Scores of antivirus programs–Norton 36, McAfee AV, and BitDefender, share  much in common. They all endeavor to intercept the assault of computer malware. And of course they all throttle as much subscription fees from their users in exchange for their updates.

But did you know you can get iron clad protection from malware without plunking a dime. Check out ClamWin Free Antivirus, a solid program that adheres to the Gnu open-source model. It won’t bleed you cash for potent protection–not now, not ever.

So… what do you enjoy for nothing? A defender that, in its recent incarnation, works in Vista and XP, scrutinizing your stuff for the fingerprints of malware identified by a virus database that is refreshed several in 24 hours. You launch scans at your fancy or set a schedule. A right-click menu proferrs more-deep scans of specific files or folders. Clamwin  also offers tight integration with Microsoft Outlook client for sniffing message attachments that may have nasty payload.

So, what don’t you get? ClamWin fails to automatically scan files as you activate them. After you download the newest game from the web, quickly scan it with ClamWin before you run it. Or you’re dancing with the devil.

That’s not a bad trade-off for a free virus checker. Bundly it with the free SpyBot Search and Destory, and your computer has the equivalent of a deep bunker against any catastrophic meltdowns.

Download ClamWin here