MJ Registry Watcher is a simple system tray program that monitors changes to any of the startup folders, startup registry keys, and any files you want alerting on. If a trojan attempts to change your startup settings, you will be alerted, and you can prevent any changes being made.

It is fully configurable as to what keys and files are monitored, so, if you have a vested interest in protecting your file association for the mailto protocol (your default emailer), so that your preferred app loads them, and something else is trying very hard to undermine this association (Outlook for example), this will popup, offering to stop a new association attempt, after Outlook had loaded, say. The key that stores this association is hkey_lmus\software\classes\mailto\shell\open\command, and you could protect other associations by changing "mailto" to the desired type, for example, "jpegfile".

Download MJ Registry Watcher 1.2.6.3 in Softonic

Spyware is the most common computer security menace; it impacts more than 80% of all PCs and recent reports show that estimate is probably low. CounterSpy protects your computer from spyware, adware, Trojans and other malware threats. It's the choice of IT Pros and a favorite of technology editors around the globe.

One of the most powerful features of CounterSpy is the History Cleaner which erases the trails you leave on your computer as you surf the Internet. It also features a PC Explorer that allows you to view and modify computer security and Internet browser settings that are normally difficult to change.

Finally, it also has a great Secure File Eraser that ensures the complete elimination of all files you want removed from your computer. Completely removes all traces of any document, image, music, movie, or application you choose.

Download CounterSpy 3.1.2315 in Softonic

Security is one of the key elements in a healthy computer life. And with tools like Rising Antivirus staying safe is now much easier.

Rising Antivirus is a free antivirus tools that offers comprehensive protection for your system against viruses, worms, Trojans, rootkits and other nasty creatures that may threaten your computer.

Behind a sleek dark interface, Rising Antivirus keeps a powerful array of security tools with which you can analyze your system according to a customizable schedule, keep an eye on currently active applications and automatically scan email messages and Office documents.

Rising Antivirus features several types of scan and includes a highly detailed configuration menu. I especially liked the fact that it's quite unobtrusive and doesn't bother you with warning messages all the time, like other antivirus tools do. On the downside, the general system scan is quite slow.

Keep your system safe from all online threats with Rising Antivirus, a free antivirus solution.

Download Rising Antivirus 2008 Free Edition in Softonic

Anti-Trojan Elite (ATE) is a malware remover. Malware is software designed specifically to damage or disrupt a system, such as a trojan horse, spyware or a keylogger. Anti Trojan Elite contains a real-time Firewall, monitors system processes and cleans any malware immediately. It is also a system security tool, allowing you to view and control processes and TCP/IP network connections.

Anti Trojan Elite is a trojan/keylogger remover. When the trojan horse will run, Anti Trojan Elite can find out the trojan and stop it in time. Anti Trojan Elite is also a system security tool, it can view the informations of network and process. Anti Trojan Elite can monitor any change of important registry keys and values.

Download Anti Trojan Elite 4.1.3 in Softonic

When analyzing a software application one must praise its virtues, but also look for possible flaws that developers can improve in future versions. However, in the case of Glary Utilities it's really difficult to find anything that we don't like.

This excellent toolkit includes a handful of system utilities that enable you to tweak, repair, optimize and improve your system's performance. Tools are conveniently categorized so that you can quickly find what you're looking for: disk cleaner, uninstall manager, memory optimizer, file shredder, duplicates finder, tracks eraser... just about any tool you need. They're all generally very intuitive and in case they make important changes to the system (like the Registry repairing tool) the program creates a backup copy first.

Not all the tools included in Glary Utilities include configuration settings, something we missed in some of them such as the Disk cleaner. Also, we would like to have a Firefox Assistant, the same way the program includes an Internet Explorer Assistant.

Download Glary Utilities 2.6.1 in Softonic

MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite aims to prevent your computer being taken over by hijackers or trojans that could compromise your security.

This includes an anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam and firewalls designed to work together for maximum protection. Naturally, with so many applications operating at once, you'd expect occasional slowdown of your machine during use which does happen but it's nothing inconvenient.

