Most everyone realizes that antivirus and firewalls are must-have protection. But when protection interferes with online gaming, it can be sorely tempting to disable that protection in favor of uninterrupted play. These antivirus scanners tackle the unique problems of gamers so you can play without sacrificing performance or protection. In addition to being game friendly, each of the scanners below has demonstrated superior detection capabilities through certification bodies such as Virus Bulletin, ICSA Labs, and Checkmark, as well as independent testing from AV-Test.org and AV-Comparatives.org.

System Safety Monitor from System Safety adds a much needed extra layer of defense against today's malware attacks. The behavior and rules based controls provide critical insight into the otherwise invisible workings that - left undetected - can too often allow infection to occur. Learning mode can help clean systems stay clean and comprehensive reporting can help ferret out and block malware on already infected systems. Manufacturer's Site Pros

There are millions of bot-infected PCs on the Internet. In September 2006, a McAfee study placed the number of machines unwittingly joined to botnets at approximately 12 million - a population larger than the country of Greece. The FBI calls botnets a growing threat to national security and Symantec VP Rowan Trollope warns that those infected with bots risk "having their own identity or personal information stolen" and their PCs being used to carry out "large scale criminal activities." Any way you slice it, botnets are a huge problem and it's a problem that's only getting worse.

McAfee SiteAdvisor is the virtual equivalent of the school crossing guard, helping to ensure safe navigation of the web. Vendor's Site Pros

Chances are, there are dozens of security vulnerabilities waiting to be exploited on your system. And while it's easy enough to set automatic updates for Windows, it's not so easy keeping other software up-to-date. Secunia Software Inspector truly takes the pain out of patching, providing a one stop shop to quickly check for - and patch - vulnerable software. From Apple to Sun and nearly everything in between, Secunia Software Inspector detects, reports, advises, and instructs you every step of the way. Visit Their Web Site Pros

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. Publisher's Site Pros

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. Pros

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. Vendor's Site Pros

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. Vendor's Site Pros