Favorite anti-virus software?

[MrSquished]

My subscription is up to Norton and it is annoying me. Looked at some top 10 lists and have found other options and just installed a trial for one. I have used Kaspersky before, and of course McAfee years back, but just wanted the opinion of those in ATOT.

Or are some of you so hardcore you don't run an anti-virus?

 

[MrSquished]

mod please move to ATOT

 

[Thump553]

MS Defender-it's free and if you can find an honest review (many are paid shills) it's in the same league as the expensive ones. I also use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware because I got a lifetime license some years ago.

 

[Moonbeam]

I put face masks on the air intakes of my computer case.

 

[Amol S.]

My subscription is up to Norton and it is annoying me. Looked at some top 10 lists and have found other options and just installed a trial for one. I have used Kaspersky before, and of course McAfee years back, but just wanted the opinion of those in ATOT.

Or are some of you so hardcore you don't run an anti-virus?

ESET NOD32

 

[MrSquished]

I put face masks on the air intakes of my computer case.

My rig has Moderna, even though I have Pfizer.

 

[UsandThem]

Bidefender.

15 device family pack, two year subscription for $30 when on sale a few times a year. In fact, a few weeks back I picked up another subscription when it was on sale at Newegg for $30 to extend my original license. 4 years totsl, 15 devices tough to beat at $60.

It's always rated in the top 3 (usually 1st or 2nd) when AV-Tests and AV-Comparatives do their various tests.

 

[Ajay]

I still think Kaspersky is one of the best. I just don’t trust them after the whole data 'leak' business. Shouldn’t really matter for home use. I’m using Avast's free version right now. Maybe I'd by it if I find a good sale. Also using their privacy browser, which seems to be a good chromium based solution.

Bit defender was too strict for me (~4 years ago). Spent a couple weeks tweaking it and whitelisting sites with expired certificates (a shocking number screw this up). Was happy till an update reset everything. Uninstalled it. Maybe @UsandThem will give a better assessment of its current state.

 

[UsandThem]

I really haven't had any issues with it.

It sometimes flags a link or image from establishing a connection within the browser, but they're usually sketchy spam posts I'm getting rid of on here.

I agree, Kaspersky is usually rated the best, and within the last few months finally began offering licenses for more than 5 computers (10 license for $50/year). It's still way pricier than most of it's competitors that are very close in overall performance.

The thing with them is a person has to decide if they are comfortable with the alleged close ties with Russia. There has been no "absolute proof" shown yet, but still something potential users should read up on, and decide for themselves.

 

[balloonshark]

You can use defender for free and download malwarebytes free version for free on-demand and right-click scanning. If you want a back up scanner hitman pro free is also good. Just know that malware removal is only for 30 days unless you pay so it's basically just a backup/second opinion scanner. If you have malware reimmaging your drive is much better than assuming some anti-malware program can clean up everything.

When you download anything make sure it's from an official source or good site (majorgeeks, softpedia). Upload all your downloads to virustotal.com but they must be under 650MB. Just note that some of their scanners indicate false positives.

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I used to use Avira free but it's nagging and lack of options became to annoying for me to use.

The other suggestions in this topic are all solid.

 

[Ajay]

Good deal on Bitdefender @ Amazon right now: Total Security
With a coupon as well.

@UsandThem is going to be the end of me .

 

[mindless1]

Or are some of you so hardcore you don't run an anti-virus?

Yes, I don't run AV and haven't for several years. 0 problems.

I could write pages about it, but the whole point was avoid the extra drama of it when just not needed with the practices I have already.

 

[Ajay]

Yes, I don't run AV and haven't for several years. 0 problems.

I could write pages about it, but the whole point was avoid the extra drama of it when just not needed with the practices I have already.

True, but there have been some 'no-click' malware issues lately that spooked me. Plus, my wife isn't as diligent as I am**, so I don't want anything floating around on our network.


** She is much better after clicking on a free offer link that downloaded a virus, deleted a bunch of her files and then trashed the OS in the mid 00s. I used to backup to a secondary drive back then - learned my lesson as well.

 

[mindless1]

^ Of course, I meant me alone, everyone else has windows defender running because they can't figure out what to do if a tightly locked down browser prevents site xyz from working. As a side effect this also means everyone else gets to see a lot more ads and other clutter on sites.

 

[mikeymikec]

Anti-virus software is completely irrelevant these days, at least in my experience. My customers get scammed typically, phishing e-mails, 'PUP' class malware, that's been it for ages.

Windows Defender is all I recommend, malwarebytes in the event of an actual suspected infection.

AV - I think a lot of security companies are afraid to step on the toes of 'legitimate' scammy software, ie. users duped into thinking they need xyz, and at the end of the day a lot of capitalistic behaviour is indistinguishable from scammy behaviour.

 

[UsandThem]

True, but there have been some 'no-click' malware issues lately that spooked me. Plus, my wife isn't as diligent as I am**, so I don't want anything floating around on our network.


** She is much better after clicking on a free offer link that downloaded a virus, deleted a bunch of her files and then trashed the OS in the mid 00s. I used to backup to a secondary drive back then - learned my lesson as well.

Exactly.

I'm not so concerned about myself, but my wife and kids sometimes and the stuff they click.

 

[Muadib]

I've been using Bitdefender the last few years. My sub ends in a couple months, so I've been looking around. I like this guys channel.

 

[Ajay]

Bitdefender is running much more smoothly than it was years ago. Many of the stricter options are chosen manually now, instead of being enabled by default. It's also seems to have cut down on my junk mail in outlook. Kaspersky used to do this, so I appreciate it, even though I didn't see it listed as an option.

 

[Oyeve]

I have used ESET for years. Its cheap, very effective and catches tons of stuff MS can't. Like emails and such. It's also very lightweight and I can game without any issues.

 

[mindless1]

^ Double edged sword though, I stopped using AV because it was doing a lot of things I didn't want it to. IIRC the straw that broke the camel's back was when I attempted to run some command line function (from cmd.exe) and NOPE... not allowed to do that. Away it went. There might've been some buried setting to allow it but meh, more trouble than it was worth.

 

[mikeymikec]

^ Double edged sword though, I stopped using AV because it was doing a lot of things I didn't want it to. IIRC the straw that broke the camel's back was when I attempted to run some command line function (from cmd.exe) and NOPE... not allowed to do that. Away it went. There might've been some buried setting to allow it but meh, more trouble than it was worth.

AV sometimes pushes my buttons when it rifles through my tookit folder and finds "hack tools" and auto-quarantines them. I then have to waste my customers' time by figuring out where their flavour of AV hides the quarantine and restore the files it stole from my flash drive.

The other behaviour that gets my goat is when I connect my flash drive and the AV offers to scan it. What, does your 'on-demand scanning feature' not work or something? You want to spend an age scanning half-gig Windows update exe files that I don't intend to use? There's like 30GB of data dude!

Tenuously relevant rant complete

 

[Lezunto]

So, what is the best course of action for a aging senior citizen who loves to peruse free news websites? I have Webroot.

What else do I need? I just have a Windows 10 HP desktop and an older HP laptop.

Are any of these free antivirus software any good?

 

[Lezunto]

Man, I am disappointed. I really thought I'd receive some guidance.

 

[UsandThem]

Man, I am disappointed. I really thought I'd receive some guidance.

There are several different security software brands already discussed in this thread. Most of them you can easily get for about $10/year on sale.

If you want free, just use Microsoft Defender that's included with Windows 10+.

 

[Lezunto]

Thank you.

I have Webroot and I hope that's enough. I also have MS Defender, but I'm no PC expert.