Semi OT what is a good antivir…
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Semi OT what is a good antivirus for win 10?
Sfariah D
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in The Commons
What is a good antivirus for win 10? Preferably free!
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I like AVAST for real time protection : https://www.avast.com/en-us/index
And then run occasional scans with the free version of MalwareBytes: https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/
I'm still using Windows 7 but I'm pretty sure they will run on Windows 10 as well.
I use Windows Defender. It updates nightly and is installed for free by default as part of Windows 10.
I highly recommend against Windows Defender. I have a drive full of viruses that I use to test AV software and with the most recent set of definitions it only identified 397 outof 641 viruses on the drive.
For free, Avast is my preference. It fails to identify clean 89 of the viruses (it does flag them) on my test drive, but they're also incredibly rare ones, and if you have them and aren't a collector you should probably be reformatting your hard disk anyway. :)
I'll second Avast...
You sure you shouldn't just burn/melt/drill it instead?
I used to have a collection like that...kids, forgetting to detatch external drive and 6 AV scanners scripted to run sequentially don't mix well...
Just to add another one - Comodo, the free version. Works great on win 7 & 10. I've had it for two years and no problems at all and, even more impressive, running one year on my 85yo mothers win7, with no issues.
Another Avast fan here.
Though I'm not on Win 10 yet I'll also recommend Avast (I use the Internet Security version with firewall and everything). Lots of features, it's rare it generates false positives, and you can control and configure a lot of things.
all the free ones have taken to spamming your system with ads to upgrade. they protect you against other pop ups but they have blown me to the desktop in the middle of working on projects or playing a game to tell me my free version doesn't protect me against whatever and I can get the $49.99 pro version for 15% for the next three days. I'm using Windows defender, it integrates nicely and doesn't get in my face to buy Buy BUY!!!
That's actually one of the things I like about Avast.It has a gaming mode where it won't popup any messages, including the upgrade ones. And of the ones I've used I've found Avast's to be the least annoying.
I only have two viruses in my collection where nuke it from orbit would be the required response. :) One will infect the firmware of older Seagate drives, and the other is specific to Western Digital drives. They are nasty little buggers. Add bootstrap code to the firmware, and hide the bulk of their executables in the HPA so it can reninfect immediately after Windows finishes booting the first time.
I actually keep my collection on a LInux system that none of my Windows ones can touch even via the network. The drive I use for testing gets attached and a script randomly fills up all 2GB with random viruses from the collection so I don't accidentally delete them :)
Kaspersky and ESET; if you want free, then Avast is not bad.
Do not use Windows Defender. It's *worse* than having no antivirus because it gives a false sense of security.
I second the suggestions of ESET and Kaspersky. They're pretty good in terms of performance and bloat.
ALL Anti-virus software for windows is nothing more than "false sense of security." ALL anitvirus, by definition, is REACTIVE. If one is using windows, any version, and connecting it to the internet, it is not a matter of if you get infected, but when. One has to accept that fact. If you insist on using Windows to access the internet, the best you can do is to minimize exposure. Using antivirus software causes users to make bad decisions, gambling on accessing sites that are shady expecting that the software will protect the system.
Kendall
Avast was spamming me 10 minutes after I installed it, I couldn't understand why Skyrim kept crashes (yes, I still play it) and what else might be open that was blowing me to the desktop and assumed the ads were generated before and I hadn't noticed, then I realized was seeing newly generated ads each time. Uninstalled Avast and all it's little hidden gems and that was the end of the issue - and yes, I had gaming mode enabled, it didn't care.
everyone has their favorite but some of these free offerings are being hosted off sites from the distributors to services know to include crapware with legit downloads. right there is the red flag. Windows Defender is not great but other mainstream AV has scored worse in independent tests, however some sites are owned by developers and under names eluding to "top av-tests" or "real av comparisons" they are using ads to look like independent research to promote their wares.
