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

Download AVG Antivirus

4. Avira Free Antivirus

Avira is also one of the widely used antivirus for Windows OS. It can protect your system from virus, spyware, malware, trojan, rootkits and many other forms of malicious programs. Avira antivirus can be installed in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows editions.

Download Avira Free Antivirus

5. Panda Cloud Free Antivirus

And last but not least its turn of "Panda free antivirus" which is a very light-weight antivirus software for Windows. Its based on cloud computing concept which makes it one of the most light-weight antivirus programs available for Windows. You need a good speed Internet connection in your system to use it. It can be used in Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. As usual both 32-bit and 64-bit editions are supported.

Download Panda Cloud Free Antivirus

That's all for now. If you are using any other free antivirus or anti-spyware software in your system, feel free to share your feedback in your comment.

mStartEX: Windows 8 Style Start Menu Replacement for Windows XP, Vista and 7

We are pretty much aware of the new Start Screen introduced by Microsoft in its upcoming OS Windows 8. Start Screen is a Start Menu replacement for Windows 8 which shows live tiles of installed programs and built-in tools in Windows. According to Microsoft, the use of big square tiles makes it easier to navigate through installed programs and launch them.

We have shared many free utilities which bring Windows 8 look-like Start Screen feature in earlier Windows versions such as Windows XP, Vista and 7. Some of them are Omnimo, Windows 8 Start Screen Full andMosaic.

Today in this topic, we are going to share another utility for Windows XP, Vista and 7 which is a little bit different than others. You can consider it as a Start Menu replacement for Windows.

"mStartEX" is a free utility for Windows created by our friend "Solodev" which shows all Start Menu programs and pinned items in tile view similar to Windows 8 Start Screen.

By default it sorts them alphabetically but you can disable the sorting using its Settings. Its highly customizable. You can change background color, transparency level, tile mode, screen position and much more.

It also allows you to show a metro style clock on Desktop similar to Windows 8. You can enable it from its Settings.

If you want, you can customize the tile background and icon style from the "Tiles" tab of its Settings page. You can also change Start ORB image using Settings page.

It also shows user avatar in the Start screen which launches Control Panel upon clicking. You can customize avatar look using the Settings page.

To access the main screen simply move your mouse cursor to the bottom-left corner of screen similar to Windows 8 and the Start Menu will appear on screen. To close Start Menu, click on the shut down icon given at the bottom-left corner of Start Menu.

Although its a free utility but it also comes with a paid version which can be activated by purchasing the product for a very small amount of $1.25 only. The paid version comes with a few extra features such as more tile effects, full screen mode which makes it look-like Windows 8 Start Screen, invisible mode to remove background, random background color similar to Windows 8 Start Screen, skinned icons, no sorting, etc.

Currently its under beta testing and more features will be added in future releases such as plugin system.

You can download it using following link:

Download mStartEX

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NeoSmart announces Windows Recovery Essentials

Important news is coming from NeoSmart Technologies, the company praised for the award-winning boot manager software EasyBCD: the developer will soon release a new system recovery CD for Windows operating systems, rewritten from the ground up due to licensing issues with the official Microsoft products.

Like many companies selling recovery CDs for Windows, NeoSmart was thus far licensing the Windows Pre Installation Environment (WinPE) directly from Microsoft to develop and release its own bootable recovery environments.

But starting from January 2012, NeoSmart reveals, Microsoft stopped renewing the pre-existing licensing agreements with third parties, forcing its partners to search for an alternative solution to develop future bootable CDs without using Redmond’s own WinPE.

NeoSmart says it is now working on its “next generation” repair CDs, a product that is “not just a replacement for the current WinPE-based repair CDs, but rather a whole new software written from the ground up with the express intent of fixing whatever it may be that stops your PC from booting”.

The upcoming (and currently in private beta) Windows Recovery Essentials (or WinRE for short) will be able to repair and fix “common and uncommon problems” preventing the system to boot or work properly, NeoSmart promises, “including those that the Windows installation DVD can’t or won’t fix”.

Flash Player exploit found on Internet Explorer fixed in patch

If you use Flash Player a lot on your Windows PC, specifically with your Internet Explorer web browser, you will definitely want to update to the latest version as soon as possible. Adobe has announced that it has releaseda new security update for Flash Player. While the update has been launched for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android versions, the main target is users of Windows and Internet Explorer.

Adobe states in its update bulletin:

These updates address an object confusion vulnerability (CVE-2012-0779) that could cause the application to crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild in active targeted attacks designed to trick the user into clicking on a malicious file delivered in an email message. The exploit targets Flash Player on Internet Explorer for Windows only.

The update should be downloaded and installed if you have Flash Player 11.2.202.233 and earlier on Windows, Mac, and Linux ports, along with versions 11.1.115.7 or earlier on Android 4.x and versions 11.1.111.8 on Android 3.x and 2.x. Ars Technica also suggests that Mac users quickly update to the new version even though the exploit seems to be targeting Windows users at the moment.

Avira fixes antivirus update that crippled many PCs

If you use the Avira antivirus program, you likely got hit with a big problem for a number of hours late on Monday and earlier today. ZDNet reports that the software program downloaded a new update, along with a new antivirus definitions file, that caused the software to falsely detect malware in major PC programs.

The 8.2.10.64 update for Avira, for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 PCs, caused the software to say that malware existed in programs such as Explorer, Internet Explorer, Notepad, the Windows Task Manager and many more. In addition, the faulty update also blocked the use of a number of other Microsoft and third party programs.

This issue apparently lasted for about 12 hours for the many millions of PC users who have the Avira software installed. Earlier today, the company announced via its Facebook page that it has released yet another update to the software that should fix the problem. The message added, "We deeply regret any difficulties that this may have caused you. Thank you for your patience and understanding!"

This update issue only affected users of the paid version of Avira. The free version of the software does not receive the same kinds of updates and thus was not affected.

350 million Windows 7 devices to be shipped this year

Windows 7 has been another successful platform for Microsoft as the rock solid OS won the hearts of many after their tribulations with Vista. Having sold hundreds of millions of copies of the OS, Microsoft is now predicting that 350 million devices will be sold this year running Windows 7, a phenomenal number.

What is driving all of this growth? According to Bloomberg, corporate demand has been a key driver of success and is currently exceeding the company’s estimates. Steve Ballmer said that this will make Windows 7 the “most single popular system” on the market.

While Windows 7 is selling at a tremendous rate, Microsoft is about to launch its next generation of Windows, Windows 8. The upcoming OS is a stark contrast to Microsoft’s traditional offerings and goes as far as to remove the iconic start button.

The OS is not expected to hit retail until sometime this fall, most speculate in October, and it will also bring with it Microsoft’s tablet OS that will finally compete with the iPad and Android tablets.

As we sail off in to the Metro-fied sunrise of Windows 8, Windows 7 will keep the profits flowing until the next platform arises. If this report is any indication, it looks like Microsoft is on track to continue is healthy fiscal track right up to and through the launch of Windows 8.