What is a good free Anti-Spyware/Virus protection to use?

[Nitro]

I was not sure where to post this but I was wondering,

What is the best free Anti-spyware/Virus protection out there that will scan and remove Virus's/Spyware found on the computer? With out having to get a paid version.

I have no clue about these things even though i am good with computers I suck when it comes to this stuff.

Thank you in advance for any help. ^_^

~Syanyte~

[Oniya]

Veks has a number of recommendations in Elliquiy U.  I've personally had excellent luck with Avast, and have a copy of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (M-BAM) for regular maintenance.

[Nitro]

Wow thank you Oniya, Someone recommended I use Avast though i may take a look As well as look through the recommendations from Veks. I also have MalwareBytes on my computer just got everything all cleaned up and my computer is running like it is new but I wanted to keep that going and I don't have a Anti-virus/Spyware thing on my computer so i thought I would ask for assistance. Thank you so much for your help. ^_^

[kylie]

           I've been using Avira, another of Veks' freebie recommendations, and pretty much always satisfied with it. 

           It doesn't nag a lot about dropped connections or a little time away, in the way that some programs do.  Most of the time, I barely notice it's there.  But I haven't seen a great deal getting through, either.  And the few times I've suspected real trouble, it has picked stuff up on the active search and dealt with it.  It also gets stuff done without having to search your whole computer (or even worse, having to finish the full machine search in one go), which some still do not.   :-)

[Psi]

I use MS Security Essentials and its corporate version - MS System Centre Endpoint Protection all the time.

One advantage, as long as you do windows updates regularly, the program itself is self-updating - unlike other packages.  (I am talking engine not definitions)
In our case, I enforce automatic installation of Important Updates - and push third party updates such as Flash / Java etc.

[Rogue]

Gonna throw up my support for avast. Because it comes with a preinstalled Boot Scan option that you can set up to run every so often... Or manually set up as well.

Useful for when you can't really boot your cpu.

[The Dark Raven]

I use MS Security Essentials.  I have used Avast, AVG, Norton, etc and none were anything but headaches for me.

[Scott]

If you can come up with the money ESET is worth every cent, CCleaner is free and works well too.

[Far eyes]

Been using Avast for years now, never had any problems with it