Free anti-virus etc

Manxman_in_exile

My Norton Internet Security is coming up for renewal.


Any suggestions as to a free (or cheaper) reliable alternative?


Don't use on-line banking etc at the moment, but this may change.


Thanks


(Oh - fairly bog-standard Toshiba laptop running Windows 7. But it's over nine years old and I may replace it in the next 12 months, and presumably a new one will come with Windows 10)

dan958

I always just stick with windows Defender and Malwarebytes and never had any issues, but then again, i'm not downloading freemovies.exe files

Browntoa

As above.

Perfectly adequate

grumpycrab

What about a url checker? e.g. (**at your own risk**) how does your computer handle https://www.googl.co.uk ?

DoaM

dan958 wrote: »

I always just stick with windows Defender and Malwarebytes and never had any issues, but then again, i'm not downloading freemovies.exe files

Agree with MBAM, and built-in Defender for Windows 10. For Windows 7 I'd suggest Bitdefender Free.

EveryWhere

It is now Norton 360

Not terrible value at £1 to £1.50 per month, if it includes their Secure VPN and you actually need a VPN.
Just buy a new code after a year, rather than to auto-subscribe.

Robisere

Windows Defender and Malwarebytes for me, and I am on 7 until I make the move shortly to 10. When Kaspersky told me there were conflicts with MWB, I chucked it. My MWB Premium is paid for, updates every day at least once and upgrades every year.

EveryWhere

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

My Norton Internet Security is coming up for renewal.


Any suggestions as to a free (or cheaper) reliable alternative?


Don't use on-line banking etc at the moment, but this may change.


Thanks


(Oh - fairly bog-standard Toshiba laptop running Windows 7. But it's over nine years old and I may replace it in the next 12 months, and presumably a new one will come with Windows 10)

I'm still running a ten year old, bulk standard Toshiba laptop. Though I've swapped the slow hard drive for a much more efficient solid state drive.
It's now so good that I don't need to consider buying a new laptop
So you too may be able to breathe new life into your old laptop with the same simple upgrades.

SSD prices from £18.50; https://www.mymemory.co.uk/memory/data-storage/ssd-drives.html?dir=asc&order=price
Taking the RAM to 4GB(2 x 2GB), dependent on the model, as little as £4. https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=smemje9gh

Manxman_in_exile

EveryWhere wrote: »

I'm still running a ten year old, bulk standard Toshiba laptop. Though I've swapped the slow hard drive for a much more efficient solid state drive.
It's now so good that I don't need to consider buying a new laptop
So you too may be able to breathe new life into your old laptop with the same simple upgrades.

SSD prices from £18.50; https://www.mymemory.co.uk/memory/data-storage/ssd-drives.html?dir=asc&order=price
Taking the RAM to 4GB(2 x 2GB), dependent on the model, as little as £4. https://uk.webuy.com/product-detail/?id=smemje9gh

Thanks. Although it operates ok it's physically on its last legs!


It's been dropped a couple(?) of times and for the last couple of years there's been a 2cm gap between the top part and the bottom part of the keyboard bit, so that if I move the screen part it all flexes and I'm waiting for it to split apart. God knows what crap has got inside!


The battery's been dead for two years and it has to be plugged in all the time. Not sure if that's a good idea but it's still working.


It's a miracle of robustness. I smile when I read threads about laptops packing up after a couple of months, which is one reason I keep putting of replacing it. (It's running constantly for 12 - 16 hours a day, but doesn't do anything taxing)

Manxman_in_exile

grumpycrab wrote: »

What about a url checker? e.g. (**at your own risk**) how does your computer handle www.googl.co.uk ?

Well that's an interesting question.


1. I have no idea what you mean, but...


2. When I click on your link I get the warning you describe from McAfee WebAdvisor?


It's nearly ten years since we got the laptop and I seem to recall it had a McAfee free trial(?) pre-loaded. When that expired we bought Norton IS. We've never paid a sub or anything to McAfee and I thought I'd disabled and deleted it years ago. Have to admit I can't remember the details and I can't find any paperwork (I usually keep a detailed record of software changes etc).


Looking at Uninstall a program I can see (a) McAfee SiteAdvisor installed 01/10/2010, and (b) McAfee WebAdvisor installed 15/10/2019(?). Nothing for McAfee appears under Installed updates - just Adobe and multiple Windows updates.


There's nothing from Norton when I click your link, just the McAfee warning I haven't proceeded past.


Is this all good news? Or bad news?


Thanks!

GDB2222

I use Sophos free AV. It seems to work okay. I hope!