Best free AV?

outlaw777

Hi all which is the best free AV for basic laptop use on Windows 7?

getmore4less

Windows 10 

grumpycrab

outlaw777 said:

Hi all which is the best free AV for basic laptop use on Windows 7?

As hinted, Windows10's AV is adequate.  If you have a BT account, they provide Norton for free now.  
Otherwise Kaspersky Cloud free is ok...   Best Free Cloud Antivirus Software 2021 for all Devices | Kaspersky

outlaw777

I have a BT account should I get their Norton?

EssexExile

outlaw777 said:

I have a BT account should I get their Norton?

Go to your MyBT and you'll see it there.

mobileron

free windows is the best

IvanOpinion

As others have said for home use the AV built into windows is perfectly adequate.
For extra security you could download a free copy of malware bytes and run that occasionally.
I would also recommend backing up important files to a cloud storage provider.

Se1Lad

As others have said, the standard AV provided with Windows is fine, adding anything additional is unnecessary and slows down your computer.

EssexExile

Se1Lad said:

As others have said, the standard AV provided with Windows is fine, adding anything additional is unnecessary and slows down your computer.

Even on Windows 7?

Se1Lad

EssexExile said:

Se1Lad said:

As others have said, the standard AV provided with Windows is fine, adding anything additional is unnecessary and slows down your computer.

Even on Windows 7?

Yes - Microsoft is still providing definition updates until 2023.  Personally I wouldn’t run windows 7 anymore though - the majority of computers that run windows 7 will run windows 10 too, and you can still upgrade for free.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/what-is-microsoft-security-essentials-c25ad47a-7d15-8072-1438-b07dffcbbb20

Gillor

No a/v can offer 100% protection but as previously mentioned the latest version of Windows Defender built in to Windows 10 is perfectly adequate for everyday internet activity.  More risky activity may need extra security layers.

However, Windows 7 is outdated and insecure and hasn’t been issued with security updates or fixes since January 2020. Coupled with the fact that the Defender version that comes with Windows 7 provides only basic protection you are going to require a third party a/v at the very least to continue to use it.

There are layers of security that can be added to Windows 7 to make it much safer to use but these are not necessarily suitable for the non-technically minded. 

Bear in mind all a/v’s will slow down your computer to to a lesser or greater degree depending on which a/v you use and the activity being undertaken. Although this is generally imperceptible on modern machines it may be more so on older ones.

Take a look at anti-virus software that has a minimum impact on performance. Try it out and if it’s not for you then uninstall it and try something else. Or better still for an easy (and safer) life, see whether you can update to Windows 10 and use Windows Defender.