Skip to content

Free Open-Source Virus Software For Windows

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Many chiropractic offices, and other small businesses, continue to rely on Windows operating systems (mostly XP), for their office and business computing needs.

If you are running Windows, chances are you’re running some sort of virus protection and/or anti-spy software. I wanted to introduce you to a FREE open-source antivirus software known as ClamWin.

ClamWin Free Antivirus is a non-profit free software project and the best part about the software is that it works, and it doesn’t hog a bunch of system resources while doing so. I began using ClamWin on a desktop that I run both Windows XP and Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on about a year ago. When booted to Ubuntu I use no virus protection, but when running Windows, I would not go online without it.

The software features a scanning scheduler, does automated downloads of a regularly updated virus database, has right-click menu integration with Microsoft Windows Explorer, can be added to Microsoft Outlook to remove virus-infected e-mail attachments automatically, and has a bunch of other features.

If you’re not familiar with open source, just because the software is free, it does not mean it’s not of high quality. I’ve been happier with this antivirus software than any of the paid programs I’ve used in the past. There are a number of preferences that can be customized for the end user (see screenshot).

clamwin preferencesThere are general settings, e-mail alerts, filters you can set up, settings for Internet updates, scheduled virus scans, reports, and advanced settings, allowing you to customize the software to your needs. The project is supported by a very active open-source community and there’s a lot of information available on the antivirus software’s web site.

You can visit the web site homepage to download ClamWin antivirus software or get it from SourceForge, the best resource I know of for open source software. ClamWin comes with an easy installer, so you can get started protecting your computer from viruses and spyware right away.

This chiropractor is thankful the open-source community puts out high quality software projects such as ClamWin.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

1 Comment


Comments are closed for this article!