Advice Request Bitdefender Free AV - Is it Enough?

[SearchLight]

I decided to try Bitdefender Free AV on one of my other Desktops, and it seems to run very smoothly.

I was wondering, knowing that it lacks some of the other features of its paid versions, what software would you add as a supplement to cover all bases such as VS, Wise Vector(I think there may be a conflict but not sure) or AppCheck for example.

Or do you think it is well rounded enough to cover any malware and/or ransomware that may arise by itself?

 

[becool773]

If you are using Windows then Windows Defender is enough.

 

[CyberDevil]

If you are using Windows then Windows Defender is enough.

If it is very well configured, but even then this is a controversial statement.

what software would you add as a supplement to cover all bases such as VS, Wise Vector(I think there may be a conflict but not sure) or AppCheck for example.

Adding AppCheck is probably a good idea, also configure the Windows Firewall using Simple Windows Hardening by Andy Ful

 

[ZeePriest]

I decided to try Bitdefender Free AV on one of my other Desktops, and it seems to run very smoothly.

I was wondering, knowing that it lacks some of the other features of its paid versions, what software would you add as a supplement to cover all bases such as VS, Wise Vector(I think there may be a conflict but not sure) or AppCheck for example.

Or do you think it is well rounded enough to cover any malware and/or ransomware that may arise by itself?

I wouldn't recommend the free version of bitdefender. However, I would recommend the free version of Kaspersky or AVG/Avast as they offer better protection as free AVs.

 

[ForgottenSeer 67480]

I decided to try Bitdefender Free AV on one of my other Desktops, and it seems to run very smoothly.

I was wondering, knowing that it lacks some of the other features of its paid versions, what software would you add as a supplement to cover all bases such as VS, Wise Vector(I think there may be a conflict but not sure) or AppCheck for example.

Or do you think it is well rounded enough to cover any malware and/or ransomware that may arise by itself?

Bitdefender is not worth of use, because he would eat 85% of your memory RAM on nothing. Use Avira free or maybe Kaspersky.

 

[pxxb1]

I decided to try Bitdefender Free AV on one of my other Desktops, and it seems to run very smoothly.

I was wondering, knowing that it lacks some of the other features of its paid versions, what software would you add as a supplement to cover all bases such as VS, Wise Vector(I think there may be a conflict but not sure) or AppCheck for example.

Or do you think it is well rounded enough to cover any malware and/or ransomware that may arise by itself?

The protection in W10, in totality, is more then good enough, but if you replace the antivirus WD with BD then you get an antivirus that is even better. People often miss that fact that Windows contains a lot more protection then just WD.

For a normal user your mentioned set up is enough, if you take a lot of risks, you may need something extra.

 

[The_King]

Nothing wrong with the Free version of BD when compared to WD. WD maybe adequate on its own with some additional hardening, but BD has far superior malware, virus detection and is much faster at file scanning and file copy performance, than WD. * (So your system will actually be faster using BD than WD)

If you find the lack of configurable with the free version of BD an issue, then look at Kaspersky's free option.

*According to performance tests done but reputable AV testing labs.

From my personal experience using BIS, it receives faster or more frequent virus definition updates than WD does.

 

[RoboMan]

Bitdefender is not worth of use, because he would eat 85% of your memory RAM on nothing. Use Avira free or maybe Kaspersky.

Maybe this is an isolated issue on your system? Never had such issue, at least since v2015.

On idle, BItDefender Total Security consumes around 300MB.

Answering your question OP, BitDefender Free has the advantage of great signatures, but I've stopped installing it because it always broke web encryption (paid version never did this to me), meaning user couldn't connect to 90% of websites. I don't know if this was fixed already.

Other than that, it's a pretty good free choice you could complement with: (choose one)

• Hard_Configurator
• VoodooShield

At this very moment, I'm complementing the lack of Application Control on BTS with H_C and it runs very smoothly and fluid.

 

[Filipe]

Maybe this is an isolated issue on your system? Never had such issue, at least since v2015.

On idle, BItDefender Total Security consumes around 300MB.

View attachment 259880

Answering your question OP, BitDefender Free has the advantage of great signatures, but I've stopped installing it because it always broke web encryption (paid version never did this to me), meaning user couldn't connect to 90% of websites. I don't know if this was fixed already.

Other than that, it's a pretty good free choice you could complement with: (choose one)

• Hard_Configurator
• VoodooShield

At this very moment, I'm complementing the lack of Application Control on BTS with H_C and it runs very smoothly and fluid.

Thats absolutly normal ram consuming. An antivirus/antimalware will not be On idle as you said, unless with realtime protection disabled. The software has realtime protection which is scanning determined files every time a file is writen,acessed, modified ,or executed dependend on what ever settings are being used. And also scans for processes on memory and filess malware , etc.

 

[monkeylove]

According to some testers in Youtube, it is good enough, together with Kaspersky Security Cloud Free. In general, free versions of Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Sophos, Avast, and AVG are recommended. Given that, you can test for performance impact by using free apps like Novabench (i.e., install the AV, then run the benchmarker several times to see scores; clean uninstall using software provided by the AV developer and in safe mode may be needed to completely remove the AV), then try doing things like browsing the 'net and files (with large numbers of small and large files) to sense the impact.

 

[RoboMan]

Thats absolutly normal ram consuming. An antivirus/antimalware will not be On idle as you said, unless with realtime protection disabled. The software has realtime protection which is scanning determined files every time a file is writen,acessed, modified ,or executed dependend on what ever settings are being used. And also scans for processes on memory and filess malware , etc.

Yes, I usually refer "on idle" as for "not scanning", although your explanation is perfectly valid. Nevertheless I must point out, I have configured BitDefender real time protection to scan only new and modified files.

 

[becool773]

but even then this is a controversial statement.

Please explain this brother.