most minimal, unintrusive, free antivirus/malware program available?

kmartian

Distinguished
Oct 25, 2008
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18,510
Hey folks.

I'm looking for a light weight , very small, feature-light, antivirus program. I know how to avoid the common virus/malware from building/working with computers since the Windows 3.1 days. So i'm not too worried about my computer getting infected due to my own ignorance. I am aware, however, that i can get infected by bugs that are embedded into websites, video players, ect. So i feel that i need SOMETHING on this new build.

I used to use AVG back in the day because it was one of the only choices for free anti-virus software at the time. Recently I've noticed that there are a ton of free options.

I need something very light weight. I don't want it to check my email links, scan downloaded files before opening, ect. I know these features can be disabled on programs that offer them, but i want a program that doesn't even offer them at all. I just want a simple scanner with real time protection running in the background.

What would you guys suggest i use?
 

edogawa

Distinguished
Jan 4, 2012
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18,660
Okay, so I have one program I recommend https://www.malwarebytes.org/, but unfortunately they switched from Lifetime to Annual subscriptions. This is good to use in conjuration with another anti virus suite. (Just recommending it despite it not being free).

Personally I use the above and Norton 360($35 on Amazon), but right now there is a super good deal on Kasperesky(free).

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/116818/newegg---kaspersky-lab-anti-virus-2014-3-pc