what antivirus and malware does this forum reccomend?

[corvairbob]

so i have been using the chromebooks for the last 4 to 5 years and then google decided to start an end of life. so i got back into windows machines. i used the chromebooks for the security but now that has ended and i'm back on the laptops and windows 10. i upgraded for windows 7 that last machine i had ran that os. so my machines now have 10 professional on them and 8gb ram 64 bit systems.

so my question is what is the general consensus on antivirus and malware programs to run with windows 10? i have the defender running but some are telling me i need more. so what is the more? i did install the free avast program and i put spybot and whocrashed, but not to sure about them yet.

so i'm thinking the best place to find good antivirus and malware programs will be a site like this windows forums. any help is welcome. thanks. bp.

 

[jazman_777]

The evaluation of security software based on how much CPU, RAM, disk I/O it uses is a red herring. None of those has anything to do with security.

 

[tgp]

The evaluation of security software based on how much CPU, RAM, disk I/O it uses is a red herring. None of those has anything to do with security.

This is true. OTOH, do we have evidence that one security suite is better than another? All else being equal, I'd choose the one that uses the least resources.

In general, Windows 10's built in Windows Defender, used along side Common Sense™, is sufficient.

 

[Laura Knotek]

if you know what you are doing and you're not on a network with other users then windows defender should be plenty adequate, convenient, and free. if you are a normal user you'd probably want to have an additional AV. ESET makes a great lightweight AV called NOD32. it will do a great job and run well. don't get all crazy thinking about it though, just don't click on links you don't know what they are on websites and in email and don't install or run anything you don't know what it is and you'll generally be fine.

I use NOD32 as well.

 

[TechFranz]

This is true. OTOH, do we have evidence that one security suite is better than another? All else being equal, I'd choose the one that uses the least resources.

In general, Windows 10's built in Windows Defender, used along side Common Sense™, is sufficient.

Common Sense™ slows my machine down and has all those nag screens telling me wise things to do, I much prefer ThinkB4Click™ as it is Open Source and has an Active Community.

 

[Martin Pelletier]

From (a comparison site), Windows Defender seems to protect well. Just it seem to suffer from high false positives and performance. What I did not like with it is when activating the folders protection against ransomwares. It's a pain to whitelist the applications manually.

That is why I prefer using Eset Internet Security 11.1. It's fast, low footprint, and protect very well and usually always in the top 5 AV solutions.

From the same site, you can see Bitdefender and Kaspersky being the top 2 AVs in protection. Did try Bitdefender but found out that it slow internet browsing compared to Eset.

 

[BikemanAMD]

After Using Avast from 2006 til April 30th 2018, since 1803 Update have converted the systems over to Defender, and discovered no annoying popups to purchase anything, stays silent and out of the way, Malwarebytes Free scan after about 1 week of using this new setup, found nothing which is a good sign. Still a few Desktops to convert in household here, but overall liking Defender very much myself, Common sense and safe surfing all really needed these days. Besides who knows if 3rd party protection is really secure or mining all your data to themselves or 3rd partys, just never know

 

[Keith Brooks]

Bitdefender's never failed me in over 6 years.
For the past 2 or 3 years it's also included ransomeware protection.

 

[realwarder]

I recommend Windows Defender which is built in. But also use an adblocker plugin in your browser like uOrigin. A lot of malware comes from people clicking fake links in ads or ads while browsing sites.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I recommend Windows Defender which is built in. But also use an adblocker plugin in your browser like uOrigin. A lot of malware comes from people clicking fake links in ads or ads while browsing sites.

I use υBlock Origin as well.

 

[neo158]

I not only have uBlock Origin but have Windows Defender Application Guard enabled as well.

 

[EXboxNick]

Sophos is one of the top-rated and top performing security companies for their work. They offer an array of solutions like a zero-lag firewall for a business network.

Staples Inc (retailer) partnered with Sophos when they offered a guaranteed AV solution, and if you managed to get malware or virus it was removed for free in that annual subscription period, no limitations or strings attached! I cannot speak for other companies but being I work IT for a software company, we're hugely cloud based, we rely heavily on top grade security measures

 

[Ryujingt3]

I go with Bitdefender Total Security 2018.

 

[hansraj3214]

Avast antivirus is my first choice.