Avast! anti-virus is also available (and also free) for Linux users.

[ConsAreLiars]

I know that Linux requires a password before any process can get into the guts of the system and take over, and so is generally considered secure out of the box, but there are also some anti-virus Linux programs since, apparently, some developers think better defenses can be added.

In reading the Linux Mint Newbie Forum about the difficulties in using the pre-packaged ClamAV (which had also seemed a bit confusing to me), it was mentioned that Avast! (which I had liked on XP) was also available for Linux.

See here for info and the free download: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-for-linux-workstation.html

[ConsAreLiars]

1. oops. it seems a bit more resticted than I thought possible.

Got an error: "Wrong architecture i386" which maybe means AMD is not recognized or 64 bit is not supported or something. At least it means that some Linux systems (at least one) will not be able to install it.

[RoyGBiv]

2. No 64-bit support ...

From the system requirements:

"Any Linux distribution (x86 platform only) with GLIBC version 2.1 or higher and pthreads libraries installed"

You'll find that a lot for proprietary software that's ported to Linux.

Out of curiosity, are you having a specific problem with ClamAV, or is the whole thing just confusing?

[ConsAreLiars]

3. No problem with ClamAV, it just was unfamiliar and I wasn't sure I needed it, so

never tried to figure it out. Being familiar with Avast!, I was pleased to see Linux support and thought I'd give it a try.

They do seem to support some 64-bit Linux, and offer this page http://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=313 for advice on what to do if the initial installation attempt fails. I couldn't pass "error" when trying to follow instructions I only half understood.

I'll probably give it another try and see if I can understand what happens a bit better, or maybe just try ClamAV again and maybe RTFM.