Free software is always appealing and in some cases these free utility and antivirus programs are just as good as paid versions. The free downloads listed below are some of the utilities I have used over the last couple of years. These programs will help keep your PC operating at optimal performance and protect your PC from Viruses, Trojans and Malware.
Some of the free downloads I am sharing do come with paid versions which unlock many more options and you should consider purchasing these advanced features after you test drive the free versions. Keep in mind that most utilities are free for personal use, some of them aren’t licensed for commercial use.
Free Performance Utilities
CCleaner is a free utility that provides a suite of cleaning and performance options that will keep your computer running at optimal performance. CCleaner will remove internet history, cookies, and remove unnecessary files so that your hard drive has more space to store files that are most important to you. You can also clean up your register as well, but I recommend that you backup your registry when prompted by CCleaner.
Advanced SystemCare is a free application that can improve system performance. Advanced SystemCare can Fix – scan and remove spyware and adware, clean up registry to improve system performance, erase your activity history and tracks and clean up junk files and free up disk space.
Advanced SystemCare Free will install the Yahoo Toolbar by default, so if you don’t want it installed, make sure to uncheck the box during installation.
Glary Utilities offers numerous powerful and easy-to-use system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC. It allows you to clean common system junk files, as well as invalid registry entries and Internet traces.
Defraggler is incredibly easy to use and offers all the options you need to keep your machine running smoothly – including the ability to defragment individual files and folders as well as a defragmentation scheduler.
DriverMax is a tool that allows you to download the latest driver updates for your computer. No more searching for rare drivers on discs or on the web or inserting one installation CD after the other. Faulty driver installations can cause Windows to run slow.
Free Security Software
SUPERAntiSpyware is one of the most thorough AntiSpyware scanners on the market. It will detect and remove spyware, adware, malware, trojans, dialers, worms, keyloggers, hijackers, parasites, rootkits, rogue security products and many other types of threats. SUPERAntiSpyware is light on System Resources and won’t slow down your computer like many other anti-spyware products.
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date. Read this review on The Best Antivirus for Removing Malware.
Malwarebytes AntiMalware Identifies and removes malicious software from your computer. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most popular security applications fail to detect. The free version doesn’t come with real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating.
Spybot – Search & Destroy is an anti-malware application that scans and removes malware, including spyware, adware, hijackers and trojans. The application can also clean usage tracks and fix some registry inconsistencies.
HijackThis comes with several tools useful in manually removing malware from a computer. HijackThis does not determine what registry entries are good or bad. Do not make any changes to your computer settings unless you are an expert computer user.
Important: Always read the product installation guides and tutorials before installing any of the software included in this article.
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Hi Frank.
Actually, your list includes single free antivirus: MSE. There are more of them. While it is true that you get most free options from MSE, AVAST, AVIRA, AVG are quite good as well.
Speaking about anti-malware tools, “free” depends on what you want: protection or malware removal.
SuperAntiSpyware (free) and MBAM (free) do not have real time protection, so they are useful as removal tools only in free mode. So advising users to rely on free MBAM or SAS for protection might be a bit misleading. I see lots of people doing that, though :)
Overall, the utilities you reviewed are quite good and usefull, though.
Giedrius,
I did state that they should try the free versions and purchase the paid versions which come with more options including real time protection. Thanks for your comment as always my friend.
Thanks Frank,
In a rare case when you are unable to download any of these what would you advise?
In that case, you probably don’t have an internet connection and won’t have to worry about malware. Hot pic!
Hi Frank,
This is a great list. We use (or have used) a number of these products with our in-house computers and for our small business clients. I would add that while many utilities are free for personal use, some of them aren’t licensed for commercial use. So if people are using this software for business, they need to be careful and read the fine print.
Alex @ Jackrabbit.com
Alex,
Good point and I will add that in the article.
Hey Frank, I use the pro version of Advanced System Care and the same company (IObit) also has a powerful defrag program called Smart Defrag 2. SUPERAntiSpyware is also on both computersalon with Kaspersky. It takes a lot of protection these days to stay up and running.
Jonathan,
I have SAS and Smart Defrag and ;love them both.
Hello, I’ve used some of the programs on the list and do like spybot. I’ve always preferred diskeeper to other defraggers as it is the most advanced and most efficient.
Harry,
I used diskeeper a while back I don’t recall my experience with that program. It was long ago. Thanks for the comment!