Battle Windows Defender vs Bitdefender Free vs Kaspersky Free (2019)

[brod56]

I already have an opinion on this matter, but would like to hear yours too. It's always a popular comparison, and it would be great to take a look at it as of early 2019 in my opinion.

Most important points of comparison:
1. Perfomance impact - ram usage, internet speeds, disk speeds
2. Cloud protection and/or behavior blocker - reliability, speed
3. Offline signatures - static file detection, website filtering, false positives
4. Customization - useful settings
5. Privacy - telemetry, use of personal data

 

[Vasudev]

@Evjl's Rain I'm getting a considerable hit on battery life with KFA Free with CPU spiking to 15%. When I pause KFA and WD takes over cpu usage is below 2%. So do you think WD is blocking and contending for resources?
Is it recommended to full scan with KFA free after installation like @mlnevese suggested?
EDIT:

KFA did allow CPU to go to idle mode C6 faster than WD but because of constant wakeup on idle battery life has taken a hit.

With WD c6% is low but battery life/drain is very minimum.
Any ideas?

 

[Evjl's Rain]

@Evjl's Rain I'm getting a considerable hit on battery life with KFA Free with CPU spiking to 15%. When I pause KFA and WD takes over cpu usage is below 2%. So do you think WD is blocking and contending for resources?
Is it recommended to full scan with KFA free after installation like @mlnevese suggested?
EDIT:View attachment 205274
KFA did allow CPU to go to idle mode C6 faster than WD but because of constant wakeup on idle battery life has taken a hit.View attachment 205275
With WD c6% is low but battery life/drain is very minimum.
Any ideas?

I think you should completely disable WD using ooshutup
I have no problem with kaspersky

CpU spiking can be due to idle scan, rootkit scan or automatic update, or it can be you opening a folder full of exe files for the first time

I'm not sure about battery life. You should disable WD to prevent them from conflicting each other

 

[Vasudev]

I think you should completely disable WD using ooshutup
I have no problem with kaspersky

CpU spiking can be due to idle scan, rootkit scan or automatic update, or it can be you opening a folder full of exe files for the first time

I'm not sure about battery life. You should disable WD to prevent them from conflicting each other

Those idle scans and rootkits are disabled for now. I'm running full scan and I feel they are much slower than KRD and WD. Well, hover to see scan %age is buggy and main UI shows 75% after 15 mins.
Battery life is taking a hit in KFA free unlike KIS and KTS version where battery life and cpu idle was like NO AV was installed. Paid AV makes such as difference.

 

[Nestor]

I used the past 3 months KSCF+Syshardener and although it seemed a very secure and solid combo delayed significantly, almost 30 seconds, boottime and shutdown plus sometimes internet browsing.Maybe it's Syshardener problem.

 

[Captain Awesome]

If i have a choice i choose Avast free antivirus
It has great protection and less RAM usage.

 

[Evjl's Rain]

Those idle scans and rootkits are disabled for now. I'm running full scan and I feel they are much slower than KRD and WD. Well, hover to see scan %age is buggy and main UI shows 75% after 15 mins.
Battery life is taking a hit in KFA free unlike KIS and KTS version where battery life and cpu idle was like NO AV was installed. Paid AV makes such as difference.

I feel the opposite. KIS is much much slower for me
you can try to reboot your PC, then launch some of your commonly used apps and close them. I think KFA will work as it should
kaspersky will reset its temporary caches every time we reboot our PC

besides my settings, did you apply harlan's tweaks? I confirm some of them can significantly impact weaker PCs

 

[Steven Brown]

I will go for Windows Defender. Since long time I'm using Windows Defender still working great never got any issue

 

[Vasudev]

I feel the opposite. KIS is much much slower for me
you can try to reboot your PC, then launch some of your commonly used apps and close them. I think KFA will work as it should
kaspersky will reset its temporary caches every time we reboot our PC

besides my settings, did you apply harlan's tweaks? I confirm some of them can significantly impact weaker PCs

Where can I find Harlan's tweaks?

 

[Nestor]

Where can I find Harlan's tweaks?

Q&A - Kaspersky Security Cloud Free 2019 - Tweaks

 

[donzzi]

Kaspersky Free.

 

[Cavehomme]

If you are going to use a free tool then use Windows Defender. It's detection rates as shown on AV Comparatives and AV Test are superb. Add Malwarebytes Premium and it's enough.

 

[brod56]

If you are going to use a free tool then use Windows Defender. It's detection rates as shown on AV Comparatives and AV Test are superb. Add Malwarebytes Premium and it's enough.

In my opinion, Malwarebytes, in its current state, is far from being a reliable real time AV companion. If you want to boost WD protection, I'd suggest you tweak it with Hard Configurator and/or pair it with a anti-exe like Voodooshield.

 

[Vasudev]

An update: Removed KFA 2019 in favor of WD because of horrible battery drain on absolute standby mode.

 

[jerzy601]

kaspersky without appeal.