Do you use : No Antivirus , FREE Antivirus , or PAID Antivirus and why?

[goodlearner]

I'm thinking about using only free security software in windows 7.

So, my question would be:

Is it possible to create a good protection for a computer by installing only free security applications? Free antivirus, free firewall and free anti-malware/anti-spyware

So, what specific free programs do you recommend?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Avast FREE , Malwarebytes FREE , Zone Alarm Free Firewall.

 

[goodlearner]

Avast FREE , Malwarebytes FREE , Zone Alarm Free Firewall.

Thanks mate. I'll try those programs in order to see how well it goes for me...

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Usually AVAST and Malwarebytes are enough.

 

[goodlearner]

Usually AVAST and Malwarebytes are enough.

Ok. And why not the zone alarm firewall? Is it because the default windows 7 firewall is ok? And speaking of default windows 7 tools, how good is windows defender?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Windows Defender is horrible , hasn't passed certification in several years.

 

[PeterKendrick]

I am using Bitdefender free antivirus, but having issue when games start, it starts to show weired pop-ups I guess regarding gaming mode. I recently saw ZoneAlarm free antivirus+firewall. Is it a worthy shift?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Bitdefender has a superior antivirus engine.

 

[gn842a]

I'll make a comment here about how to keep costs down. Newegg (maybe other vendors too?) regularly peppers me with "shellshocker" deals. One of these was an up-to-five computer license for $15. I bought it and ultimately neglected it, just used Microsoft's antivirus. But my kid goes to a lot of questionable gaming sites and I had issues (never fully determined) with one of the house's two desktops, which led to the hassle of doing an OS reinstallation on the computer he uses the most. So I figured I would try out the still-unused NOD32. The license was good! I'm good for the year. There are similar deals with other antivirus options. So next time I see one I'll probably buy it and throw it in a box and when ESET expires, just roll on to the next product. Probably one of the ones mentioned favorably here.

I don't know what to say about which product is best. I had a number of issues on my old XP machine pre-built with slow operation with various anti-virus solutions. Panda was awful. Norton was awful. ESET (NOD32) was wonderful, the computer sped right up.

These are ancient impressions dating from, I'd say, ten years or so ago. Maybe more. It's hard to shake them. At this point I use ESET because it is familiar and is reasonably aggressive about blocking potentially bad sites, which is what you want when you're desktop is in the hands of a game-hungry teenager. But I would be open to some of the other options in this thread, and I'll be keeping my eye open for "shell shocker" deals on Newegg. These deals are put out by the AV companies to get new people to try their product. But there doesn't appear to be any rule against buying them and doing a fresh install rather than a renewal.

Greg N

 

[MatthewGB]

I don't use any antivirus. I've disabled the built in antivirus in windows 10 as well as the firewall as they cause more hassle then they are worth. I haven't had a virus or adware that I can remember in the last 3 years or so.

I remember trying avast a while ago, and holy crap was it bad. It has false positives coming up very often, and otherwise would come up with annoying popups about buying the full version or bullshit about possible performance improvements. I'm pretty sure these companies just try to scaremonger people into buying this stuff.

 

[gn842a]

Well I see your point but I've also had bad luck the other way, so I'm not sure running naked through the Internet is good and I'm not sure the AV products are foolproof, it's a question of picking your poison. I did run one of my desktops for thousands of hours over three years with just the built in Win 8.1 AV.

 

[MatthewGB]

The worst that usually happens if you end up with some annoying adware. You look up the symptoms, you find the answer on some forum, you delete it's files, and thats that. No big deal, and still a rare occurrence.

 

[jadinolf]

I have 5 computers and I use ESET NOD32 Version 10 on all of them.

Wouldn't be without it.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I use F-Secure and Kaspersky...Never had any issues.

 

[Deleted member 2188264]

I've been using G data for a long time. It was okay i guess.
Now i want to switch between suites. Problem is, there are so many security suites.
I'm thinking about Norton, Kaspersky or ESET. (I tried bitdefender in the past but it was so buggy that i decided to never touch it again )
What would you guys choose?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

I stopped using Bitdefender too , last couple of versions weren't stable. Switched to F-Secure.

 

[brianjay0914]

I'm Just wondering why this has no final answer yet or a solution. and its been 2 years since I replied in this. (fine me on page 1 October 3, 2014 6:55:13 AM)
and It keeps notifying me until I learn How to "stop tracking the thread"

 

[rgd1101]

I'm Just wondering why this has no final answer yet or a solution. and its been 2 years since I replied in this. (fine me on page 1 October 3, 2014 6:55:13 AM)
and It keeps notifying me until I learn How to "stop tracking the thread"

because this is a discussion thread, not a question thread.

 

[jadinolf]

I use NOD32 and have no intention of changing.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Malwarebytes claims they have made the Antivirus and Internet Security Suites obsolete with Version 3.0 of their famous software.