Free anti-virus software

From David Pogue of The New York Times:

Last week, for example, I mentioned that an anti-virus program is a necessity these days if you use Windows. I grumbled that that meant forking over money (plus an annual subscription) to companies like McAfee and Symantec, two companies that are not known for, ahem, customer-support excellence.

But dozens of you called to my attention a number of free anti-virus programs from other companies. “I have been using the version of AVG that’s free for personal use,” wrote one reader. “It has stopped all viruses without fault. And Grisoft has never sent me a single junk mail or distributed my information — a refreshing thought indeed.”

I tried AVG, and it’s great. (Other readers recommended free and cheap anti-virus programs like Avast, F-prot, Sophos and NOD32 Anti-Virus.)