The anti-virus and anti-spyware of MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite work in real time so nothing is left to deal with after it is happened - if it's out there, then it's unlikely to get past MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite. The same goes for the Outlook and Outlook Express filters which ensure that any attachments received or sent are completely clean.

The MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite firewall is relatively simple to configure and operate allowing you to select which programs should be allowed to access the internet and which cookies and popups should be allowed.

MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite is an excellent all round security package that leaves no holes open.

Download MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite in Softonic

If you're worried about the security of your system, you need an application like AhnLab V3 Internet Security.

AhnLab V3 Internet Security is a comprehensive security tool that protects your whole system from any kind of online threat, including viruses, worms, hackers, Trojans, spam and phishing.

Though this may all sound too complicated for you, the good thing about AhnLab V3 Internet Security is that it features an easy, clearly designed interface, with different tabs for each one of the program's functions. AhnLab V3 Internet Security thus includes all the tools and options needed to fight against online dangers.

In a way AhnLab V3 Internet Security reminds me of the Windows Security Center, as you can control pretty much all security options from a single, centralized interface. That said, you obviously need to try it for a certain period of time in order to fully test its performances.

AhnLab V3 Internet Security protects your computer against all sorts of online threats.

Download AhnLab V3 Internet Security 2007 Platinum in Softonic

RemoveIT is a free trojan, adware and spyware scanner that searches and destroys dangerous viruses, trojans and spyware.

However, the effectiveness of it is open to debate. The developers claim that it's so good, it "locates and removes many new dangerous files including spyware, malware, virus, worms, trojans and adware that other popular AV programs do not find." This program therefore is NOT a real-time scanner - it's based on cleaning-up after something has installed itself on your PC rather than real-time protection which I always think is a dangerous approach.

There's nothing flashy about this program - the interface is based on Windows Explorer shell which also includes a slightly more advanced and expanded version of Windows Task Manager (to stop and block illegal processes) and the same with a Service Manager which gives you an overview of the services and program currently running on your PC. With these tools, you have more control over what runs on your PC both during startup and day-to-day operation. The Services Manager is recommended for beginners as you can see clearly the actual names of the programs running while the Process Manager only shows those files that are running as parts of programs and as a result, you may shut something down that you didn't mean to.

For a free and light malware scanner, this is a solid program although it does not seem to detect anything that other scanners (such as Ad-Aware) can't so it's maybe not as effective as the developers claim.

Download RemoveIT Pro 4 SE 25.7.2008 in Softonic

RemoveAny is a lightweight and simple anti-spyware utility that helps to ridentify dangerous processes on your PC.

If spyware or malware gets rooted on your system, then it can be an absolute nightmare to get it off. Some applications can do more damage than good while others don't seem to have any noticeable effect whatsoever. RemoveAny anti-spyware is not exactly a heavy duty solution but it can pick up malware pretty quickly and will delete it immediately. The program is extremely lightweight and is completely free to use. It works in real time monitoring executable files, drivers, modules and processes as well as displaying additional information about executables. When you start your PC, RemoveAny shows users what processes have started on their PC by seperating modules into three groups - suspicious, unknown and trusted. If you see suspicious modules or processes, you should not immediately delete those files. To decide whether the file is really suspicious or not, it's useful to do a Google search to find out what exactly it is but be careful what you remove!

Although it doesn't identify what each process does, for those in the know, RemoveAny will instantly alert you to illegal or strange processes on your system.

Download RemoveAny 2.13 in Softonic

Some anti-virus programs cause more problems than they solve. Avast! Home Edition anti-virus is thankfully not one of those as it exceeds expectations while remaining free. Lightweight, vigilant and most importantly, effective, this could be the answer to your prayers if you’ve had no luck finding a virus checker you like.

