Free Antivrus

[Shrimp]

Have had a quick look around the forum but not seen anything useful, so…..
What FREE Antivirus do people use on their laptops, running Windows?
Is it truly free or is it just a taster and do you have to pay after a while?
Does it work?

 

[LesW]

I use Windows own protection, have done for years without any problems.

 

[dunnah01]

AVG Free for the past few years

 

[Shrimp]

I’m leaning towards AVG, it’s the one I used years ago on my desktop.

 

[pagey]

BT gives free Norton as part of the package but it seems to slow the PC down

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[PP Bear]

Another vote for Windows protection. Just make sure you check it regularly for security and virus updates, as they’re free too

 

[mitzimad]

ive used avg for years and touch wood ive never had any problems

 

[Lenny HB]

Been using AVG for around 20 years.

 

[kevenh]

I've used Windows' built in AV, firewall, etc. tool for many years.
Add on AV tools were too invasive.

edit: definitely from Windows Vista onwards, maybe XP SP2 but not sure.

 

[repairer]

One thing I would add, no matter what AV you use, do regular back up’s of important data.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[63720]

Another vote for Windows Defender.

 

[Odd-no-more]

I've used AVG on pc tablet and phone, free version for years. All good but watch out for the sales Push

 

[meanders]

I've used Avast backed up with regular use of CCleaner for years. You have to be persistent in refusing the free upgrade trial but it works well.

 

[Tombola]

AVG is the market leader
annoying up sell pop ups but works well

 

[maison]

I have swapped between AVG and Avast, both the free versions, and have never had a problem.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Two on Tour]

We have been using AVG free for donkey's years on our PC's and we also run AVG free on our smartphones.

 

[Gellyneck]

I have swapped between AVG and Avast, both the free versions, and have never had a problem.

Likewise from the early \ mid 90's but as they are both now owned by Avast and their "nagging" became a pain switched to Microsoft Defender a few years ago and had no problems.

 

[VXman]

Windows firewall is as good as anything and is already on your computer. Just make sure it's switched on and do a full scan everynow and again. My computer has been fine for 5 years and I frequent some dodgy sites!

 

[Reallyretired]

Used Avast for years but now just use the Windows defender.
And Malwarebytes.

 

[Nick555]

I'm a computer engineer with about 4k business & home user clients. Myself & my clients use Webroot, I use the business version with a console, but the simplist home user version would be fine. Webroot has a very small memory & processor footprint (it only scans files which are new or have been changed). Do not use a "free" anti-virus. YOU will be the product. Bombarded with ads & your data will be sold on.
Viruses are not the only risk, ransomware can bypass some security & is a far bigger danger. Do a USB full backup once a week & keep the USB drive separate to your house. Such as in the garage. Try to use a different tech for your backup - if you have SSD drives, then use a platter backup etc. 2 backup drives are better, you can then rotate them. Only one of my clients has ever been zapped in 31 years. They were using Dropbox (yuk) & sharing files with a collegue. The collegue got infected & that infected & sync'd to their Dropbox. My client... noticed the new file & opened it to take a look. He was immediately affected by ransomware & lost every data & executable file on his pc. He had backups though. The pc needed a rebuild. Be very careful about clicking links in emails, always hover over the link to see where it's heading, for instance, if the hover shows that an email link from Amazon is going to www.xyzyoureintrouble.com, don't click. In fact don't click email links at all unless you are definate you know what you are doing.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Odd-no-more]

I save everything to a remote harddrive and a USB pen drive I have had a harddrive fail and been able to restore from the pen drive and also the other way round. I also back up to another harddrive once a month. Not that I'm paranoid