I don't run active AV on my PC, I use my PC to work, I use my iPad to surf and make purchases. Once every few months I run an updated definitions av launcher and scan my pc by booting directly to the utility. I've done this for several years. the result is I have not found anything, nothing, I'm careful, I read security blogs, I stay away from too good to be true offers, my browsing habits are very good and I don't visit sites I know to be sketchy. While this workflow is not for everyone nor do I advise it it does point having a AV solution that is sucking up CPU or trying to frighten you into buying a suite of protection may not be needed if you dont run into anything your current AV cant find to begin with or you dont' habitually wonder around the web like like a vagabond . And while I don't have the numbers in front of me I would guess the bigger threat I've seen in the past five years are being perpetrated on people who get phony pop-up ads with virus attacks who call a support number and get a smoke and mirrors show where someone tells them the activity in a java script is a virus and they will do a clean sweep of the computer for $199 and most if not all commercial AV doesn't block or mark these sites as scams until the scammers have left, and moved to another URL that the AV is clueless with until it's run it's course. Nothing will protect you from this like common sense will.
What Strat said. I run both AdBlock Plus and a local proxy server (privoxy, from privoxy.org); net result is no ads, no popups, no infections. I use the windows firewall with ALL remote access options disabled and read email in text mode.
I run scans about every three months; over a five year period the worst report was three suspect cookies.
Anything that works w/Win 8 will work w/Win 10. :-)
Malwarebytes has a free version that's realtime protection.
I don't use free Security suites You usually have to pay some fee in the end if you get infected. So I figure i have alot invested my system so its no big expense for good insurance. I have Kaspersky Total protection, 3 PC's, and 2 Mobil apps for $50 bucks a year. I got a 3 years deal for $89 last time i renewed. Plus when back when I got a life time subscription to Malware Bytes which i use now and then for good messure
I fundamentally disagree with this assertion. Using an antivirus doesn't promote risky behavior, much like how taking 'certain precautions' in certain real life activities doesn't promote risky behavior either.
The whole point of an antivirus is to mitigate against unexpected risks, such as when normally-good ad platforms get hijacked.
I use PC Matic Super Shield, which is a whitelist system. Not free, but I got a deal for $150 for life to put it on 5 computers. Haven't had any problems with it so far.
I agree. I've been on the net almost daily since 1994 and I've had 3 infections in all. The rest have my AV programs caught.
It's only the Premium (paid) version that has realtime protection:
"Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is available for users of any modern Windows client to download and install at no cost to them. They can also purchase an annual subscription, which entitles them to take advantage of real-time protection, scan/update scheduling, access policies, and the ability to utilize all of these features on up to three computers under the same license."
I just use windows defender. But I also dont use my W10 machine for regular internet access. I use my linux box for that.
Just one thing about whitelist programs like ad-blockers: It was already demonstrated a while ago that white-list programs -- such as Spybot, one of the originals -- are extremely ineffective at catching threats. The best combination is always a real-time scanner plus a whitelist program as it will protect you against threats of an unexpected nature.
Linux is of course an option...
I can honestly say I've never had it popup an ad for the paid version while in gaming mode except for one time, and in the app's defense, I think it was justifiied in doing so as I had forgot to turn it off and letf it in gaming mode for about 30 hours. :)
But you actually reminded me, when installing avast you have to do a custom install or it adds a bunch of features by default that only work if you pay for them. If you install just the core system and the basic file system monitor it's a great product. Although installing the Rescue Disk creator and using it is also a very good idea.
I've been using the Internet for a couple decades now, and I've had exactly one infection that came from it, and it was a deliberate infection to prove a point to an idiot who trusted his AV software a little too much to fix problems during his nightly scans and thus refused to use the on-access scanner. The issue isn't that AV software gives a false sense of security as much as it is that these days people are told they need it, but not told why, and they don't keep it updated like they should.
No AV software is going to protect you if you don't update it regularly and use it properly. It's a lot like using a gun. If you don't know how to use it and care for it properly, it's not a matter of if it's going to get you, it's a matter of when.
I think but not sure but quite a bit of warez and yucky sites that does porn or warez are full of viruses and yucky carp. I mean crap. Some people might think the antivirus software would protect them from that kind of stuff.
I do not do that carp I mean crap so I am not sure.
I like Webroot. But it's not free. For me, it's the best anti-virus I've ever used. And they have a pretty good forum, if you have questions or issues. Plus, they have pretty good tech support.
I guess I don't really understand this. If it only runs what is on the whitelist, why would it need to catch threats? If it is not on the list, it won't run.
As far as I know, PC Matic uses a combination traditional blacklist a/v along with the whitelist.
As part of a former job, I have more familiarity with those kinds of sites than I want to...
If you keep your antivirus software properly updated it's very difficult to get an infection even from them short of 0-day exploit.