The word 'free' often equates to an inferior product but, in this case, there is no doubt that this is a professional product.

Split into three sections and a Control Centre, AVG Anti-Virus protects against viruses in a number of key areas. The Resident Shield works in the background and checks all files and file types (including floppy disk, CD content etc.) for viruses, whilst the Email Scanner works with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook.

AVG Free now comes with a link scanner. It checks search results from sites such as Google to make sure there are no malicious scripts and displays an icon to show the threat level. Active protection against malicious scripts is only available in the paid for version of AVG; the free version does no more than warn.

The Boot-up Scanner operates at start-up, and checks the most important areas of a PC before you begin to use it. Every aspect of AVG's virus protection can be configured using the Control Centre, which allows you to modify a number of program settings and to schedule scans, among other things.

When installing there's an option to create a rescue disk for use should any of your key system files become infected. All crucial areas and files on a PC are backed up, and can be restored from this disk.

Note the review above was for the older free v7.x edition. The download here is for the brand new major v8 release, along with an improved user-interface, anti-virus and anti-spyware protection and much more.