Is free really free

Barbara_10

Estimable
Jan 31, 2016
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4,510
Is free just a trial period? I downloaded Malwarebytes 3 days ago. I did not choose the premium I choose the free one. After 3 days I got ongoing messages about the trial period, and to purchase Malwarebytes. It annoys me that many antiviruses are constantly advertise free just to get you to download it. Then surprise, your informed "this is a trial period, please click here to purchase. Where does one find a for real free antivirus.
 

azaran

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Feb 17, 2010
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Malewarebytes is free, however in the install process there's an option (preselected for you) to install the premium on a trial basis. You just have to pay attention to what you're installing. As for free AntiVirus, there are tons of good ones out there. Avira is my preferred, it has the least about of popups and attempts to upsell you on paid products and good detection ratings. AVG and Avast are the other top two that a lot of people use, but they've gotten a bit pop up crazy of late.
 

Barbara_10

Estimable
Jan 31, 2016
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4,510
I know that if you don't watch what your downloading you will often end up with all sorts of extra junk you don't need. I was sure that I did not download the premium? Does this mean I have to uninstall and then reinstall?
 

azaran

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Feb 17, 2010
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Oh no, I"m sure you didnt download the premium, it just came with the free version as an optional add on. Best bet would be to uninstall and then reinstall. Just keep an eye out for installing any extras.
 

Barbara_10

Estimable
Jan 31, 2016
7
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4,510


Okay thank for your input.
 

Barbara_10

Estimable
Jan 31, 2016
7
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4,510


Okay thanks for your advice, I uninstalled it yesterday. I was able to contact Malwarebytes and ask about the free version. They informed me that if I only wanted the free version, I should download the trial version.

 

Barbara_10

Estimable
Jan 31, 2016
7
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4,510
So you can have both malwarebytes and an antivirus in your computer?

 

Barbara_10

Estimable
Jan 31, 2016
7
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4,510
How true, however if I am going to purchase an antivirus I would like to try it out for at least 30 days. I don't want to get constant ongoing messages to purchase it after 3 days.

 

azaran

Distinguished
Feb 17, 2010
155
1
18,715
The deal with the Malwarebytes trial is this, it gives you a 14 day try of their real time protection where it activity runs on your system. After 14 days, if you decide you want to buy it then you continue getting real time protection. If you decide you don't want the realtime protection, it reverts to the free version which only runs when you do manual scans. Either the paid, or the free version will run just fine with most Antivirus programs. I say "most" because I cant speak for every AV out there, but the ones I've used in the past have worked just fine with it.