The developers make a point of stressing that this program is strictly not for institutional use – it is designed specifically for the threats most home users face daily. Their philosophy is that efficient home virus protection is essential in preventing users one day being struck by a serious global virus. What impresses you immediately with Avast! is its vigilance. It’s likely that within minutes of installation, you’ll receive a pop up alert due to a Trojan or virus that had been incubating on your PC. If not, rest assured that it won’t be long before Avast! sets off its trademark siren and alerts you that something has been detected. The latest version of

Avast’s antivirus kernel promises 100% detection of ‘In-the-Wild’ viruses (viruses already spreading between users) and excellent detection of Trojan horses. Avast! provides 24 hour protection via its ‘On-Access’ scanner but you can initiate manual scans via the fairly simple user interface. You can start additional modules from here, such as the Virus Chest, Updater or Log Viewer. Another great feature of Avast! is the option to change the skin of this interface. The developer website features practically hundreds of distinctive designs made by aficionados and even offers a guide to designing your own.

Something often overlooked by major virus checking packages is P2P applications installed on your PC but Avast! covers this with a P2P and Instant Messenger shield. Whilst chat applications themselves do not impose any serious security risks in terms of viruses, their less sophisticated file sharing methods can easily lead to virus infections if not properly monitored. With so many infected files on P2P networks such as Kazaa and eMule too, it’s also good to know that Avast! won’t let you open them without quietly checking them first.

The program also features both a Web and Network shield that constantly monitors traffic. The Web Shield acts as a transparent HTTP proxy and is compatible with all major web browsers. One of the truly outstanding features of Avast! is that unlike heavyweights such as Kaspersky or Norton, you hardly notice it working in the background. This is because of a unique feature the developers call ‘Intelligent Stream Scan’ that scans objects on-the-fly, without needing to cache them locally. Even the virus updates are unobtrusive. Avast! downloads the updates gradually and only those that are absolutely essential instead of the whole database. You receive a ‘Virus database has been updated’ voice message every time this has been completed along with a small popup which you can turn off if it annoys you.

There really is little to fault Avast! on in a market that is saturated with too many ineffective virus checkers. Although it doesn’t guzzle resources, if you’re running it on an older machine, you might find it slows you down. Some new users also complain that conducting a simple manual scan is more complicated than it should be but if you’ve spent anytime with virus checkers, you’ll realise that its more than worth your while getting to know this excellent program.

Download Avast! Home 4.8.1229 in Softonic

When it comes to securing your PC nothing is enough. All right, you've already installed an antivirus tool, a firewall and a antispyware solution, but if you still feel unprotected, then maybe this app is for you.

Comodo BOClean is a security tool that prevents any kind of malware from infecting your computer. This includes Trojan horses, keyloggers, rootkits, hijackers and other nasty creatures. The program stays out of sight most of the time, asking for user intervention only in case it detects any threat.

Comod BOClean features pretty self-explanatory configuration settings. On the downside, it doesn't include the option to analyze the system in search of any malware that could have already infected your PC.

Download Comodo BOClean 4.27 in Softonic

Trojan Remover is designed to aid in the removal of Trojan Horses and Internet Worms when standard anti-virus software has either failed to detect the problem or is unable to effectively eliminate it.

The majority of Virus and Trojan Scanners are able to detect malicious Trojan Horses and Internet Worms but aren't always very efficient in removing them once triggered. Trojan Remover aims to carry out such a removal without the user having to manually edit system files, including the Registry. The application removes the additional system modifications that some Trojans carry out, which are often ignored by other Virus and Trojan Scanners.

Download Trojan Remover 6.7.1 in Softonic

While the developers claim that "Free 100% Real-Time Protection" is something that most similar programs charge for may be stretching the truth somewhat, Spyware Terminator & Web Security Guard is very powerful spyware solution.

The program includes all the options you expect to find in such a product including options to manually carry out or schedule scans as well as options to deny or allow access to certain programs to your PC. The program is not just a spyware scanner however as it also includes an antivirus scanner. The developers have also seen fit to include a "Web Security Guard" which carries out the the job that most anti-phishing and pop up blockers in Internet Explorer and Firefox already carry out. This feature also features user generated website reviews along with warnings as to whether the site could be potentially harmful or not. Note that the developers warn that if you are using an unsupported operating system (such as Windows 98 or ME), you it may be better to use version 1.9 which offers the same protection but is much lighter on resources as the one drawback of this program is that it is rather slow to start and close and can hog your memory at peak scanning periods.

