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Anti virus
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dawuddustin
3 Posts
(Offline)
1
January 18, 2018 - 3:18 am

Hey guys which is the best free anti virus software you know?
Do you think the paid ones are better? If so which one would you suggest

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AronK
2 Posts
(Offline)
2
October 8, 2018 - 11:07 pm

Well, for most of us, it’s not a necessity to deploy a premium antivirus on our home or personal computers, a free antivirus is fine and enough.

When it comes to Avira, the major downside on it is the adwares and promotion for other Avira products bundled in it's installer. Moreover, Avira keeps sending ads at run time, though it is a leading brand in the free antivirus market. Thus, if you are ok with constant ads, Avira is still a good way to go. Otherwise, you can check alternatives below and read the reviews to find the one that can best suit your needs - Top 5 Free AV in 2018

Cheers

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Jim Canfield
Mesquite, NV
8 Posts
(Offline)
3
October 9, 2018 - 1:47 pm

If you are using Windows 10, I believe the best (inexpensive" solution is to use Windows Defender along with a malware protection program like MalwareBytes. The free version of MalwareBytes scanner is as good as the paid version when scanning your computer but the free version must be run manually.

If you open Windows Security (settings>Update & Security) You can see all your Protection areas and what if anything needs to be addressed.

The benefits are continual updates, compatibility,a mild use of resources and never any adds. Also if you wish you can use a free or paid version and make sure Windows Defender Antivirus option is turned on and it will offer periodic scanning in addition to your current provider. As long as all aspects are on and being used, I do not know of a single user that has been infected.

Another aspect of security in W10 is ensuring that SmartScreen in enabled for Microsoft Edge. This will help protect against unrecognized apps, malicious sites and prevent infected downloads unless you personally override the settings.

I do not believe there are any Free Programs better than this. There certainly some paid version

Finally, searching online for reviews on Windows 10 Defender and paid or free antivirus can be confusing because while they look unbiased, there are many sites that are actually revenue centers for the antivirus they claim is better. Also, many reviews are actually years old and unless they are describing today's version of Windows Defender they are useless. In addition Microsoft issued this addition that can be added to systems that do not have or cannot have third party AV. This registry key will allow updates form Windows defender and Security Essentials. It is important to know how to adjust the registry before attempting modifying it. if you are not comfortable I will be happy to walk anyone through the process.

Key="HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" Subkey="SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\QualityCompat" Value="cadca5fe-87d3-4b96-b7fb-a231484277cc" Type="REG_DWORD”

Data="0x00000000”

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Anima
2 Posts
(Offline)
4
January 20, 2020 - 3:55 am

Avira seems to be pretty decent for the antivirus, I've been using it for 1+ year now. I've also seen recently that they offer a VPN (https://the-bestvpn.com/avira-phantom-review-test/) but it seems pretty bad according to some reviews I've read.

Is someone also using the VPN of Avira? Is it worth it? Or is it only the antivirus that I should use...and maybe take a VPN somewhere else?

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Mindblower
Montreal, Canada
663 Posts
(Offline)
5
January 20, 2020 - 10:04 am

There are other threats out there and using this "Anti-Virus" term to group everything together is bad form, since there are Anti-Viruses out there as well. Think malware, rootkits, ramsonware, pups, to start with. Then most importantly, does the software protect you from getting infected, or just inform up after a scan that it found something. Proactive is the way you would like to be protected - da - prevent you from getting infected first - period.

As for free or paid versions, it's as personal as which product you put your trust into. From I have observed, most users do not want to play around tweaking software. Rather take the supplied settings and pray things work. My preference is KIS as it covers almost everything (as no product covers everything).

Now using VPN's, offered by anti-virus companies or the one which Opera has in its browser (that I know of - might be others), the protection you believe you are receiving is questionable imho.

Boils down to how and what you surf on the Internet. Are you all over, clicking away without reading, or safely avoiding pitfalls (loaded word since what is a pitfall)?

There is just to much information to convy in one article, so this will do for now, Mindblower!

"For the needy, not the greedy"

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Anima
2 Posts
(Offline)
6
January 21, 2020 - 1:40 am

I see, that's what I thought !

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Spider
4 Posts
(Offline)
7
September 17, 2020 - 6:37 am

Hey, there I am new here.
My recommendation is Bitdefender Free or Paid.

I am always eager to learn.

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