Free AV: Avast vs Panda vs Qihoo 360 vs Bitdefender vs AVG for Windows 7 & 10 (2016)

Glitch

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Aug 27, 2016
7
As mentioned, my primary priorities are

0. Free
1. Performance and resources consuming.
2. Ease of use, Options and UI (Not Important But a Plus of Course)
3. Protection (Not the Main Objective But a Plus of Course)
4. Not mentioned more lightweight product is huge plus only if it's trustworthy as better protection than the mentioned products.

Edit: AVG is added, feel free to add more products. These ones are the only free products I'm aware of (except avira which is too advanced for my friend with all the false-positive and too much restrictions, so no for this one at this situation)
 
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TheMalwareMaster

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Jan 4, 2016
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I voted for 360 total security this time. It's totally cloud based, and because of that it's really light. The interface can be strage the first time you use it (the settings are hided, in my opinion), but once you get used to it, it will ne easy to use. The protection offered is good, except for chinese PUPs, Which are whitelisted by the product.
 

Evjl's Rain

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Avast with max heuristics and max HIPS + transient caching disabled is my vote
avast is not really light until you disable triensient caching :)

edit:
- panda: crap, tried a few times, never go back again. Extremely slow scanning speed, many objects are detected but won't be removed. Slow down my laptop, requires internet. feel fragile
- bitdefender: tried old stable version, buggy, slow scanning speed, slow definition updates, horrible UI, couldn't config anything, no exclusion option. It's a real pain to restore many items from quarantine
- 360: never used but after reading their privacy policy (can collect bank card number and password) -> OK :) . They publically announce that so it's hard to sue them if these get stolen
 
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CMLew

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Oct 30, 2015
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You can run an equivalent Windows Defender on Win7. They called it MSE. Link below:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14210/security-essentials-download

The comparison between MSE and W.Defender is also listed there.

Should your friend want to install a more sophiscated security software, that would be his decision to make then. Window's default security software (MSE or W.Defender) is more than sufficient for basic task as long as no happy clickers. :)
 

uninfected1

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Jan 28, 2016
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I've used all of them and, considering your specific requirements, it's Panda by some margin for me.

1) Super light - none of those on your list come close to Panda in this respect on my PC (32 bit, 4GB RAM, W7). Around 10MB RAM total for all processes (obviously higher when updating).
Apparently version 17, which has just been released and which I haven't used, is even lighter, according to users on the Wilders forum: Panda Free
2) Industry leading protection for several years now.
3) Couldn't be easier and simpler to use. Once installed it quietly and efficiently looks after itself. Power users might like more configurability though.

Like you I also experienced a noticeably detrimental system impact when using Qihoo 360TS. Total RAM usage was 80-100MB and that was without enabling Bitdefender and Avira engines. Avast is also much more resource heavy than Panda and has become significantly more bloated in recent years.

So, if lightness, protection and ease of use are your priorities, it has to be Panda. If you haven't tried it yet, I'm sure once you have you'll think the same.

Just ensure during installation that you uncheck the 3 boxes which try to install Panda Safe Web - they are prechecked by default.
 
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Glitch

Level 1
Thread author
Aug 27, 2016
7
I can't thank you all enough, really. How I didn't join this forum before !

I tried Panda and it was lightweight somehow but uninstalled it since I realized it's cloud based and no guarantee that this laptop would be online all the time. So I uninstalled it and installed Avast with advised config (transient disabled, thanks @Evjl's Rain) as the ones at this thread

Best configuration performance for Avast! Free

So far so lightweight, has some advanced config options but necessary and manageable nonetheless. With all things configured, my friend shouldn't worry or do any changes of its options.

The most noticed behavior that there is no lagging of the mouse pointer or the gui of the Windows like I experienced using 360TS.

I'm still testing and trying, any config advising, more recommendation about other apps, I will read them and keep you posted of what I'm experiencing. Again thank you all :)
 

Evjl's Rain

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I can't thank you all enough, really. How I didn't join this forum before !

