Best Free Virus Protection for Windows?


  1. Posts : 53,363
    Windows 10 Home x64
       #1

    Best Free Virus Protection for Windows?


    Avast vs 9 other free antivirus programs compared

    Donna Buenaventura is a Microsoft Security MVP and a Microsoft Certified Professional

    Ever wonder if the free virus protection or free real-time protection of AVG, AntiVir, Avast, Panda Cloud and other free AV is enough? Do you think cloud-based protection will beat traditional antivirus solutions? Check out this comparison of the Top 10 Free Antivirus programs.
    Is Free Anti-virus Enough to Protect a Computer?

    Some anti-virus vendors, that do not offer free virus program but only provide commercial anti-virus solutions, claim that free virus protection is not enough. Last year, I wrote a blog entitled "It Is Not Dangerous to Rely on Free Anti-Virus", after reading a claim by Symantec that free AV is not enough. I'm sure many people who rely on paid anti-virus solutions will understand that it's not about free or paid solutions, but the settings on the PC, the users' actions while they surf, retrieve emails or download files, the support by AV vendors for their product (e.g. are the bugs being fixed, do they use advanced technology, etc), fast detection of new threats, and effective removal and detection. Also, if you look at several malware removal forums, you will find many Hijackthis or OTL logs that show that an infected computer actually uses a paid anti-virus program.

    To help people understand the effectiveness of their preferred free anti-virus program, I decided to put the Top 10 free anti-virus programs to the test. What you'll see here is not a feature comparison, but a test to see if the free anti-virus solutions will detect more than 95% of malware samples and measure how fast the detection works. Note that this is not the usual "number game" comparison on detections, but whether any malware samples that are not detected are executed. If a free virus protection program failed to detect 10 malware samples, those non-detected samples will be run to determine if the free AV will trigger an alert, block and prevent the infection. However, if the free real-time protection failed to detect at least 25 malware programs, it is considered below the 95% protection level.
    Source

    A Guy
      My Computer


  2. JMH
    Posts : 7,952
    Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit. SP1.
       #2

    The Best Free Virus Protection for Windows.


    Article by Donna Buenaventura.

    Awards & Certifications
    Microsoft MVP
    Microsoft Certified Professional: Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist
    Awarded by Microsoft with a 'Windows 7 certificate' for support in the community for Windows 7.

    Her Experience

    Been helping and advising people about computer and internet security/privacy since 1998. I saw it... when spyware and adware started to become the worst nightmare by end-users but that was long time ago.
    Today's security and privacy risks are brought to us not by spyware and adware makers alone but the people who have embraced services that put their personal and work information at risk. Who is at fault now?

    Ever wonder if the free virus protection or free real-time protection of AVG, AntiVir, Avast, Panda Cloud and other free AV is enough? Do you think cloud-based protection will beat traditional antivirus solutions? Check out this comparison of the

    Top 10 Free Antivirus programs.


    Is Free Anti-virus Enough to Protect a Computer?
    Read more:
    Top 10 Free Antivirus Programs for Windows - Free Virus Protection

    Top Ten Free Virus Protection Programs for Windows - Which is the Best?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6,349
    Windows7 Pro 64bit SP-1; Windows XP Pro 32bit
       #3

    Good article.
    That is why I'm running Avast and MSE. They work well together with no software clashes.
    I then run Malwarebyes every so often just in case.

    I've been telling everyone I may be paranoid but it doesn't mean I'm not being followed. Now I have proof.

    Mike
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,303
    Windows 7 & Windows Vista Ultimate
       #4

    Oops! A Guy already posted here: Best Free Virus Protection for Windows?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 759
    W7-Enterprise + WS-2008 (Converted to Workstation)
       #5

    thanks !

    very interesting reading...

    it once again shows that you can´t rely on ONE antivirus-program to detect everything,
    and that it´s NOT such a bad idea to use TWO, if you can find a good combination that works.

    a tip: Avast & MSE, EAM & MSE works together....

    it´s also a good idea to run on demand-scanning with several other programs like MBAM, SuperAntiSpyware etc.
    Last edited by hackerman1; 26 Sep 2010 at 18:58.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 3,028
    Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) SP1
       #6

    Great article!
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 8,476
    Windows® 8 Pro (64-bit)
       #7

    PC Tools antivirus wins the race.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 10,994
    Win 7 Pro 64-bit
       #8

    From A Guy's source:

    Conclusions

    Quite a number of security vendors are offering free virus protection which end-users can rely on for protecting Windows and their data ... Based on the real-time detection and prevention of these programs, below is the protection percentage to expect:
    • PC Tools Antivirus Free - 98.5% protection in real-time.
    • Avast - Provides 98% protection.
    • AntiVir and Ad-Aware - Both will provide up to 97% of protection.
    • Microsoft Security Essentials and Comodo Antivirus - Offer up to 95% real-time protection.
    • AVG and Panda Cloud AV - Expect 94% of protection




    How does MSE get a VB100 award one month (Aug 2010) and "up to 95% real-time protection" the following month (Sep 2010)? Whose statistics is one supposed to believe?
      My Computer


  9. 7mm
    Posts : 52
    Windows 7 Pro. 64 Bit + Back|Track 5 (Both Updated)
       #9

    Dinesh said:
    PC Tools antivirus wins the race.
    Yeah..., and I got surprise here at first. Not for the rest performing just as I expected but for how in the world did PC Tools Antivirus scored that much. I use it on many PC configurations last year and found it slew down most of them. Not to mentioned, how many bad things got through on ease. Though, nothing against PC Tools here, it's just what I experienced in the past. Now it should be an improved pack with better detection engine. Good to see more options when it comes to Free PC security.
      My Computer


 

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