Free portable anti-virus tool

Platform : Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista

Type: freeware

Manufacturer: Portable Apps

Size: 6.1MB

Rating: 4

Verdict: Take this free anti-virus tool on the road

System Requirements:

ClamWin is one of only a handful of free antivirus tools for Windows, the most popular of which is AVG Antivirus.

It's based on the Clam Antivirus engine which, like ClamWin, uses the GNU General Public Licence making it open source software.

It doesn't have the slickest of interfaces but this isn't really a problem as once it's installed and you've set its options to suit your needs, you'll rarely go into the application itself. You can set the software to scan your PC at regular intervals, and it includes context menu integration in Windows Explorer so you can scan a file or folder simply by right-clicking and selecting 'scan'.

ClamWin can be set to automatically download updates to the virus definitions, ensuring that you are as safe as possible. It also includes a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, should this be your email client.

On the downside, it doesn't have a real-time scanner so it won't automatically check downloaded files for viruses. The Outlook plug-in, however, will delete a virus-infected attachment immediately.

Note that this is the portable version of ClamWin.