On your Experience or Knowledge, WHAT could be the best FREE antivirus

[famousken]

i googled alot of free antivirus and provided me many options. AVAST!, AVG, KASPERSKY etc. and i don't know what to use/download. can you provide me comparisons with different FREE antivirus?​

 

[Golden]

Most recommendations here are made from peoples personal experience and comfort level with the software, so you will get lots of varying opinion.

Your best bet is try them all (one at a time), and see which one suites your needs best.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Julian Strange]

Microsoft Security Essentials

 

[OldMX]

MSE or Avast! Home Edition.

 

[whs]

There is no "Best" - but MSE will do for the average user. And your best protection is frequent imaging. Then you can always get yourself out of a tight spot. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html?ltr=I

 

[pparks1]

You have to try them all, what seems perfect and ideal might be bloated, terrible and slow for another person. Everything depends upon your needs/wants/desires.

If there was a perfect free AV....that is what all of us free users would use.

 

[Corazon]

The best free antivirus is a smart user.

 

[disasterpiece91]

The best free antivirus is a smart user.

.....................pretty much does come down to this


but I use Microsoft Security Essentials, which, in my opinion, everyone should use as a line of defense.

then you've got your SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes

i've picked up stuff from one and not the other, so it helps to have a few antivirus programs

surfing websites to avoid viruses is something I myself am learning, but as a rule of thumb when downloading files, always scan the item if you are unsure before opening it.

 

[JMH]

You are the best judge of what suits you & your computer at any given time.

Try the free versions { one at a time} of whatever takes your fancy, see how they perform, make a decision & move on.

If / when removing same be sure to use the appropriate uninstall application from the relevant Company.

Good luck.

 

[rraod]

There is nothing like a perfect Anti-virus, paid version or free version.

Every product is made with the aim to protect the users from the viruses, worms etc. Each product has varying protection schemes. It is difficult to say that one product is better than others.

What you have to look in a free product is that how frequently the anti-virus product company is updating the virus signatures through internet. What types of protections the product is providing?

Are they providing only anti-virus protection, or have an integral firewall also?

An antivirus product should be able to protect against viruses, worms which propagate either through shady websites, email, or casual swapping of files like games, software, music, movies etc.

No anti-virus can fully protect a computer user. Along with anti-virus products, the user should have safe web browsing habits. Any downloads from internet should be scanned before opening them. Any email from unknown persons with attachments should be straight away deleted without opening them.

Any external device like floppy drives (almost outdated), flash drives, external HDDs must be scanned first before accessing any of the files in it.

Have a good anti-virus product and regularly update the virus definitions on daily basis. All the important and critical files related to studies/work should be backup up regularly on an external HDD and kept in a safe place (Don't always keep the backup devices connected to the system).

These are some of the advices for a safe computing experience.

Now about the free antivirus products I have used, after trying out different products both paid and free, I have settled down on Comodo Internet Security Premium which is a totally free product available for both x86 and x64 platform of Windows.

This product has Anti-virus protection, Firewall protection, Proactive Defense and Security Protection and Sandbox feature.

I have no complaints so far about this product. The only difference between the paid version and free version is that paid version has customer support extra. Other than that both products are 100% same.

Anyway this is my personal opinion.