Antivirus recommendations (the windows 10 variety, not the other one)

[stevey]

It's antivirus renewal time for me. I've got McAfee atm, but they want to double the price (I've disabled auto renew). So what's everyone using? I'm not sure if I trust windows defender, although it's free, and I've had norton before and found it a bit too invasive although it could be better now.
I have 14 days to make up my mind.

 

[dad_of_jon]

avast is free but you do get nagging screens

 

[Rodcx500z]

I use windows defender and agv free no probs so far

 

[lancon]

just use windows antivirus, its free, its not intrusive (norton macafee horrendously so) and seems to work. I have used it for 10 or more years.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I have probably use all the main free ones over my years using a PC/laptop so here is my two penneth.

Reviews here - The Best Free Antivirus Protection for 2020

For me Avast and AVG are the two best free ones I believe the company that owns Avast recently bought AVG so they are basically the same, i prefer the Avast user interface and it is my current AV.

I have read some bad stuff about Kaspersky and Russian hackers so i have never tried it. (its probably BS but have a search before installing it)

Bitdefender is very good but there is no way of running virus scans yourself (it does it automatically) that for me was a big turn off.

Avira used to be very good, i found scans to be extremely slow and if you look at the reviews it has slipped down the list.

 

[Bobtheblob]

The built in virus protection in Windows 10 is perfectly good. Perhaps add Malwarebytes free version for the occasional scan.
https://www.av-test.org/en/antiviru...february-2020/microsoft-defender-4.18-200515/

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Many people will happily use defender and it will work for them, i guess if you don't visit dodgy sites you'll probably be fine but i prefer the extra protection (peace of mind) Avast offers, i have never seen defender rated number one on any site that compares free antivirus progs so there has to be something lacking.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

It's antivirus renewal time for me. I've got McAfee atm, but they want to double the price (I've disabled auto renew). So what's everyone using? I'm not sure if I trust windows defender, although it's free, and I've had norton before and found it a bit too invasive although it could be better now.
I have 14 days to make up my mind.

I use McAfee LiveSafe and got them to reduce the price significantly by ringing them and committing to a 3-year subscription. I think I got 50% discount.

I’d say if you’re happy with the product, maybe just try to get a better price?

Moving to something else will introduce uncertainty at a time the malware community is more active. They know people are looking for an escape and adopting platforms like Zoom and Teams. There’s a whole new focus out there some just annoying (Zoom-bombing seems to be quite popular at the moment) and some downright nasty.

 

[lancon]

The built in virus protection in Windows 10 is perfectly good. Perhaps add Malwarebytes free version for the occasional scan.
https://www.av-test.org/en/antiviru...february-2020/microsoft-defender-4.18-200515/

I occasionally do a check running Defender Offline which scans in a safe mode. I'm afraid experience with other anti virus hasn't been good,

 

[Chippy_Tea]

As i said above - Many people will happily use defender and it will work for them but for me -

Defenders user interface is very basic and its 96.7% zero day Protection against 0-day malware attacks, inclusive of web and e-mail threats (Real-World Testing) compared to Avasts 100% is enough to put me off switching from Avast to Defender.

 

[kelper]

Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete is superb. It takes up very little space is lightning fast and has excellent support. But you only see popups if there is an active threat. Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security COMPLETE, 5 Devices 1 Year - DOWNLOAD | eBay

Five devices, be they PC, MAC, Android or iOS. £17.

You can download a free trial and then enter the licence code sent to you. I have used this eBay vendor for three years now.

https://www.webroot.com/gb/en/home/products/wsa-installer-download

 

[stevey]

Anyone got experience of Avira prime? It looks good to me.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

You don't need to pay for AV and certainly not £85 per year, use one of the free ones from the review site here you'll be fine- The Best Free Antivirus Protection for 2020



Avira Prime pro & cons.

• PROS
  • Good antivirus protection.
  • Full-powered VPN.
  • System optimizer.
  • Identity monitoring.
  • Automatic software updates.
  • Actionable password strength report.
  • Ransomware protection.
• CONS
  • Browser Safety works only with Chrome and Firefox.
  • Administrator can't prevent users from whitelisting unknown USB drives.
  • High impact on boot time.
  • So-so phishing protection score.

 

[stevey]

It wasn't £85 where I saw it (£51.99). I'm not sure I trust "free" with online banking. I've had avast on my phone and it caused problems for me, we have 5 devices that need protection.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It wasn't £85 where I saw it (£51.99). I'm not sure I trust "free" with online banking. I've had avast on my phone and it caused problems for me, we have 5 devices that need protection.

Looks like you've made your mind up paid is better than free, if you look at the data in the links provided you'll see that isn't actually the case.

I wouldn't do online banking on a phone even if someone gave me the best antivirus for mobile devices, thats the best way not to have problems.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

For phone - Test antivirus software for Android - March 2020

 

[labrewski]

Really dont need to pay unless your on dodgy sites windows defender malware bytes and ccleaner are very good at keeping your pc fresh and fast use malware and ccleaner once a week or if running a bit slow and defender should pick up anything serious if it happens plus they are all free

 

[the_quick]

Not been using AV since windows 10, as protection on it is very good. Google Chrome does warn you if you visit suspicious site. But if you want a free one this one used to be very good, light and use additional engines if you want 360 Total Security: Free Antivirus Protection | Virus Scan & Removal for Windows, Mac and Android

If you really want to be safe from viruses, use Linux OS (something like Mint, Ubuntu etc). For home general use Linux is very good

 

[Ezza]

Kaspersky, unobtrusive fast and £5 a year

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Kaspersky, unobtrusive fast and £5 a year

The tin foil hat lot said not to trust it as its owned by Russians, I haven't got a clue if that is true and if it is whether people need to be concerned.