This is a comprehensive security solution that has all avenues of attack covered although if you're already using a virus scanner, you may be better to stick with it as it seems the weakest part of what is generally an excellent package.

Download Spyware Terminator & Web Security Guard 2.2.3.444 in Softonic

Antivirus tools are the kind of software applications that you need to use for an extended period of time in order to fully test them. Still, having only a few hours to try Kaspersky Anti-Virus, I must say I got a really positive impression.

After a slightly troublesome installation process which included the eventual uninstalling of other antivirus apps plus an updating process, you're ready to launch Kaspersky Anti-Virus and let it take care of your computer. In fact, it monitors not only the file system, but also email and web browsing, thus providing you with a comprehensive security solution that will keep you safe from today's most usual dangers on the Web.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus features several different scanning modes (Critical areas, My computer, Startup objects and Rootkit scan). Each one of them can be run manually or programmed to run according to a certain period of time. You can also define your own scan mode and set an exception list for those files, folders and apps that you trust and needn't be scanned. One thing I particularly liked is the possibility to create a rescue disk, in case your PC is completely ruined by a virus attack.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus seems very light on resources, which is always good in a program that you must have constantly running. However, files and apps may take slightly more time to open while Kaspersky Anti-Virus analyzes them. I guess this is a small price we have to pay for being a bit more secure. In any case, you may as well use the exception list and make sure all your trusted apps are included there.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus offers a complete protection against virus, Trojans and worms for your file system, email and web browsing.

Download Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009 8.0.0.357 in Softonic

Kaspersky® Internet Security 7.0 provides you with the same proven anti-virus protection as Kaspersky Anti-Virus together with additional features including Parental Control, a personal firewall, an anti-spam filter, Privacy Control and more.

Product Highlights

• Integrated protection from all Internet threats
• Integrated antivirus protection: 1) Hourly automated database updates, 2) Preliminary behavior analysis, 3) On-going behavior analysis. New!
• Real-time scanning for email, Internet traffic and files
• Personal firewall with an IDS / IPS system. Improved!
• Protection from leaks of confidential data. New!
• Parental Control. New!
• Protection from spam and phishing
• Automatic database updates

Additional Features

• Protection from viruses, Trojans and worms
• Protection from spyware and adware
• Protection from all types of keyloggers. Improved!
• Detection of all types of rootkits. Improved!
• Protection from viruses when using ICQ and other IM clients
• Rollback of malicious changes on your PC
• Self-defense of the antivirus program from being disabled or stopped
• Tools for creating a Rescue Disk
• Free technical support

Download Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 8.0.0.357 in Softonic

PC Tools Firewall Plus sits between your computer and your Internet connection, controlling both downloading and uploading traffic and warning you whenever it detects unexpected Internet access or traffic in either direction.

This firewall is surprisingly easy to use; you can start right away, without having to configure anything, something that beginners will be grateful for. These novice users will also be happy to see that the basic functionality of PC Tools Firewall Plus can be tweaked in terms of approved or blocked programs, in the Applications area. However, if you prefer to have more control over the program, you can always use the Advanced Rules section. There's also the possibility to switch between Normal user and Expert user, either during installation or in the program's configuration menu. In this way advanced users will get more detailed messages from the firewall and will also be able to tweak it further.

The program logs all network activities, as well as the number of packets and bytes blocked. But there's one thing I missed: the possibility of having several security levels (like in ZoneAlarm, for example) with which you can quickly change the program's settings.

All the functions in PC Tools Firewall Plus are easily accessible in the firewall's eye-catching interface, just by clicking on their correspondent buttons on the left side. The main window features direct access buttons to the most important areas in the program as well.