I tried Panda and it was lightweight somehow but uninstalled it since I realized it's cloud based and no guarantee that this laptop would be online all the time. So I uninstalled it and installed Avast with advised config (transient disabled, thanks @Evjl's Rain) as the ones at this thread

Best configuration performance for Avast! Free

So far so lightweight, has some advanced config options but necessary and manageable nonetheless. With all things configured, my friend shouldn't worry or do any changes of its options.

The most noticed behavior that there is no lagging of the mouse pointer or the gui of the Windows like I experienced using 360TS.

I'm still testing and trying, any config advising, more recommendation about other apps, I will read them and keep you posted of what I'm experiencing. Again thank you all :)
I forgot to tell you to choose "minimal" during installation process. you can do it now by windows uninstaller -> change
also, you can go to avast settings, disable 2 things in privacy (something about community...)
disable all sounds, reduce the first avast popup setting from 20 to 5 seconds, the rest should be left default

you can follow avast guide to maximize your security

note: avast can be slow and consumes a lot of resources in a few days because it is collecting caches. after that, it will be more stable and stops consuming too much resources
 

uninfected1

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In the world if free antivirus,you can not go wrong with avast
I can. Avast stopped updating automatically, and uninstalling it was hardly straightforward. Uninstalling through programs and features wasn't sufficient, and neither was Avast's additional official removal tool so I had to use Rezjor's unofficial one too. Eventually after a lot of hassle I was able to install Panda. And what a difference. Booted 15 seconds quicker and everything felt a lot less sluggish.
 
H

hjlbx

1. Performance and resources consuming. - Webroot
2. Ease of use, Options and UI (Not Important But a Plus of Course) - Webroot
3. Protection (Not the Main Objective But a Plus of Course) - Webroot with Heuristics set to block unwhitelisted
4. Not mentioned more lightweight product is huge plus only if it's trustworthy as better protection than the mentioned products. - Webroot with Heuristics set to block unwhitelisted

Webroot for a slow system is the way to go.
 

Glitch

Level 1
Thread author
Aug 27, 2016
7
If your basing on resources and not that it is cloud based, webroot anti-virus is about as light as they come. Something to remember for next time you need to look for a friend.

1. Performance and resources consuming. - Webroot
2. Ease of use, Options and UI (Not Important But a Plus of Course) - Webroot
3. Protection (Not the Main Objective But a Plus of Course) - Webroot with Heuristics set to block unwhitelisted
4. Not mentioned more lightweight product is huge plus only if it's trustworthy as better protection than the mentioned products. - Webroot with Heuristics set to block unwhitelisted

Webroot for a slow system is the way to go.

Webroot is not free it, is it ? I can't find any free product on the home page.

Try new Immunet 5 Cloud AV! - FREE (& it is companion)
Immunet AntiVirus

Cloud means the need of internet 24/7 so no offline scan or offline many stuff. I don't guarantee that.

Try Comodo Internet Security with SpyShelter Free antikeylogger!

Only free solution is available for me here at this situation.

I see a lot of debate about Avast. Either it's too bad or too good. So far, performance wise, it's very good. I would test panda more however since it showed me good performance already but being "cloud" solution is what gave me the push to try another (Avast). Again, I thank you all for the suggestions and sharing experience with me.

I'm in front of another laptop now and testing whatever you suggested so far. This one is also 4 GB ram and with Core i5-3210M CPU 2.50GHZ. Windwos 10 64-bit is installed fresh on it now and I'm testing the solutions available. By the looks, no solution mentioned so far is eligible more than Avast.

Please correct me if my info about the need of internet continues connection for cloud based products.
 

uninfected1

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Jan 28, 2016
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360TS hands down. With all engines enabled, PUP's enables and set to scan all files it's leagues above the other choices.
In what respect? Certainly not lightness, which was @Glitch's main requirement. Panda and Bitdefender trounce it. The way I understood it he was also looking for a free solution which rules out a number of other suggestions here.

@Glitch - considering your requirements I'm surprised Avast seems the best choice for you. Surely even Avira would be better.

@Evandro One of the main requirements was ease of use which rules out Comodo Internet Security. Plus the nasty shock when he realises what he has to do to install a new version:
Most Effective Way to Reinstall/Update CIS to Avoid/Fix Problems - Install / Setup / Configuration Help - CIS
 
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