The best free security software

I've gone back to using MSE. I know it's just a baseline AV client, but I had to. I was using BitDefender free and lately it was popping up every 3-4 minutes. I don't abide that. I might just purchase a family pack of licenses for Nod32 and move on. This whole free AV thing is getting to be a pain in the for me. I manage about 300 PC's at work and don't have time to play "IT guy" when I am at home.

 

Baseline or not it been working so far for me and my family and their computers. Far better then bloated Norton....but what even better is if those with Windows should their windows update be off by default MSE will turn it to auto update thus giving you a extra layer of protection the other competitors can't do. Also being free Windows owners it doesn't have monthly or yearly popup requesting you resubscribe to get the updates when it comes free. All this requires is you have Windows which the vast majority of users have and you got a decent A/V-malware program all in one package. IMO

 

You are right however I was getting concerned regarding the fact that MSE hardly afforded any protection but a month ago switched out to avast due to speed at botup that I enjoyed with MSE (all ssd system)

Avira bogged my startup to 40+seconds and that's to the desktop !!!!!!
Bit defender hardly had any options I could enable or disable

 

Honestly I have always been an avast fan, never had any issues although the nags get somewhat annoying but nowhere near as bad as Avira.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

MSE was good when it was first released I wish they improve their protection level to a somewhat acceptable level but right now they have lost certification in every AV test site I see

 

They've even come out and said its "baseline" protection anyway now. I can only assume this refocusing of sorts is to avoid stepping on the toes of the AV companies.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Which by no means should it be interpreted as MSE being 'weak' or 'ineffective'.
Realistically, I don't think a person needs more than MSE and MBAM.
It's quite versatile as well as powerful and light protection that's completely free of charge and has no ads.

As for it not having any 'certificates'... certificates don't matter... what matters is how the program behaves under real scenarios... and my experience was quite good... even better than Norton (recent version) as well as other paid programs.

 

Hey guys, I got hit with a virus this morning. First one in 10 years. I don't use any anti virus software so it serves me right I suppose. This is incredibly annoying though and I need to get back to work but can't till I solve this.
It's one of those typical viruses where everytime I click on anything in my browser (chrome) a new page opens up with some advertisement or spam. And now any web page with text is covered in link's next to the text with pop ups that come up all over the place and my computer is lagging/freezing for a few seconds at a time every once in a while. Any ideas on how to get rid of this?

 

I have the paid-for version of AVG and use ABP, should I look for other options?

 

AVG has dropped the ball, look at their poor detections rates:

AV-TEST

I use F-Secure Anti-Virus, the lightest out of all I tested and has excellent detection rates.

 

As free program for secure I can use Avast, of couse you can use commercial version as well.

 

Edit your hosts file will most likely kill those pops ads...this is my second line of defense...this way they can't hijack your broswer. Also uninstall your chrome and delete its folder and reinstall that is another way to kill those pop ads if they infected your browser folder.

 

This is the most honest truth I have heard so far...couldn't be farther from the truth...those testers most likely got support or paid by 3rd party that is connected to those AV companies...and anything less would get punished...

 

Funny enough I have used MSE for the last couple of years and never had virus attacks.

 

How can you be so sure? Do you think that when you get infected you will see a message saying "Oh hello I am a virus and you're infected?"

You'd rather not have any security if you want to use MSE / Windows Defender, it's as good as nothing.

 

Protection is only good as the person using it and what sites they visits. If they go to those Porn sites or black sites then you can guarantee there be some malware sites waiting to launch a attack and infect your system.

 

QFT dawg

When I usually receive computer to fix, they are all infected heavily and they do have Kaspersky or some other good AV installed. An AV cannot protect one from blind clicking on every link that says "click here to optimize your PC and run a free scan" or "click here to update your drivers for free and boost your performance by 300%" LOL

 

Of course, that's because MSE keeps you clueless due to the low detection rate. MSE can't warn you of something that it hasn't detected.
That, or your computer is actually clean. But, as long as you keep on using MSE you'll never know...

True, but you can't judge a site by its looks. If it looks bad then it probably is, just like you suggest. But the opposite doesn't always mean safe.

(Sure, I don't expect nytimes to start spreading malware anytime soon, I just don't think the whole "common sense is the best antivirus" thinking is a bit misleading.
Use your common sense, yes, but if anything bad happens, you gonna need more than that. This is not directed to you personally tho.)

Well some are better than others. Like I've told before, when MSE found nothing, Avira found 451 detections on a single laptop. Sure, there were probably even more in there...

 

And this is all based on one site that is or isn't bias towards MSE?

Yes you can you mean you go to a porn site or black site and you don't know? That some amazing deduction sherlock.

Common sense is to late after the fact. Not all A/V works for what one wants and one must decide themselves what they need out of the A/V or Security suites or how much bloat they want...

This has no way for anyone to verify this to independently say one way or another.....

 

Show me one test no more than two years old that says MSE is at least average.