With PC Tools Firewall Plus both novice and advanced users can effectively protect their computers by choosing which apps should access the Internet and also blocking any unauthorized attemps to break into your PC.

Download PC Tools Firewall Plus 4.0.0.35 in Softonic

Jetico Personal Firewall software provides you with security against hackers who try to access your PC when you are connected to the Internet. Having inherited the Open architecture principles from BestCrypt, the Jetico Personal Firewall allows you to construct a strong yet accurate security policy and provides clear control over your network connections.

Three-layer protection:

Low-level (Network packet filter)

This checks the validity of network packets and parameters such as source & destination addresses, protocol, etc. Using this process, Jetico Personal Firewall can make your computer invisible to a non-trusted network. By selecting the Optimal Protection Policy, your computer becomes "stealthy". Any security probing tests (for example, ShieldsUp! tests) by internet hackers will report that your computer does not exist.

Application-level (Network events filter)

This checks and enables you to monitor network/internet connection requests made by applications. If you are not sure why an application wishes to send or receive data from the Internet you can limit or block the activity.

User-level (Process activity filter)

This notifies you of and prevents dirty tricks by Trojans and other malicious programs. (A Trojan can inject its own code into programmes on your computer and send data about you to a third party. e.g. a Trojan in Internet Explorer could transmit details of your browsing preferences.)

Download Jetico Personal Firewall 2.0.2.4 in Softonic

Developed by one of the world’s leading IT security providers, Comodo AntiVirus leverages multiple technologies (including on demand & on access scanning, email scanning, process monitoring and worm blocking) to immediately start cleaning or quarantining suspicious files from your hard drives, shared disks, emails, downloads and system memory.

Updated virus definitions are automatically downloaded according to a schedule of your choice or by a single click on the 'updater' button. Once installed, Comodo AntiVirus will unobtrusively sit in your system tray, silently and efficiently defending your system from the latest virus outbreaks. It's easy to install and configure, will not slow down your PC by hogging system resources and is free for life to the end user.

Download Comodo AntiVirus 2.0.17.58 Beta in Softonic

Free anti-virus software can be a mixed bag - sometimes they can do more harm than good while at others, they can save you hundreds of dollars with solid real-time protection.

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic is the free version of Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Premium. This doesn't mean that it's any less powerful bit it does mean that many advanced features are unavailable. The program can scan up to 30 different file types and seems to have been designed with a particular focus on Trojans according to the developer blurb. Protection is served in real time and as with all virus scanners, you are immediately given the choice whether to ignore, quarantine or delete the infected file. What's nice about this scanner is that for those viruses that it can't identify or clean, it compiles a report which can then be automatically submitted to Avira's lively user forum where someone, somewhere, should be able to help. The scanner sits in your system tray bit can be expanded to show the current settings and the status of any scans in progress. Scanning is quick and it doesn't slow your machine down significantly. Unfortunately however, it provides no option for scanning incoming and outgoing mail or adware/spyware but if you're just looking for a trojan blocker/remover, it's a very solid product.

A powerful and well organised anti virus scanner that helps you get to the bottom of virus issues rather than hinders your progress.

Download Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Free Anti-Virus 8.1.0.295 in Softonic

Avira AntiVir Premium is a professional anti-virus package that offers the latest in protection technology.

It covers just about every major threat to your system including viruses and malware, worms, Trojans, adware, Spyware and phishing. The program features real-time on-access
scanning so you can be sure you are protected 24 hours a day. There are also manual options for full system scans and it automatically keeps its virus database updated with the latest threats. The interface also makes available an easy to access POP3 based MailScanner that scans emails before they are stored on your machine. The overall interface is one of the best things about this security centre for me because unlike many, it's not cluttered. It's extremely easy to navigate and read and doesn't leave you wondering whether it's in scan mode, updated or ready to go.

This really is one very solid anti-virus suite that seems to run so well, you'll hardly notice it but when you do need it, you'll find yourself presented with a friendly interface that makes using it a pleasure.

Download Avira AntiVir Premium in Softonic