Free AV Reviews

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  1. Posts : 1,026
    Win10 Version 21H2 19044.1645
       #1

    Free AV Reviews


    Below is a lengthy, but informative article from ZDNet which reviews free AV software. May be of interest to those who prefer.

    WD fully meets my needs and I don't keep up with other AV's. But I have never heard of Sophos or Kaspersky Security Cloud.


    Best free PC antivirus software in 2021 | ZDNet
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  2. Posts : 2,123
    Windows 11 Pro (latest update ... forever anal)
       #2

    Of all available free software, free AVs are the greatest/best example of the old adage ... "you get what you pay for".

    Talk about being lulled into a (dangerously blind) false sense of security ....
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  3. Posts : 194
    Windows 10
       #3

    idgat said:
    Of all available free software, free AVs are the greatest/best example of the old adage ... "you get what you pay for".

    Talk about being lulled into a (dangerously blind) false sense of security ....
    Not really, for most all that is needed is a anti-virus and safe computer habits, whether its free or not shouldn't matter. For most AV's the protection is the same between the free and paid versions, many paid versions just add bloat such as "registry cleaners" "browsers" , " driver updaters" etc. Occasionally they will add something useful such as a firewall but for the most part a top rated free AV is all you need coupled with a back up strategy and an adblocker.
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  4. Posts : 5,442
    Windows 11 Home
       #4

    I wonder if we see Norton Free soon, since it bought Avira or it just wanted to eliminate a competition.
    idgat said:
    Of all available free software, free AVs are the greatest/best example of the old adage ... "you get what you pay for".
    Actually I would pay for a free AV (no bloatware) and I would not use a paid AV, even if given for free.

    Panda Free, virtually no CPU/disk/network activity and about 100MB RAM usage, all is done in RAM.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Free AV Reviews-capture_04222021_223326.jpg  
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  5. Posts : 7,871
    Windows 11 Pro 64 bit
       #5

    pericles said:
    Below is a lengthy, but informative article from ZDNet which reviews free AV software. May be of interest to those who prefer.

    WD fully meets my needs and I don't keep up with other AV's. But I have never heard of Sophos or Kaspersky Security Cloud.


    Best free PC antivirus software in 2021 | ZDNet
    Sophos and Kaspersky AV software is well known. Note Kaspsersky software is Russian.
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  6. Posts : 11,247
    Windows / Linux : Arch Linux
       #6

    Hi folks

    Especially @Steve C

    I'm always sceptical of a load of these A/V companies - especially on the HOME computer front.

    It's 100% pointless relying on any article on the comparative merits of A/V software that appears in any magazine or even on some online sites -- the simple reason is that any new variant (sorry sounds a bit like COVID-19 Jargon) can appear at any time rendering the datasets 100% meaningless.

    Use what you like but for Windows 10 on Home (and I re-iterate again HOME not CORPORATE etc) computers WD is 100% OK -- you are more likely to get scammed / identity de-frauded than have problems with Viruses. Just surf safely, avoid using compressed files (.zip and especially .rar files) from torrent sites if you use those, never reply or even open e-mails unless you know who sent them and never give too much (or in fact any) personal info over social media sites.

    I know some use loads of 3rd party stuff but OK if it makes you feel safer -- but while it might make you feel safer - and that's fine, there's 100% no technical reason that using these things are any more effective on W10 than WD defender would be.

    I often throw up a challenge here -- even to those veritable Malwarebyte users -- what has this stuff found / detected that WD has failed to. Usually there's no answers !!

    Most of these products are based on C20 problems - not C21 issues.

    And BTW just because Software is Russian doesn't mean to say it's no good or unsafe -- back in Soviet times a load of Russian mathematicians, engineers etc did sterling work with quite low tech gear in spite of draconian restrictions by govt laws and limited access to outside world. (Who launched the first satellite !!!! remember sputnik !!-- and I'm no friend of the Russian state).

    Every country has its share of bad govt - some of course a lot worse than others - But the Indomitable Human Spirit will usually overcome these obstacles and will often produce surprisingly good things in spite of whatever system they are forced to live under.

    Cheers
    jimbo
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  7. Posts : 6,788
    22H2 64 Bit Pro
       #7

    jimbo45 said:
    I often throw up a challenge here -- even to those veritable Malwarebyte users -- what has this stuff found / detected that WD has failed to. Usually there's no answers !!
    I use Defender and it missed these recently:

    Free AV Reviews-log.jpg

    I don't use Malwarebytes but do use occasional third party scanners and additional malware blocking browser extensions and malware blocking DNS.

    Last edited by Callender; 23 Apr 2021 at 13:58. Reason: fix quote
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  8. Posts : 5,048
    Windows 10/11 Pro x64, Various Linux Builds, Networking, Storage, Cybersecurity Specialty.
       #8

    Ugh.

    ZDNet is not objective in their shallow reviews. They wouldn't bad mouth a potential advertiser, would they?
    Windows Defender is better than some of the "free" stuff out there by a huge margin!

    If money is an issue then WD and MBAM (free) will do nicely.

    I like Norton 360. Nice paid product.

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  9. Posts : 289
    Windows 10 Pro 21H2
       #9

    Are there reviewers who review the reviewers? Who are the best, most honest, and quality oriented reviewers? And how will we know, with all the money flow?
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  10. Posts : 194
    Windows 10
       #10

    I wouldn't even worry about reviews, the difference in protection for the top 8 or so anti-virus is so minimal that its not even worth worrying about. Just use what works best on your machine and best for you,
      My Computer


 

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