Got a special geek or gamer on your gift list? Not only are these top picks for great gifts ideal, they will appeal even to those geeks and gamers over the age of 30.

The AVG Rescue CD provides a portable variation of Grisoft AVG antivirus and antispyware software. The CD is bootable and definition updates can be installed to either the hard drive or a removable USB drive. Coverage is limited to Windows XP and Server 2003. On the plus side, it operates with FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems. While the flexibility of the approach is nice, the price - $149.00 - may knock it out of the ballpark for many users.

McAfee VirusScan 2006 (v10.0.27) nabbed an impressive 95% of adware and spyware in our tests, 99% of all viruses in the AV-Test.org zoo collection tests, and 100% of in-the-wild viruses. McAfee VirusScan has a relatively small install size, at just over 52Mb, and supports Windows XP, 2000, ME, or 98. McAfee now offers daily signature updates - a huge plus from the weekly updates offered in the past. McAfee VirusScan 2006 offers exemplary protection at an affordable price.

AVG Free Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. Installing only 30Mb of files and 4 running processes, AVG Free Edition is the smallest antivirus scanner we've tested and may well be the best choice for an older PC with severely limited system resources.

AVAST 4 Home Edition provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The scanner installed just under 40MB and 6 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, taking a slightly bigger toll than other free antivirus scanners, but still well suited for older PCs or those with limited system resources.

Free antivirus software may be the only option for those on a limited budget. The question, of course, is how well free antivirus software protects your PC, how easy is it to use, and if something goes wrong will you be left out in the cold? The answers may surprise you. This review looks at three free antivirus solutions: AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic, AVAST 4 Home Edition, and AVG Free Edition.

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic provides free antivirus protection for Windows XP/2000/NT/ME/98. The svelte scanner installed only 34MB and 3 running processes to our Windows XP Pentium 4 test system, making it an excellent option for those with older PCs or limited system resources.

Korean-based Iocell has announced VaccineDrive, a USB drive that includes the Hauri ViRobot antivirus scanner. Iocell uses C2, their own developed operating system. They claim to the be the "World's First Portable Anti-Virus Drive. But the C2 platform wasn't even released until Sep '05, and the VaccineDrive specifically was not released until January 13, 2005. Iocell claims that C2 is 'open platform', but that can be widely interpreted and they offer little insight into what that interpretation might be.

Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition is an all-in-one security suite that leaves most of the protective decision making for adware and spyware blocking and removal up to the user. One wrong choice and your system may continue to spy on you or dish up ads. It's one hefty product too, consuming over 300Mb and installing 11 services, 3 startup items, 2 Toolbars and 2 BHOs - thus it may be less than ideal for already taxed PCs.

AVG Anti-Virus plus Firewall Edition is light on resources, heavy on protection. The firewall provides permission-based access control reminiscent of the popular ZoneAlarm firewall. The high level of control and customization will appeal to the most advanced users, while less savvy users will find the Basic interface simple to understand and use.