No, I mean just beacuse a site looks safe it doesn't have to be. I don't know why you're being so harsh from time to time.

 

Deleted. I figured it didn't add anything to the discussion.

 

I just switched, for now, to Panda Free from MSE. There were quite a few cookie detections, a known Trojan etc.. I am just starting my back off from Windows and all of their software. I figure if we start early supporting the other communities by 202o they should be doing much better than today.

 

this webpage compares many; for Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, Linux, Oracle Solaris, Google Android, Apple iOS, Ubuntu Touch, Windows Phone. Turns out AVG and maybe Avast are good (I believe, for windows they have free and non free versions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_antivirus_software

t looks like for a PC you might want avg

 

Avg and avast are my favorites

 

Kaspersky Windows Unlocker is the best security program. Its also part of Kaspersky Rescue Disk.

 

Avast for Windows, and no antivirus for anything else. Notably, it's quite easy to make Avast free work forever without any registrations and stuff.

 

Considering the Windows 8 test results on AV-test, I'm surprised no one (in 2015) has mentioned Avira. It rated very well. I use it myself and the only con to the free version is the little daily pop-up.

 

It seems that the free edition doesn't have the same level of protection as the paid edition. See this post on Wilders Security Forums: Avira In the test you mentioned the best protection for free comes from Avast.

 

Good point about Avast, but it seems like Avast has an issue with performance (rated 3/5). Personally, I just need "good enough" protection since I don't really go to risky sites, so performance is a major point of concern.

 

Also, I noticed that you use Qihoo 360, which I completely missed since it wasn't on the latest test of Feb 2015. Any reasons why you chose that over others?

 

I used Qihoo because it was compatible with the Window 10 preview I run on my Sony laptop. On my Acer laptop I run Windows 8.1 with Emsisoft Anti-Malware (paid). Not tested on AV Test, but tested on AV Comparatives. I maintain a lot of computers for family members and they are using Kaspersky (paid), Qihoo (free), Bitdefender (free), Panda (free) or Avira (free). Most problems I see are with pups or malvertising. So if you keep your computer up to date, use an ad-blocker an be careful when installing and updating programs just use the (free) av that works best for you on your computer. Other tings to consider are backup, anti exploit: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antiexploit/ and unchecky: http://unchecky.com/

 

Hello,
I'm looking to install some protection on my fresh laptop running windows and after looking through this thread, I am looking at installing these:

HTTPS Everywhere
Do not Track me
Free Malwarebytes
Sandboxie
Avira
adwcleaner

Is this ridiculous overkill? Should I cut some of these out or replace them with something else? Is there some protection I maybe missing?

I would be grateful for any help.

 

No

No, some sites need this to properly work especially if your going to sites will block your access.

Won't hurt to have it installed

No

Either free or no A/V-MSE works fine for me and others that I installed on their ystem and if you have Windows already it's free for you and the updates are free without ads telling you to buy a the Premium version of Avira.

Your better off using a PC hosts edit file to block ads/popups

No overkill but if you overload your system you will cause slower system performance and that will in-turn allow a Virus/malware to get past your protection. But as anything at the end of the Day you will decide it yourself.

 

I just replaced Panda with Avira. Free Panda had too many pop ups. We'll see how Avira does.
Do I need Avira on an Iphone?

 

you don't need any antivirus on any phone. Just make sure you don't download shady apps. An AV on a phone will only cripple its performance and decrease battery life.

As for Avira, I don't know about you but I can't stand that annoying new Launcher it has. It's even there in the paid version so I never use my 3 year license that I have for Avira AV Pro valid for 5 PCs. Collecting dust..

 

Excellent. Thanks.

 

Is there a huge difference between free and paid antivirus software (except price)? I`ve bought a new laptop, I intend to use it on work but it has no antivirus program. I`m thinking to use paid antivirus like Kaspersky. It has high rates according to this advice site http://bestadvisor.com/main-review/best_antivirus_software. Should I instal it and pay 40$ or it`s better stick to free software?

 

I personally use NOD32 Antivirus after having had tried them all as it is the only AV which doesn't conflict with other apps on my system, doesn't give me a single false positive is one of the lightest security solutions as you can see in the link below of the AV-Comparative Performance tests, and offers superb protection.

Have a look at these lists before making a decision:

AV-Comparatives Real World Tests

AV-Comparatives Performance Test

AV-Comparatives False Positives

Some of the other Anti-Virus solutions I will never lose, in a quick summary:

Emsisoft Anti-Malware: Too many false positives for my liking but it's very light and would be the runner up after NOD32 Antivirus.

Avast! AntiVirus: One of the lightest and most effective AVs. I don't use it personally as it conflicts with Office 2013 and has horrible bugs if you have a brief look at their support forums, you will know what I mean.

Norton Security: Comes bundled with the Norton Identity Safe/Norton Toolbar for my browser. I don't like security solutions which offer additional bloatware without the possibility of doing a custom installation.

