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What are the best free anti-viruses for windows?

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12 Options Considered

12 Options ConsideredPriceLast Updated
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
Apr 11, 2018
Windows Defender
Apr 11, 2018
avast!
Apr 6, 2018
Malwarebytes
Dec 4, 2017
Microsoft Security Essentials
Sep 1, 2015
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Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition

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AgentShark
Top Pro

Excellent results from independent testing labs

•••
AgentShark
Top Pro

Anti-rootkit

•••
AgentShark
Top Pro

No commercials

•••
AgentShark
Top Pro

Extremely unobtrusive

•••
AgentShark
Top Pro

No configurations

•••
JM80
NeighborlyMalingee
Top Pro

Easy to restore and exclude a targeted file, when you don't want it quarantined

•••
AgentShark
Top Pro

Intrusion Detection System

•••
Ensures that applications trying to access the Internet or the network are not masked malware.
Know any negative aspects of this option?
See 6 more ProsSee 6 more Pros

Windows Defender

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Gemma Weirs
Top Pro

It's free

•••
It's built-in, and is free if running factory installed Windows.
Monika
Gemma Weirs
Top Pro

It's reliable

•••
It's solid, no-frills, and easy to configure.
JM80
NeighborlyMalingee
Top Con

Mediocre ratings in several tests

•••
JM80
NeighborlyMalingee
Top Con

No way to restore or exclude a file once defender decides to destroy it

•••
See 2 more Pros & ConsSee 2 more Pros & Cons

avast!

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joelthelion
Top Pro

Decent anti-virus protection

•••
thermoplastics
joelthelion
Top Con

Tries too hard to sell you the paid version

•••
joelthelion
Top Con

Opt-out installation of Google Chrome

•••
These advertising tactics are simply unacceptable
ThomasHuayra
Top Con

Detection rate isn't too solid

•••
Avast! is not the sort of antivirus product to give you peace of mind. In practice, it does miss some malware every now and then. You'll need backup virus protection, which raises the question why you should get Avast in the first place.
joelthelion
Top Con

Too noisy

•••
Avast! has sounds turned on by default. It also has a lot of blinky features of questionable use.
Jonathan Dill
Top Con

Expires after a year leaving computer exposed to new viruses.

•••
Expires and stops updating after a year after which the user's computer may become infected by new viruses not covered by existing patterns.
Andris Pelcbergs
Adam
Top Con

"Smart Screen" feature

•••
When running an unknown application, avast will run it wrapped in a sandbox environment first for scanning, then kill the process and re-run it again. A lot of applications do not like this.
See 5 more ConsSee 5 more Cons

Malwarebytes

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Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Achieved a perfect score in a test performed by AV-TEST 

•••
In 2014 AV-TEST tested 7 different cleaning tools (along with 10 antivirus solutions) Malwarebytes was the only tool that was capable of completely removing and restoring the system. It was concluded by AV-TEST to be the best tool for removing malware from infected computers.
ThomasHuayra
Top Pro

Updated frequently

•••
MalwareBytes has a very strong detection rate and will rarely miss anything. It updates at least daily to stay on top of new threats.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Light resource usage 

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Simple setup 

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Pro

Doesn't ignore adware and toolbars 

•••
Malwarebytes removes toolbars that get bundled with software and adware that some other products keep.
Endi Sukaj
user901823
Top Con

Free version lacks real-time protection

•••
Premium version is required to enable real-time protection.
Andris Pelcbergs
Top Con

Free version lacks scan scheduling 

•••
Premium version of the software is required to schedule scans in advance.
See 5 more Pros & ConsSee 5 more Pros & Cons

Microsoft Security Essentials

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Ryan Rapini
Top Pro

Performance

•••
MSE doesn't seem too resource intensive
joelthelion
Top Pro

Simple and Silent

•••
Does the job without distracting you.
DMayrshire
Top Pro

Less prone to false positives compared to other solutions

•••
Frequent false positives in themselves can reduce security
Ryan Rapini
Top Pro

Ease of Use

•••
Ryan Rapini
Top Pro

Accuracy

•••
thermoplastics
AgentShark
Top Con

Used as non-competitive baseline since 2013

•••
All except one tested antivirus scores above Security Essentials.
See 4 more ProsSee 4 more Pros

AVG Free

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AgentShark
Top Con

No rootkit protection

•••

Avira Antivirus

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Monika
JM80
NeighborlyMalingee
Top Pro

Fairly highly rated in tests

•••
Andris Pelcbergs
Jonathan Dill
Top Pro

Browser protection

•••
Includes safe search plug-ins for Chrome and Firefox.
Andris Pelcbergs
Jonathan Dill
Top Con

Advertises paid version

•••
Occasional prompts to Upgrade to the paid version.
See 1 more ProSee 1 more Pro

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+

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ThomasHuayra
Top Pro

Solid spyware and virus detection rates

•••
Ad-Aware is a well known veteran in battle against adware and spyware and today still counts as a solid piece of security software on that matter. For virus protection, it gets similar scores as the most trusted paid antivirus solutions without having many false positives.
thermoplastics
ThomasHuayra
Top Pro

Real-time protection

•••
This is one of the few good free antivirus solutions that offer real-time protection, stopping malicious processes on your computer at any given time. Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ also scans downloads for malware.
ThomasHuayra
Top Pro

Easy to use

•••
Ad Aware Free Antivirus+ has a clean, well designed user interface that's easy to use for anyone. It features a game mode, so that you're not disturbed by any kind of notification or not have your computer's performance weighed down by background scans while gaming.
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Panda Free Antivirus

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Andris Pelcbergs
Christoph Bühning
Top Pro

Excellent protection

•••
In benchmark tests done by av-test, Panda Antivirus got a perfect score.
Shawndroid
Top Pro

No more updates

•••
Cloud antivirus means users no longer have to update their system or see dialogue boxes annoying them. Every year or two it prompts you to install major updates to the application, but that's it!
Shawndroid
Top Pro

Hassle free protection

•••
Runs in the background and silently quarantines viruses with scaring the user.
Shawndroid
Top Con

Below average performance

•••
While easy to use and never requiring updates, it does slow down the loading of programs. The rate of slow down ranks it below average performance for launching applications.
Shawndroid
Top Con

Popups asking you to buy

•••
When you start your computer you will get a small ad for a moment asking you to upgrade to the paid version, if you are using the free version.
See 3 more Pros & ConsSee 3 more Pros & Cons

Comodo

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360 Total Security

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Endi Sukaj
Shire Horse
Top Pro

Has multiple scanners

•••
Includes Avira and Bitdefender engines.
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FortiClient 5.0

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thermoplastics
Elizabeth Anderson
Top Pro

Best known for it's FortiGate network security appliance

•••
Detects phishing easily, local malware blocking test, etc. Fortinet is best known for its FortiGate network security appliance and other enterprise-level network security products. A local client running on the company's desktops communicates with the FortiGate device for fully managed securit...
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53 Community Recommendations

Adam
Calvin Grain
gilch
LeoTM
Shire Horse
cubethethird
William Lu
Gemma Weirs
Darrell Pappa
Alexandru Botez
Karthik Chandraraj
+30
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