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Thread: Free Anti Virus

  1. #1
    Master
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    Free Anti Virus

    Is there any such thing? Can anyone advise of a truly free anti-virus that's worth installing? The two top-rated 'Free' programs - Total AV and PC-Protect - are free to download but when they run a check and find a couple of issues which Microsoft's in-built software (I use Windows 10 and Malware Bytes) doesn't see you have to pay twenty quid or so to get the part of the program that actually does the clean up.

    I was wondering just how serious these little issues are if quite conveniently the only software that sees them is the one that they are trying to sell you. Any thoughts?

    Rob

  2. #2
    Master
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    In my days of having a PC, Avast! and AVG were the free ones.

    They're still about I notice for android so imagine still do the PC platform. They may do a free and premium version though

  3. #3
    Grand Master Rod's Avatar
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    Rob, don't pay for A/V. Just use Windows Defender, and download the free Malwarebytes and run that once a month and you'll be fine. Most of these A/V programmes slow your PC down and plaster themselves all over the place.

  4. #4
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rod View Post
    Rob, don't pay for A/V. Just use Windows Defender, and download the free Malwarebytes and run that once a month and you'll be fine. Most of these A/V programmes slow your PC down and plaster themselves all over the place.
    Thanks, Rod. That's exactly what I'm doing at the moment. My brother had a bad time lately getting rid of some malware that had loaded stuff all over his system so I was just a little concerned.

    Rob

  5. #5
    Master
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    I have Windows 10 and use Defender anti virus. I paid $25 for Malwarebytes Pro because it is slightly more aggressive in dealing with Ransomeware. Also the $25 buys you life long memberships which moves from pc to pc as you replace them over time. I once had 3 ransomware attacks but since the Malwarebytes Pro was installed, I have not had any problems at all.

    However I am soon going to replace the Windows with Apple as the wifes MacBook Pro is 8 years old and has been totally reliable and bug free.

  6. #6
    Master
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    Just stick with the inbuilt Microsoft thing. Installing AV programs often aids to weaken your security rather than enhance it due to how they work.

    As to the "pay to access" kind of stuff, it's utter rubbish, and just a scam to get some money out of you. You pay for it to remove an imaginary virus.

  7. #7
    Grand Master TaketheCannoli's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rod View Post
    Rob, don't pay for A/V. Just use Windows Defender, and download the free Malwarebytes and run that once a month and you'll be fine. Most of these A/V programmes slow your PC down and plaster themselves all over the place.
    This. I’ve recently cleaned up my laptop, removing all the old protections and installing MS Defender and it’s running like a dream. As Rod says, these freebies run all over your equipment and made mine a nightmare to use.

  8. #8
    Journeyman
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveR View Post
    In my days of having a PC, Avast! and AVG were the free ones.

    They're still about I notice for android so imagine still do the PC platform. They may do a free and premium version though
    I'm running AVG , Was great at first but once the free trial of the premium features ran out the laptops gone real sluggish and I'm left with a load of crap wanting me to upgrade.

    Will be uninstalled soon

  9. #9
    Windows defender is ok. Bitdefender free version is very good and has a low signature on your computer.

  10. #10
    Journeyman
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ventura View Post
    Windows defender is ok. Bitdefender free version is very good and has a low signature on your computer.
    Is that a full antivirus suite or just spyware ?

  11. #11
    Master Skier's Avatar
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    My take on this is simple: get the best AntiVirus there is regardless of whether it's free or paid for. How you determine 'best' is another issue all together. The reason I say this is, should you get a virus, the time (and potentially cost if you can't do it yourself) of completely removing a virus can be immense. I used to provide support to friends when they had computer issues and I still do to a lesser degree. The two biggest issues by far were: lack of decent AntiVirus and no back-ups of important data. This includes a friend who has his own customer facing business who got a virus on his ONLY work computer and couldn't take electronic payments for almost 24hrs.

    I use ESET Smart Security and Malwarebytes (paid for). I have used ESET for years as it was one of only two providers to fully support 64-bit computing when Windows XP 64-bit was introduced. Have a look at several AntiVirus comparisons and decide what's best for you.

    For example:

    http://www.techradar.com/news/best-antivirus-software
    https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-an...view-2588.html
    https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/test-c...views-3651652/
    Last edited by Skier; 17th January 2018 at 19:11.

  12. #12
    Craftsman
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    Bitdefender is a full anti virus. I moved from AVG a few years ago and it's been running fine. Not too resource intensive.

    I wouldn't necessarily say it's any better than just using windows defender but when I did research at the time (could be well out of date), bitdefender scored the highest of all free AVs.

    I run spybot alongside for spyware. Not monitoring full time but manually doing a scan each week or so to get rid of anything I've picked up.

  13. #13
    Craftsman
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    I too moved away from AVG as it became real bloatwear, however, I moved to Avira which seems to work well and is free:

    https://www.avira.com/en/free-antivirus-windows

  14. #14
    Master
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    Yep just use MS defender on windows. Plus you have a NAT firewall with your router and windows firewall or at least should have. Ad blockers and pop up blockers and be sensible on what you open or links you click on.

  15. #15
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    You seem to place zero value on the data on your PC given you don't want to spend money on an AV package. I couldn't find any test or review where Microsoft Defender was the top performer but hey, it's free. You should look at ESET, Bitdefender or Kaspersky if you want one of the best performing packages. How about this:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kaspersky-I.../dp/B074SP5ZJL

    £22 for three devices a year - that's £7 a device. Is your data not worth that?

    There will now follow a bunch of posts about how installing this will send the contents of your PC to the Kremlin.

    If you still want to be a cheapskate at least reduce your chances of getting a virus by installing the NoScript & Ublock Origin extensions in your browser.

  16. #16
    I agree with the above post about windows defender. It’s as good as any of the free ones.

  17. #17
    Craftsman Coops365's Avatar
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    Windows Defender used to be pretty good, but nowadays it's pretty 2nd rate.

    Of the free ones I've heard more positives in recent times about Kapersky free than any of the others.

  18. #18
    Master Redwolf's Avatar
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    I use malware bites. Seems decent enough.


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