Free AV Reviews

WXC · 23 Apr 2021

Digmor Crusher said:

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,

Truth.

Jimmy9190 · 23 Apr 2021

WXC said:

Truth.

+2

Defender/MS Security and a healthy dose of good common sense and healthy skepticism are all that is needed and all are free. Possibly enhance Defender even further with Andy Ful's ConfigureDefender utility, which is also free on Github. Free or paid, most all of the third part AV's don't really do anything that Windows cannot already do for itself.

Jimmy

Digmor Crusher · 24 Apr 2021

Configure Defender boosts Microsoft Defender's protection to be on par with most paid anti- virus programs.

So MD is comparable in protection to most free AV's. Configure Defender makes it comparable to most paid AV's for protection levels. Any add-ons are excluded from this conversation. If you really want to increase your protection using Windows built in settings in an easy way, try Simple Windows Hardening from Andy Ful as well.

Steve C · 24 Apr 2021

Jimmy9190 said:

+2

Defender/MS Security and a healthy dose of good common sense and healthy skepticism are all that is needed and all are free. Possibly enhance Defender even further with Andy Ful's ConfigureDefender utility, which is also free on Github. Free or paid, most all of the third part AV's don't really do anything that Windows cannot already do for itself.

Jimmy

That's a useful utility

CannonRebel · 24 Apr 2021

Here is another "review" site that also includes some free AV's. I found it also reviewed my beloved Webroot, which is rare. I've been using Webroot for about 11-12 years on several machines. Even though many reviews about Webroot have been negative over the years, it has never let me down. Picked up some nasty things over that period of time, and I have also witnessed the gut wrenching blood bath that ensues when Webroot catches a bad actor setting out to cause mayhem.

My other favorite virus killing psychopath is Kaspersky, it sits on my phone and laptop now.

https://selabs.uk/wp-content/uploads...-2020-home.pdf

trevo · 25 Apr 2021

CannonRebel said:

Here is another "review" site that also includes some free AV's. I found it also reviewed my beloved Webroot, which is rare. I've been using Webroot for about 11-12 years on several machines. Even though many reviews about Webroot have been negative over the years, it has never let me down. Picked up some nasty things over that period of time, and I have also witnessed the gut wrenching blood bath that ensues when Webroot catches a bad actor setting out to cause mayhem.

My other favorite virus killing psychopath is Kaspersky, it sits on my phone and laptop now.

https://selabs.uk/wp-content/uploads...-2020-home.pdf

I wonder why Bitdefender wasn't included in their list of products tested, they always get high ratings from other testing labs...

TairikuOkami · 25 Apr 2021

trevo said:

I wonder why Bitdefender wasn't included in their list of products tested, they always get high ratings from other testing labs...

The test was focused on the overall protection 75 web based and 25 signatures.
Bitdefender is mostly about signatures, just like AVs that use its BD engine.
You can use BD Traffic Light, but that not AV, you can use it anytime.

Matthew Wai · 25 Apr 2021

No one has mentioned the following Chinese antivirus software:

360 Total Security: Free Antivirus Protection | Virus Scan & Removal for Windows, Mac and Android

360 Total Security is the free version.

TairikuOkami · 25 Apr 2021

Matthew Wai said:

No one has mentioned the following Chinese antivirus software

They stopped testing Chinese AVs after they cheated.

Callender · 25 Apr 2021

Matthew Wai said:

No one has mentioned the following Chinese antivirus software:

360 Total Security: Free Antivirus Protection | Virus Scan & Removal for Windows, Mac and Android

360 Total Security is the free version.

It's not bad and i used it for some time. It is highly configurable but it's a pain to get rid of the ads and other occasional pop ups. As far as I'm concerned it did a decent job.

EDIT: Also from China:

Download WiseVector StopX - MajorGeeks

Fast, lightweight, does not rely on signatures. I use it alongside Defender. There is the occasional false positive detection but it's easy to add exclusions.