What's a good free alternative to Norton from Xifinity?

[shafe88]

Just picked up a used laptop(i5 540m, 6gb ram and Windows 10) and looking for a good free antivirus to use on it. I currently have Norton from Xfinity installed which does a great job at protecting but is sorta slowing down my laptop. Laptop was a little faster before installing Norton.

 

[USAFRet]

I use BitDefender Free.
Small footprint, it works.

 

[Avast-Team]

A great place to start is looking at some comparison tests: https/www.av-comparatives.org

I won't recommend anything specific here, but you'll definitely want to look for something with protection beyond just the basics. The big threats these days are ransomware, crypto, etc. and are constantly evolving. Avast Free for example has both Behavior Shield and CyberCapture which are specifically designed to protect your system, even against new or unknown threats. In other words, "AV" is a lot more than just basic AV these days https/blog.avast.com/the-core-security-components-of-avast-2017

I would also recommend thinking about what other features you might be looking for, and which AV suites fit those needs, while you research which one is best for you.

 

[COLGeek]

The built-in Windows Defender application will meet the needs of many users.

https/www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-defender

 

[aldan]

A great place to start is looking at some comparison tests: https/www.av-comparatives.org

I won't recommend anything specific here, but you'll definitely want to look for something with protection beyond just the basics. The big threats these days are ransomware, crypto, etc. and are constantly evolving. Avast Free for example has both Behavior Shield and CyberCapture which are specifically designed to protect your system, even against new or unknown threats. In other words, "AV" is a lot more than just basic AV these days https/blog.avast.com/the-core-security-components-of-avast-2017

I would also recommend thinking about what other features you might be looking for, and which AV suites fit those needs, while you research which one is best for you.

very subtle.lol.i will,however recommend something specific.avast free antivirus.ive used it for years without problem.by all means compare the av programs out there before choosing.
https/www.av-comparatives.org/
https/www.av-test.org/en/

 

[shafe88]

Currently leaning towards using Bitdefender free and Malwarebytes free.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

https/www.avira.com/en/free-security-suite
Avira FREE Security Suite