Looking for good free antivirus

Malwarebytes was always a good free antivirus program but it no longer works with Win7. Does anyone know of a good alternative out there? Mistakenly installed some Russian program and can't seem to remove it. Thanks.

You probably don't want to hear my opinion on anti-virus software. I'm a bit unorthodox. Read two of my post's on the synopses [yurl=https://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/426906-safe-accessing-bank-websites-without-any-protection.html]here[/url] and here.

TL;DR:

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Just scan ALL downloads at VirusTotal. Four hits you toss is the general consensus but it depends on what it is, and your ability to read the Relation and Behaviors if posted at VirusTotal. The best method would be to calculate the SHA256 hash from the file and copy/paste that hash to VirusTotal. If that file was uploaded before you'll get a result. If not, you'll have to upload it. Note: don't upload sensitive data. Anyone in the world can download what was uploaded to VirusTotal for research purposes. That's in VirusTotal's ToS.

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VirusTotal is a Google product and they get unclassified malware definitions from the U.S. Cyber Command which as of late Wikipedia fails to mention. I've been meaning to fix that. I've also been meaning to do a write up and instructional video on this "unorthodox" method of using VirusTotal and other things.

The other two things you may want to look into is running the browser (or all browsers. I use more than one) in Sandboxie. You'll need to read and learn about it. Also, use an Ad blocker like uBlock Origin. Reason? Malvertising shenanigans. And you can block malware domains from the provided lists out of the box in uBlock Origin. Until Google et al can verify and check the code for Ads, it'll be a source for a possible infection.


When I say scan ALL downloads, I mean it. A seemingly legit website with a "legit" download can be infected. How? a hacker can hack the website server, modify that file download for malicious intent, and now it's being distributed faster than blood at a blood bank who's majority stock holder is Dracula himself. Even an image can contain a malicious payload. There are so many things people just don't know.

As to your Russian rodent infestation, you pretty much have two choices: A) Visit the Bleepingcomputer website for removal help or B) My advice would be to backup all precious data, and nuke the HDD. Not just a format, but a real wiping of the HDD. If you're using a flash-based HDD, you need to see if that HDD manufacturer has a tool to do a PROPER wipe. Absent of that you're looking at using Parted Magic. From my reading it appears the real way to sanitize a flash-based HDD is by raising the voltage by a few millivolts or what ever it is via software - the manufacturer software. For a platter-based HDD the TRUE way for sanitation is a HDD degausser. Absent of that very expensive "bit of kit", encrypt the drive with Veracrypt and wipe with DBAN. "DoD" 7 wipes should be a enough.
Reason why I say a full HDD wipe is that a format is NOT a wipe. Data is still there. A format just gets rid of a table. There is format recovery software and I've used them with success. The theory here is that depending on the infection, it can still operate out of the bounds of a format. And I believe there have been documented cases of this happening. Also, malware can infect BIOS or UEFI. But that's a whoooole other animal...


Now, that backup of precious data? Scan that with a live boot CD such as Hirens. I would unplug the already plugged in HDD/s before you live boot Hirens to scan the data backups on what ever media you used for the backups. There's a a lot more I'd do to scan that data, but I've already made this to be an absolute bear to those that are not very computer centric.


Bottom line. Don't install shady crap, stay away from file sharing websites. And most of all, don't use the Internet like a person who possesses an IQ of that of a skin mite.

I run Malwarebytes on Win7 Pro x86; it offered to download and install the windoze updates during its install. My only complaints are it is a resource hog and, this may only apply to the free version, you cannot schedule scans ...it doesn't care what you are doing, it will scan whenever it wants to scan.