Best "free" antivirus

Robisere

This is what I use, I have never used any "free" AV, it simply is not good enough IMO and I am a System Builder. -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bitdefender-Total-Security-2015-year/dp/B00M1PU7OG/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1410978097&sr=1

(I have to ask at this point, why does MSE not use !!!!!!!.com ? That would shorten this link down to half a line!)

I also use and recommend Malwarebytes Premium, again a paid for product, but these two do not conflict with each other. More than one other AV programmes on one machine, will set up conflicts.

Using free programmes is a false economy: once your system is trashed, you will wish you had a more secure AV setup. Also, as you have asked for a way to get rid of Ads, well, that's how they make "Free" products pay!

mart44

Gillor wrote: »

+ for Sandboxie.

Sandboxie really is a simple and effective piece of security software, suitable not only for a novice but also capable of being hardened to quite an advanced level.

Combined with something like Malwarebytes, + Panda Cloud/Avast /Avira/Qihoo 360 + a light outbound secure firewall + a little common sense, you’ll end up with a pretty tight layer of security with minimum impact on system performance.

Run all your browsing activities in Sandboxie and it doesn't matter what junk is downloaded onto your system as soon as you close your browser it's gone.

I'm running Qihoo Total Security. I have been using Sandboxie for many years but since Qihoo includes a sandbox, I'm using that to sandbox browsers at present. It doesn't have the years behind it that Sandboxie does but it certainly appears to do the job.

digp

I use 360 total security although I am thinking of switching to Panda Cloud free as Panda is way better [even better than Kaspersky and Bitdefender].

digp

PS Avast, AVG etc all waste of time/space.

digp

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2463815,00.asp

Review of Panda Antivirus 2015 Pro - note he recommends the free one for home use.

debitcardmayhem

Robisere wrote: »

This is what I use, I have never used any "free" AV, it simply is not good enough IMO and I am a System Builder. -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bitdefender-Total-Security-2015-year/dp/B00M1PU7OG/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1410978097&sr=1

(I have to ask at this point, why does MSE not use !!!!!!!.com ? That would shorten this link down to half a line!)

I also use and recommend Malwarebytes Premium, again a paid for product, but these two do not conflict with each other. More than one other AV programmes on one machine, will set up conflicts.

Using free programmes is a false economy: once your system is trashed, you will wish you had a more secure AV setup. Also, as you have asked for a way to get rid of Ads, well, that's how they make "Free" products pay!

Test Icicles What you really wish for is a secure backup strategy , NO and I repeat NO anti virus is 100% safe.

Edited: Oh and I am system re-builder

zennith

SailorSam wrote: »

I was looking yesterday at Sandboxie, not downloaded it yet, i want to read a bit more first. If seems it's not so much an antivirus but just a safer way of opening sites.
Does anyone use it ?

I've been using it for years.

It's an extra layer of protection.

You still need anti virus installed etc.

radu_

Bit Defender has a Free version here.

I have used Bit Defender for over 5 years now and could not be happier with them. In fact when a Virgin Media employee was trying to find some malware to blame for their slow internet speed he could not find a single issue and he sounded genuinely impressed.

It depends what you use your computer for but you might actually want to pay for your antivirus. We have a 2 computers at home and on the one we use for online purchases we have a paid antivirus. On the other one which we use mostly for browsing, but never enter any credit card details, we use a free antivirus.
Think of how much if you are saving by not having your private info and CC details stolen. Another simple calculation I do is to count my time as in paid time; e.g. if I need to reinstall windows and reconfigure everything the same way it was it would take me a good 5-6 hours So if 6 hours at £x per hour is more that the antivirus, I would then buy it.

JJ_Egan

Sources as in the web / Amazon etc .
A very quick search would reveal PC World selling at £22.

I have never paid more than a tenner for KIS key .

Knarf44

radu_ wrote: »

Bit Defender has a Free version here.

I have used Bit Defender for over 5 years now and could not be happier with them. In fact when a Virgin Media employee was trying to find some malware to blame for their slow internet speed he could not find a single issue and he sounded genuinely impressed.

It depends what you use your computer for but you might actually want to pay for your antivirus. We have a 2 computers at home and on the one we use for online purchases we have a paid antivirus. On the other one which we use mostly for browsing, but never enter any credit card details, we use a free antivirus.
Think of how much if you are saving by not having your private info and CC details stolen. Another simple calculation I do is to count my time as in paid time; e.g. if I need to reinstall windows and reconfigure everything the same way it was it would take me a good 5-6 hours So if 6 hours at £x per hour is more that the antivirus, I would then buy it.

I also use the free version of Bitdefender but on the basis that no product can offer a 100% guarantee of not being infected I also maintain a monthly back up regime where I take an image of my system which if necessary, I can restore in about 20mins. Also useful of course if the hard drive should suddenly fail as using a created system recovery disk I can restore my OS and programs to the new drive and essentially continue from where I left off. No wasted time reinstalling the OS, MS Updates etc etc.

For my back up I currently use the free AOMEI's Backupper which can image, clone, or backup selective folders. I have also used the free version of Macrium Reflect which is another very good piece of backup software.