What free antivirus should i get?

Yonose

Honorable
Dec 25, 2012
36
0
10,590
Hello.

Im looking for a simple and free antivirus that i can install for my family.
What antivirus do you guys recommend that is free use and few pop-up messages as possible about upgrade and etc.
 
Solution


Both those only provide a modicum of protection. MSE misses a huge number of viruses and gets a 0 out of 5 rating. I am routinely asked to disinfect systems with those on a monthly basis. My S-I-L had them and by the time I finished her machine, Bit Defender had routed out 1200+ infected files.

http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-7/february-2014/microsoft-security-essentials-4.4-140671/...

Akarin

Estimable
Nov 19, 2014
5
0
4,510
After years using Avast, now I'm testing BitDefender, low performance impact, great reviews, if I'm not mistaken it was chosen as the best or one of the top free AV last year.
 

Calculagator

Estimable
Nov 18, 2014
201
0
5,110
Microsoft Security Essentials for windows 7 or the Windows defender built into windows 8. This is the only one that never tries to upsell you. Since microsoft is responsible for supporting it, it pretty much never causes problems with windows.
 
Check the various AV test sites to see which did well in the latest round of testing.

http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/

I think you find if ya look back over the last few test, no free version scored at the top consistently. But last round, Panda did hot the max score

Personally, I go for the paid option which costs me $10 per PC; I foind the investment well worth the superior performance and consistent detection rates and it all includes antivirus, malware protection, adware protection, firewall, browsing protection, parental controls, anti-theft system, file encryption and 2GB of secure online backup space.
http://store.fileforum.com/p30558-bitdefender_total_security_2015_3-pc

 


Both those only provide a modicum of protection. MSE misses a huge number of viruses and gets a 0 out of 5 rating. I am routinely asked to disinfect systems with those on a monthly basis. My S-I-L had them and by the time I finished her machine, Bit Defender had routed out 1200+ infected files.

http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-7/february-2014/microsoft-security-essentials-4.4-140671/
http://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/windows-7/august-2014/microsoft-security-essentials-4.5-143171/

Protection against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and e-mail threats (Real-World Testing)
Detected 77 % / 78% of 194 viruses compared with industry average of 96%

That equates to missing about 6 times more than the *average* scanner

Detection of widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the last 4 weeks (the AV-TEST reference set)
Detected 77 % / 79% of 194 viruses compared with industry average of 96%

That equates to missing about 11 times more than the *average* scanner

Bit Defender and at least 5 others scored 100% in both categories and do so routinely. AVG Free scored 98%, Panda free scored 100% (last test)

Free is not always a bargain...... To my mind $10 is a great deal ..... The Geek Squad loves MSE ..... the false sense of security that comes with using it means peeps wind up paying these guys $200 to have a high school kid clean it for you.

http://www.geeksquad.com/services/computers/virus-and-spyware-removal.aspx

Rest assured after a visit to Geek Squad, no one continues to rely on Defender or MSE. I do it for free as a favor to folks, but after I clean a system with BitDefender or one of the other major vendors, they get to use it for 30 days. If they don't license it or another quality vendor's product they are on their own. I won't do it a 2nd time.
 
Solution

hftvhftv

Honorable
May 26, 2014
5
0
10,510
Now the ONLY anti-virus program that I have used, and has not let me contract a virus, is AVG Free. It does suck a bit of RAM but it works like a charm, and an excellent sidekick is http://www.malwarebytes.org/ , it is just a scanning program that will destroy any virus. Makes your PC run like a Mac. Plus the AVG never asks you to upgrade to the paid service!