Any recommendations for free anti-virus and/or anti malware software?

NUance

NUance

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Doe anyone have recommendations for free anti-virus and/or anti malware software? I gave the wife a new laptop a while back. Her old one is chock full of annoying malware and browser hijacker stuff. I'm gonna clear that stuff off and let my kid play games on it.

Anyone know of a good place to find out if a particular anti virus package is legit or not? Wiki has this list of rogue security software. LINK. But I'm not sure how up to date their list is.

 
I hear the Russians have some pretty solid software
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If I remember I'll ask my IT guy tomorrow. He always mentions a few I should try but I haven't really paid attention so I don't recall which ones.

 
Here's the two best independent agencies for testing/rating AV software. Anything on their list is a legit/safe product on its own. Only one I would recommend staying away from is Webroot but that is data privacy rather than software issue.

https://www.av-test.org/en/

https://www.av-comparatives.org/

As far as getting rid of all that malware/crapware, I would recommend wiping the laptop. It will be way less effort and its the easiest guarantee you will get rid of it all. If you want to PM me O/S, make/model of laptop, happy to give you some direction here...

 
Avast free anti-virus works good enough for me (several years now with it). And it's not too heavy I don't think.

 
If it is Windows 10, Windows defender seems to be light enough and do a decent job. Not sure on older operating systems. Other than that, I agree with admo, Avast free edition is a pretty good option.

 
These are a few my IT guy recommended for free stuff.

Malwarebytes for scanning your computer and removing malware.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/

For anti-virus he said Windows Security Essentials or Defender is pretty good and also said AVG Free works pretty well.

http://www.avg.com/ppc/ww-en/protection-ultimate-vs-free?dsc=4wf&d=20&h2=20&subh2=20&ECID=ad:go:se:US-EN-Antivirus-Brand-Search&gclid=CLiOrsuK8tECFRy5wAodsewN-g&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have used Malwarebytes in the past and, if I recall correctly, it did the job.

 
El Diaco said:
These are a few my IT guy recommended for free stuff.

Malwarebytes for scanning your computer and removing malware.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/

For anti-virus he said Windows Security Essentials or Defender is pretty good and also said AVG Free works pretty well.

http://www.avg.com/ppc/ww-en/protection-ultimate-vs-free?dsc=4wf&d=20&h2=20&subh2=20&ECID=ad:go:se:US-EN-Antivirus-Brand-Search&gclid=CLiOrsuK8tECFRy5wAodsewN-g&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have used Malwarebytes in the past and, if I recall correctly, it did the job.
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I second Malwarebytes--their free version does an excellent job with malware, and their pay 3.0 version is a full-fledged antivirus/antimalware bundle that is relatively inexpensive compared to the competition. Plus Malwarebytes is very responsive to its customer base.

Windows Security Essentials is a no-no anymore--it's failed a lot of the crucial tests lately. AVG or Panda are good alternate free anti-virus programs, though the latter will pop up ads every time you log in trying to get your $$$.

 
If you are going to use Malwarebytes to try and do cleanup, visit their forum and follow their cleanup procedures. They recommend at least 1 (preferably 2) other products for this type of situation. If you have browser hijackers and fake security apps already installed, MW is not going to remove it all. Once everything is clean, a single solution is fine to prevent reinfection moving forward.

If you go with a free AV product, make sure the AV definitions are updated just as quickly as the paid version. AVG has some bad reviews in this regard.

 
I used the free Avast version for years and then upgraded to the paid version a couple of years ago, but the free version worked very well.

 
What's everyone's opinion on eset these days?

I actually still just use Microsoft Security Essentials. Linux and Sandboxie are occasional fallbacks but I can never quite accept the convenience tradeoff.

 
zoogs said:
What's everyone's opinion on eset these days?

I actually still just use Microsoft Security Essentials. Linux and Sandboxie are occasional fallbacks but I can never quite accept the convenience tradeoff.
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Sandboxie is a PITA to setup/maintain. Seamless mode with Virtualbox/KVM or Unity mode with VMWare is much easier without the inconvenience... Also makes migrating to Linux super easy...

 
ColoNoCoHusker said:
If you are going to use Malwarebytes to try and do cleanup, visit their forum and follow their cleanup procedures. They recommend at least 1 (preferably 2) other products for this type of situation. If you have browser hijackers and fake security apps already installed, MW is not going to remove it all. Once everything is clean, a single solution is fine to prevent reinfection moving forward.

If you go with a free AV product, make sure the AV definitions are updated just as quickly as the paid version. AVG has some bad reviews in this regard.
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For their older, pre 3.0 malware-only software, yes, you are correct. For 3.0 and beyond, that statement is incorrect.

Malwarebytes 3.0 is a new, fully-fledged anti-virus *and* anti-malware application, so if you spring for the new software, you're covered.

 
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Frankly, deciding what to run isn't nearly as important making sure you keep it up-to-date. What drives me up the walls is that even most of the free AVs want you renew your license yearly. Sooo many people won't do it, even if it's free! They see the renewal popup and think "Oh, they're trying to up-sell me yet again, I don't wanna buy that. *clicks close*"

 
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