Free security software for 64-bit Vista users
By Jonathan Schlaffer
Windows Vista 64-bit is an entirely different animal from its 32-bit counterpart; some of the software you have become accustomed to using may have to be tossed out the window (no pun intended) and replaced with something else.
One of my all time favorite free applications, Spyware Doctor (as included with the Google Pack) simply doesn’t run on Windows Vista 64-bit. There is no equal freeware replacement for it; the best you will do is Spybot Search and Destroy to compliment Windows Defender. Neither program is great but hopefully between the two, they will keep your system relatively free of spyware. Here’s hoping that the folks over at PCTools get on that 64-bit compatible version of Spyware Doctor, stat.
You’ll have better luck with anti-virus, most of them will be compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Vista so have at it. Your choices are Avast, AVG Free, Avira Anti-Vir and PCTools Anti-Virus free edition. Between those choices, AVG Free would be my choice given that it’s the most reliable and has recently gone through an interface overhaul, for the better.
Avira-Anti Vir would be my second choice but be warned that during updates you will be presented with ads urging you to upgrade to the premium version which is my "turn off" for that particular product.
Here we go with unlucky again. Firewalls; not all of them are 64-bit compatible. For example, the one I use on my 32-bit systems (PCTools Firewall Plus) is not compatible with 64-bit Vista. Wonderful. I’ve had mixed results with the Comodo firewall in the past but it is compatible with 64-bit systems so here’s hoping the incremental update for it has fixed past problems.
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