Bitdefender AntiVirus/Internet Security = This is not an Anti-Virus anymore, this is an all in-on crapware solution that has a system optimizer, browser cleaner, driver updater, everything you can imagine is there. No thank you. Give me the protection only.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus = Great AV, with a low performance impact, but it limits you, three re-installations and your license is blacklisted. I don't use software that limit me on how I use them or limit me on how many times I can format my computer so that's unfortunately not an option for me but if you don't format a lot, it's a good solution.

Webroot SecureAnywhere = The lightest AV on the plant spoiled by terrible false positives, ranging from file FPs to website FPs. Your system with be literally unusable with this junk installed on it.

F-Secure AntiVirus = Great AV! Highly recommend it, but the AV only not the Internet Security AKA F-Secure SAFE

Avira AntiVirus = Was a great AV until they ruined it by now offering a mandatory installation of the Avira Launcher, a very bloated and stupid launcher that again has a system optimizer, etc.

 

@Matrix Leader Does Bitdefender really bundle all that garbage with their AV and IS now? I knew Total Security had all that bloat but I thought IS was pretty clean?

 

Not only IS, even the darn Antivirus only which was the cleanest and leanest security solution from Bitdefender has all the bloatware in it, registry cleaner, speed booster, system optimizer, all sorts of garbage that will destroy your system.

Heck I tried the registry cleaner just for fun and guess what? it found like 500+ errors and a lot of Office 2013 registry errors on a freakin' clean install of Windows! No thank you, I am not letting no stupid reg cleaner mess up my brand new shiny system!

I emailed Bitdefender telling them that I will no longer buy their products because they are following what everyone else is doing by including bloatware rather than giving the user a simple AV when all they anted was an AV and didn't opt for the higher suites like Total Security, all they replied is we are sorry and thank you for your feedback! Heh

 

Damn... My Kaspersky suite expires in 2.5 weeks and I'd been considering Bitdefender as an alternative. For what it's worth your pain saved me the cost ($65AU) of discovering it firsthand and then having to get something different. Back to the drawing board for me I guess.

Seriously big thanks for the help.

 

Run the trial of NOD32 you won't be disappointed. It doesn't leave any traces behind when uninstalled as well it is a very well engineered product so if you don't like it you can easily uninstall it.

NOD32 is the only AV that gives me 0 FPs, doesn't conflict with any of my programs, doesn't have any bloatware not even a toolbar to install for the browser yet its HTTP/HTTPS scanner will prevent you from going to any bad URL by mistake and it has the best PUP protection.

Example, try installing Shark 007 codec pack which is a good codec pack but filled with bad PUPs, NOD32 will block them so you won't even see a trace of them and can only install the Shark 007 Codec clean since NOD32 warned you.

Also, if you are like me and like to reinstall your OS a lot, 3 reinstallations of Kaspersky and your license is blacklisted then good luck with their crappy customer service to get it activated again.

 

I'll happily give it a shot. Thanks for the tip!

 

I bought a Bitdefender Antivirus Plus
However it crashed with Comodo Free Firewall, if I want to keep the Bitdefender, what is the best alternative free firewall??
I 'm using windows 10 pro 64 bit version now

 

So I've been using Avira for a long while and I understand what you are saying about the launcher.
Has anyone uninstalled the launcher?

 

What's the go to Antivirus these days? I've recently switched back to PC from Windows and I want to protect my pc as best as possible w/o affecting performance too much.

 

Just throwing this out there, I've heard good things about Bitdefender's Trafficlight browser plugin.

http://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/trafficlight.html

It's a good addon for ones relatives who aren't so keen on phishing attempts.

 

I use my gaming laptop just for gaming and non important stuff so I don't even use a virus app as they've always seem to do more harm than good in terms of bloat and bogging down the system.

The only virus program I've used for giggles was NOD32 so I do back up @Phoenix with that for sure. It's a very polished app, but I still don't use it due to this system not being my primary.

It is nice to have Malwarebytes on deck to run some scans periodically. Other than that, just be careful what you download and sites that you visit if you want to keep things clean.

The issue with most of these virus apps is that they are literally like cancer in going deep into the registry. This is where NOD32 has a huge advantage over the rest. BitDefender comes in at a close 2nd, but it does fall into the category of software cancer and that too runs very deep into the registry and basically....even if you uninstall it, you'll still be left with traces of its dna....just not my cup of tea.

The better approach would be to lock down your system first so that you're off with a better start than leaving your system as it is loaded with junk and trying to protect it.

OOSU10 and SDAntiBeacon are great to start. Then go clean up your registry by getting rid of Cortana and all M$ garbage. Next install Malwarebytes and NOD32 if you want...from there just be careful with what you download, the sites you visit and extract onto your computer...

 

When I had Windows 7x64 Ult Sp1 with MSE and gaming - I saw no loss in gaming fps or load time or bloatware interfering with all my customer software installs.

 

Why is there no "best security software" sticky? Many people don't mind paying a small amount for good security so it'd be helpful to have another sticky that isn't leaving out a large part of the market.