What is the best free anti virus program?

[hopmedic]

use the built in windows defender. This is what most of the other posters already recommended, and they are correct. I suppose some paid antivirus programs like kaspersky (or insert your favorite here) (do not get any norton / symantec / mcafee product,ever!) could offer a bit more, but even that's arguable. The most important line of defense is you, the user.

ftfy

 

[tgp]

ftfy

Yes you're correct and I agree, I don't use any of those either. I was speaking technically, like offering enhanced network or email protection. But you'll not find them on my devices!

 

[John reiley]

I am currently using Immunet™ Free Antivirus-Get 100% Free Antivirus Download Safely for my Windows 8 PC. Until now, I haven't faced any issues yet.

 

[CowardlyLions]

Common sense + Microsoft security essentials.

Malwarebytes as a backup in the rare situation where I'd actually get an infection.

 

[onlysublime]

for pay AV, I only like Kaspersky and Bitdefender.

for free, stick with Windows Defender. all the others are bad in some way. Avast was pretty good but it's resource heavy. AVG leaves you wide open. A virus swept through our campus. My system came through "clean" with AVG even though it was infected.

 

[edbc00l]

i prever avira

 

[SlingLaker9811]

I use Norton 360 Multi Device for Desktop/Laptop /Tablet. Been using Norton since 2003. Extremely good support and updates. It uses only 6mb resources in ram(shown on task manager). Never had any virus problems.

 

[The Skizzle]

I don't know if I'm alone, or if others have experienced similar issues with antivirus software on Windows 8 and might be able to give me some advice. I've experimented with several different antivirus and security programs and always seem to have problems with live tiles not updating when using 3rd party security software. Most recently, I had this problem with Bitdefender Internet Security 2015. I had installed it after a clean install of Windows 8. Almost immediately some apps (Such as Bing Weather, News, and Sports) stopped updating, so I tried resetting the personal info on the tiles. After that, nothing popped up on the live tiles at all. As soon as I uninstalled Bitdefender, the tiles started updating, so I know for a fact that it was the culprit. I've noticed similar behavior when I've had other antivirus/security software installed in the past. I've tried contacting Microsoft and the various security software vendors in the past, but either side just blames the other which gets me nowhere.

I'm really hesitant to just leave Defender as my antivirus, as it is known to perform poorly in independent AV tests. At the same time, Bitdefender is the consistently the highest rated, but does not seem to get along with Windows 8 at all (I briefly tried their "Windows 8 Security" suite, but appears to be a skinned version of their Internet Security suite that hasn't even been updated since their 2013 version). Basically, I'm hoping someone else who has had similar problems can point me towards an antivirus that's worked well for them, or if there's something I need to tweak in Bitdefender to get it to work properly.

 

[D M C]

Bitdefender know as the best Anti-virus.(You can check all the reviews on Antivirus)
You can use it free version which only deduct & delete virus.

Window Defender is not a good anti-Virus.
2 months ago I got a virus in my Laptop and guess what Window Defender not able to detect it.
I don't recall the virus name(which i deleted using another Antivirus) but it was a 'Thor' icon which keep duplicating itself in every drive and every folder.

 

[sicnus]

Blah, blah, BLAH! AV is generally useless. You need to be proactive not reactive. Oh Em Gee! How!? Simple. Dont use Java, Flash, Silverlight, ActiveX, etc. Use a browser other than MSIE. Tech kiddies will parrot out Firefox is da bestest evar! Fine, just avoid IE. Opera is good. I prefer Chrome. Don't try & get free stuff / downloads. Careful with email images, links, & downloads. Same with major social media sites. Avast, AVG, Avira, Norton, etc etc ETC... Suck. They are reactive, barely effective, & give a false sense of security. Most are bloated & just slow down your system for little gain/protection. We could go on & on but to sum it up. Leaver Defender on there, use a better browser. School is out. The End.

 

[D M C]

Blah, blah, BLAH! AV is generally useless. You need to be proactive not reactive. Oh Em Gee! How!? Simple. Dont use Java, Flash, Silverlight, ActiveX, etc. Use a browser other than MSIE. Tech kiddies will parrot out Firefox is da bestest evar! Fine, just avoid IE. Opera is good. I prefer Chrome. Don't try & get free stuff / downloads. Careful with email images, links, & downloads. Same with major social media sites. Avast, AVG, Avira, Norton, etc etc ETC... Suck. They are reactive, barely effective, & give a false sense of security. Most are bloated & just slow down your system for little gain/protection. We could go on & on but to sum it up. Leaver Defender on there, use a better browser. School is out. The End.

Not all viruses comes from internet
.Users normally connect flash drive or external hard disks(other users) to their computers which is another source of virus.

And not all users are smart enough to know about virus.

 

[sicnus]

Then " normally " you might question whether the source protected their own system, " normally ".

 

[Chris_Germany]

AVAST!
But dont install all that bloatware. Uncheck everything apart from System/Web/Mail Scanner and youre good

 

[Chris_Germany]

Oh, i had no malware the last 3 years. Maybe some Potentially malware (so nothing to worry) and a few FPs.
It doesnt really matter which AV you use. NONE of them is 100% save!
Get a free one, with good Speed. AVs like Norton/Kaspersky/... slow down your PC, thats not worth it.
Avast is super fast, free and quite good.

 

[arvinxi]

Blah, blah, BLAH! AV is generally useless. You need to be proactive not reactive. Oh Em Gee! How!? Simple. Dont use Java, Flash, Silverlight, ActiveX, etc. Use a browser other than MSIE. Tech kiddies will parrot out Firefox is da bestest evar! Fine, just avoid IE. Opera is good. I prefer Chrome. Don't try & get free stuff / downloads. Careful with email images, links, & downloads. Same with major social media sites. Avast, AVG, Avira, Norton, etc etc ETC... Suck. They are reactive, barely effective, & give a false sense of security. Most are bloated & just slow down your system for little gain/protection. We could go on & on but to sum it up. Leaver Defender on there, use a better browser. School is out. The End.

IE is enough if your system is fully updated. Also activate enhanced protected mode.

 

[sicnus]

Enough to get you compromised maybe...

 

[D M C]

Then " normally " you might question whether the source protected their own system, " normally ".

Normally my sis don't bother with this before using my PC.
And
Normally source can be stupid(I know few) that they claim they are protected but they are not.

 

[realwarder]

I would uninstall Java as no one really needs that these days. Also enable in IE Enhanced security protection mode. Make sure you don't hack the registry and disable UAC prompts as they rarely show and are a BIG danger sign otherwise.

It's actually pretty easy to stay safe.. Install Windows Updates Automatically.

Also Don't OK anything to install or update while browsing the web as nothing updates that way these days anyway.

 

[mjrtoo]

Avast!

 

[sicnus]

And that's the weak link - clicking OK