Best Free Antivirus?

[dunnitall]

Can anyone tell me please, the easiest and best free AV to have on my laptop please, bearing in mind I'm not 100% up on doing techy stuff? I have Nortons on it but as I rarely use the laptop now I didn't want to pay for it again for hardly any use. I think I have to download the free version of an AV first don't I and then uninstall Nortons? Will I have any problems with getting rid of it as I've often heard it's a wotsit to get rid of? Thanks in advance for any help you can give. The OS I have is Win 7 and browser IE.

[beso]

None are up to the job. The hackers are winning the war at the moment and antivirus software currently provides very little protection.

Sure they all beat the stuff that has been around a while but they all perform poorly on the new threats.

[roslyn251254]

comodo is very good and free

[retrocop]

If you have a Barclays Bank account you can obtain Kaspersky free of charge and you can use the download on up to three different PC's Tablets ,phones etc.I find it a good system.

[gingejbee]

In the circumstances (you don't want to pay)...Avast Free is the best-performing anti-virus currently...recently tested (both Which? and Computeractive magazine) and recommended by both.

[gingejbee]

Re retro's comment...I, too, have Kaspersky free from Barclays...but you do have to bank online with them (not just have a current account).

[flobadob]

To answer your question I've used AVG Free for years and found it to work fine. Also a program called Malwarebytes can work well to find and quarantine anything that may find its way into your PC.

However the best thing to do is to be careful of anything which you install onto your computer. Read up on things so that you don't install malware ie virus installers.

Also, as you install programs, even ones that can be trusted, take your time and unclick any boxes throughout the installation process that are not needed. A lot of programs will ask you to install extra software and unless you unclick the boxes you will find yourself lumbered with various extra browsers you don't want and changes to your homepage and preferred search engine.

But AVG Free and Malwarebytes, use those, good luck.

[VHG]

>>Which Operating System are you running?

Don't you bother to read the question?

She told you Windows 7

[Buenchico]

Step 1:
Download the installation file for the free anti-virus solution of your choice but DON'T (initially) double-click to run it. My own preference is to use Avast, which has served me well and generally gets good reviews in the technical press:
https://www.avast.com/en-gb/index

Step 2: Download the Norton Removal Tool:
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/uk/home/current/solutions/kb20080710133834EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

Step 3:
Run the Norton Removal Tool

Step 4:
RESTART YOUR COMPUTER. (IMPORTANT!!!!)

Step 5:
Now double-click on the installation file for your chosen anti-virus program, to run it.

That's basically all that you have to do but I'll add the following:

If you've chosen Avast you'll soon get very, very annoyed with the American woman's voice that periodically announces that Avast has been successfully updated. So let's get rid of her!
Click on the Avast icon at the bottom right of your screen. (You might need to go via 'Show Hidden Icons').
Click on Settings
Click on Sounds
Click to remove the tick alongside Enable Avast Sounds
Click OK

You also need to remember that Norton is an entire suite of security programs and you've only replaced just one part of it (i.e. the anti-virus part). It's best to also add in some additional anti-malware protection, such as the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/
When installing it take care to remove the tick alongside the option to take a free trial of the Premium version. Also note that the free version doesn't 'run in the background'; you need to actively run it every so often - I suggest once per fortnight - or whenever you suspect that malware might have found its way onto your computer.

[ChuckFickens]

The absolute best antivirus in the world is... You!

Install any of them, AVG is OK, Avast is OK, Even Microsoft security essentials is OK..

If you are not even slightly aware if you are installing software from dodgy locations and you click OK they can all be useless.

The best AV, is never install anything from an untrusted source, and if you are not sure if it's a trusted source, post here first before you install it!

I.E. If you want to install something, copy and paste the link to it and ask "is this safe"

[jno]

sometimes even good systems play up with your computer - AVG made my PC refuse to recognise my external hard drive (where I back stuff up to), so it had to go. Avast seems to be fine but for a while it got very intrusive. So don't despair, if one causes problems, try another.

[Peter Pedant]

I got a free version of ESET - I think it is Hungarian
and it was so good that when everything ran out
I cheerfully paid for their update !

[ no I dont have shares in ESET ]

[dunnitall]

Thanks to all with the info, I did have Avast once the paid version and it was a pain I must admit. I have the paid version of AVG on the PC which I'm about to update and pay for again. For the laptop I will probably get the free version after getting rid of nortons, shame really but not worth paying when I hardly use it. Will keep the instructions to help me. Many thanks.

[SuperTech]

Baidu Antivirus deserves a mention. Has anyone here tried it?

[HansUrbancka]

@SuperTech......If you are a real Techie I am assuming that you do know Baidu AV is deemed to be even worse to remove than Norton and, as it does Not have good reviews on the Internet, I fail to appreciate the reason for your mentioning it. Could it be that you have a personal interest in Baidu.?

Hans.

[chenthil]

I have gone between multiple security programs and am sometimes asked for a recommendation for antivirus. One of the programs I am always more than willing to recommend is Comodo Free Antivirus.