Best anti-virus?

grumpycrab

labp04 said:

Don't want to hijack the thread, but wondering what folk think about the NatWest offer of Malwarebytes Premium ie would it provide better cover than simply Malwarebytes free alongside the inbuilt security with W10?

In lab tests you'll find that commercial AV products do better than W10's own. For home users there's little difference. The commercial ones, however, may provide some extra protection e.g. Malwarebytes Premium offers "Malicious URL Blocking" which W10 may not have.

neilmcl

labp04 said:

Don't want to hijack the thread, but wondering what folk think about the NatWest offer of Malwarebytes Premium ie would it provide better cover than simply Malwarebytes free alongside the inbuilt security with W10?

Depends how you want to run it. The premium versions offers real-time protection, personally I just use it in the same way as the free version and run it only to scan for malware. It's the same program, it just enables the real-time settings.

letsbehonest

I too use Bitdeffender total internet security and it's very good rated in the top 2, but I never paid £70 for it more like £20.

jonnygee2

Don't want to hijack the thread, but wondering what folk think about the NatWest offer of Malwarebytes Premium ie would it provide better cover than simply Malwarebytes free alongside the inbuilt security with W10?

Probably no big difference. When you have the free version, you generally have windows defender active providing real time coverage. 

The problem with malwarebytes premium is that it isn't really very premium. It doesn't provide the security features that normally make paid for AV solutions offer some value to users - like use of a VPN, password manager, mobile apps with remote wipe features. So it's not really a total security package, it's just an AV program.

You can of course get all of those features from separate apps for free or at worst a small charge. But if you are doing that I can't see why you'd want to pay for something 'premium'.

TomokoAdhami

I usually clean up my PC via chrome. Yes, you need to open settings of your Chrome browser then click on the advance option and then clean up. You can click on find harmful software. McAfee anti-virus is also a good option. I using its free version from years. 

grumpycrab

McAfee anti-virus is also a good option. I using its free version from years. 

McAfee do a free version? Not that I'm advocating it, but the one that comes with BT is of the "total security" variety and may be useful to BT subscribers.

Rosa_Damascena

grumpycrab said:

McAfee anti-virus is also a good option. I using its free version from years. 

McAfee do a free version? Not that I'm advocating it, but the one that comes with BT is of the "total security" variety and may be useful to BT subscribers.

Total security novice here. I didn't realise that internet providers supply this, does Virgin Media?  

I need to upgrade my laptop urgently and realised at the last minute I needed to buy Windows 10 for it, but security has been an afterthought. Will the free Microsoft antivirus software referred to previously in this thread be good enough for internet banking, or do I need to invest in something else?

neilmcl

Rosa_Damascena said:

grumpycrab said:

McAfee anti-virus is also a good option. I using its free version from years. 

McAfee do a free version? Not that I'm advocating it, but the one that comes with BT is of the "total security" variety and may be useful to BT subscribers.

Total security novice here. I didn't realise that internet providers supply this, does Virgin Media?  

I need to upgrade my laptop urgently and realised at the last minute I needed to buy Windows 10 for it, but security has been an afterthought. Will the free Microsoft antivirus software referred to previously in this thread be good enough for internet banking, or do I need to invest in something else?

Windows Defender is perfectly fine for most users.

debitcardmayhem

Rosa_Damascena said:

grumpycrab said:

McAfee anti-virus is also a good option. I using its free version from years. 

McAfee do a free version? Not that I'm advocating it, but the one that comes with BT is of the "total security" variety and may be useful to BT subscribers.

Total security novice here. I didn't realise that internet providers supply this, does Virgin Media?  

I need to upgrade my laptop urgently and realised at the last minute I needed to buy Windows 10 for it, but security has been an afterthought. Will the free Microsoft antivirus software referred to previously in this thread be good enough for internet banking, or do I need to invest in something else?

Why do you need to upgrade urgently? What is wrong with it ?

Rosa_Damascena

debitcardmayhem said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

grumpycrab said:

McAfee anti-virus is also a good option. I using its free version from years. 

McAfee do a free version? Not that I'm advocating it, but the one that comes with BT is of the "total security" variety and may be useful to BT subscribers.

Total security novice here. I didn't realise that internet providers supply this, does Virgin Media?  

I need to upgrade my laptop urgently and realised at the last minute I needed to buy Windows 10 for it, but security has been an afterthought. Will the free Microsoft antivirus software referred to previously in this thread be good enough for internet banking, or do I need to invest in something else?

Why do you need to upgrade urgently? What is wrong with it ?

It's ancient history (nearly 15 years old) and on borrowed time. It heats up a lot and the next few weeks are going to require 12hr+ sessions online so I can foresee it going kaput. 

I'm not a gamer, use the internet heavily for webinars and academic research, and also Word for long documents and multiple spreadsheets when I'm at full pelt. I tend to stream on Apple devices but don't want to make the massive leap to a Mac because of compatibility issues with previous work and I don't have a bandwidth for the learning curve. This seems like a good option, any opinions? https://www.johnlewis.com/dell-inspiron-14-5490-laptop-intel-i7-processor-8gb-ram-512gb-ssd-14-inch-full-hd-silver/p4789667

Eta: Dell chosen because that's what I have currently, and it seems to go on forever. HP Envy hasn't been as good IME, and Lenovo has been dreadful in the past (not kept up with my usage, thank goodness it was a work computer and I could hand it back).