Total AV free ?

[imuade]

Does Total AV have a free version? Or is it a scam too? 6 AVs flag it as a PUP on VirusTotal

Free Antivirus 2026 – Download Free Antivirus Software & Internet Security

Download TotalAV™ free antivirus software 2026. Stay 100% safe from malware and viruses with TotalAV™ free antivirus protection with internet security.

www.totalav.com

VirusTotal

VirusTotal

www.virustotal.com

 

[Threadripper]

Opening this thread triggered ESET so I think that says it all.

 

[imuade]

Opening this thread triggered ESET so I think that says it all.

Yes, ESET is one of the 6 AVs to mark it as PUP

 

[Moonhorse]

Q&A - Total AV - Is it a Scam?

Its fakeware, whatever you call it

 

[Atlas147]

From just reading the site

"Once downloaded, just register for free inside our app and in a matter of minutes your free smart scan will begin using our latest antivirus definitions. The smart scan will highlight any malware, PUAs, privacy concerns and also show you some recommendations to improve the performance of your computer. If malware is detected we will remove the threats for free.

After the scan we will assist you to resolve any issues located for free and you will also have the option to upgrade to our premium antivirus which will automatically block harmful threats & viruses instantly in real-time."

Very obvious that this is just a scanner at best and scareware at worst. Probably would show some fake malware and ask you to pay for the premium version to remove it (I'm not sure just making a guess from why so many AVs mark this as PUP)

My AV Kaspersky seems perfectly fine with this weblink and the downloaded file.

 

[SeriousHoax]

I just went into their website, downloaded the installer and submitted that to them as a suspicious malware

 

[harlan4096]

It seems is has a legit Digital Signature:

Spoiler

 

[Atlas147]

Q&A - Total AV - Is it a Scam?

Its fakeware, whatever you call it

Seems like people from Online Threat Alerts removed their post about it "404 - Page not found - Online Threat Alerts" links to a error 404 now

 

[stefanos]

I had tried it a while ago. It's useless

 

[Allego]

It uses Avira Engine?

 

[roger_m]

Does Total AV have a free version?

There is a free version, which does not include real-time protection. It can scan and remove threats, but there is a big catch. Whenever you remove threats, disable a startup item, or clean juk files, etc. it also opens the purchase page in your browser and also shows an upgrade button. Every single time you get TotalAV to perform an action, this happens.

It is also sold under other names such as ScanGuard. I've tested it before and it does not work well.

There's a review at PC Mag.

TotalAV Antivirus Pro

A decent antivirus with useful security bonuses

au.pcmag.com

 

[roger_m]

Very obvious that this is just a scanner at best and scareware at worst. Probably would show some fake malware and ask you to pay for the premium version to remove it

It uses Avira's scan engine, so its scan resuts can be trusted. But it is not a good antivirus.

 

[SeriousHoax]

They claim to have 10 million users. Seriously!!!

 

[Atlas147]

It uses Avira's scan engine, so its scan resuts can be trusted. But it is not a good antivirus.

On top of AV scans there is quite a bit of junkware attached to it as well, gonna do a small post on it below, give me a bit

Alright so let's take a look at the program itself.

Right off the bat the program starts with a "quick scan" of your system once the installation is complete.

Note the other junkware attached to the scanner (disk cleanup, system tune-up and "recommendations")

Even though it is stated that they are using the Avira engine, you can see that they see cookies as a threat.

 

[Dan50]

Rogue AV program

 

[motox781]

I like their GUI haha