Question Free Anti-Virus?

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Windows defender is more than sufficient these days and should already be installed on your PC.

But if you want to use a 3rd party antivirus, here are some:
  • Kaspersky Free: Shows good scan detection rate, powerful behavior detection, runs fast with fluid performance, and has the least false positives.
  • Bitdefender Free: Performs decently in scan detection rate and great behavior detection; however, it’s a bit laggy on performance and has high false positives.
  • Avast/AVG Free: Has a nice, organized interface with a great detection rate, decent behavior detection, and has few false positives. The downside is the annoying pop-up and being a bit sluggish.
 
Based on various tests, the top four free AVs given real-world protection, malware protection, and system impact are usually Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky:

Comparison

www.av-comparatives.org www.av-comparatives.org

Each one has some quirks:

Avast - you might have to turn on gaming and silent mode to have no nag popups, but the only notification you might get is a blue dot in the system tray; it has the most features available, including a firewall

AVG - similar to Avast (owned by the same company), but you might have difficulties uninstalling it if you decide not to use it

Bitdefender - lacks firewall and some anti-ransomware features but no nagware if you turn off those features; literally set-and-forget, with not much to configure; for me, the heaviest of the four in terms of system impact

Kaspersky - lacks firewall and popups might show up once every few months; configure to make it better, but the lighest of the four for me

Given these, if you're a novice, i.e., you don't care and/or know about the system tray or notifications, and don't notice issues concerning system impact, like loading browsers and web pages and accessing folders with lots of different files, then just use the built-in security program, and at least try to add an free addon for browser protection.

If you're the same but want more protection, then use Bitdefender.

If you're a novice but also a gamer, use the built-in security but turn off things like core isolation.

If you want more protection and are willing to take note of notifications, and complain about system impact, then go for Avast or probably AVG.

If you want even more protection and don't mind any system impact (see above), turn on the firewall in Avast.

If you notice system slowdowns and would like to deal with that, don't mind tweaking settings once or twice, and can accept the use of the built-in firewall (or notice slowdowns when you include a paid AV with firewall, or a third-party firewall), then go for Kaspersky.

Finally, if you enjoy experimenting, then use the built-in security program and tweak it and/or various AVs.

Bonus:

If you want a very light AV and are willing to have just browser protection via addons, then try Avira.
 
monkeylove said:
Avast - you might have to turn on gaming and silent mode to have no nag popups, but the only notification you might get is a blue dot in the system tray; it has the most features available, including a firewall
Click to expand...
Your post was thorough and complete, I just want to add a small update about Avast nagging popups, there is a new setting to control it so you can get rid of it without a hassle:
v2_win_av_notifications.png
 

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