Best Antivirus For Pc Reddit
What's the best Antivirus and Internet Security program for my gaming PC? Thread starter. So far, after doing many research, Kaspersky and Norton seem like the best ones suited for my gaming PC. What do you guys think? 0 Mr Kagouris Estimable. Sep 7, 2015 141 0 4,710 46. Sep 25, 2016. Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr WhatsApp Email Link.
It's a bit of a dry topic but one of the best antivirus programs for PC gaming, though ordinary and relentlessly, boringly sensible is one of the best additions you can make to your rig. It's not an attractive or cool trumpet to honk on—much like a teacher insisting to their class that the best thing of all is when you get a 9 to 5 job with pension benefits. However, it remains a crucial addition to your setup as one of the best anti-virus goes further than just keeping the nasties at bay. They will often keep your system clean and tidy by getting rid of unnecessary junk while simultaneously at the same time while beating off all the baddies which are out in the wild and desperate to get into your machine and data.
In terms of specific software, we’d recommend Bitdefender if you're willing to spend a bit of money to get one of the best antivirus programs going (which we recommend doing). Its reliability and subtlety are big contributors to it being one of the best antivirus services. However, there are some capable and decent free options going, and the pick of those ones for us is Avira Antivirus. Yes, you'll have to endure some ads for the pleasure, but it is very customisable. And hey, what do you have to lose and you can always walk away whenever you like. But, whatever your thinking, definitely get something—at least start off with a free one before deciding on the paid versions. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, as the saying goes. Check out our guide below for the best anti-virus software currently on offer.
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1. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019
There are a few different options we could have picked for this category and the biggest reason we chose Bitdefender is because, when it comes to AV protection we prefer the strong and silent type. That’s Bitdefender in nutshell. Once installed, Bitdefender goes into Autopilot mode by default and makes all security related decisions for you. It won’t bother you with popups and alerts, nor does it even ask you to go through and configure its behavior. There’s no hand-holding here—Bitdefender is confident in its abilities to protect your system without making a fuss.
We’re confident in Bitdefender too, both because of own experience throughout the years, and because it continues to do well in independent lab tests. In AV-Test.org’s latest evaluation, Bitdefender detected every single threat, including 213 zero-day malware samples and over 20,000 widespread and prevalent malware discovered in the past four weeks. It did pick up a few false positives, but not enough to ding Bitdefender’s Usability score. And it’s passed 32 straight VB100 comparative tests by Virus Bulletin dating back to October 2010. In other words, Bitdefender rarely trips up.
If you want to take a proactive approach to security, Bitdefender can scan for vulnerabilities such as out of date software. It also checks for missing Windows updates and analyzes the strength of your Windows passwords. When it finds a third-party program that’s out of date, it gives a detailed report on the number of vulnerabilities and specific security threats it poses, and also provides a link to grab the newest version. Not many programs go the extra mile like that.
As with most AV programs, Bitdefender has different pricing options based on the number of PCs and year of coverage your purchase. On its website, Bitdefender is currently on offer for $23.99 covering three devices for one year.
2. Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2019
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As much as we like Bitdefender, there are other capable security suites out there. Kaspersky Internet Security is one of them, and in this instance, we recommended paying the $10 upcharge for Kaspersky Total Security, a more fleshed out package with some handy utilities instead of just fluff.
Among the additional grab bag of goodies is a file shredder that overwrites deleted files so they’re near impossible to restore, the ability to create encrypted folders to keep sensitive files from prying eyes, password syncing among multiple devices, and PC clean-up tools, to name just a few. You can find free alternatives to all of these, but having them all in one place is convenient.
One reason we like Kaspersky because it consistently performs among the best AV programs, both in terms of identifying and blocking malware, and having a minimal impact on system performance. That’s not to say it’s perfect—we recall one particularly annoying incident where Kaspersky had let a potentially unwanted program (PUP) lock our mouse cursor in a box. It took some persistence (and Safe Mode) to fix the problem. For the most part, however, Kaspersky is very good about protecting PCs. Even on the rare occasions we’ve run into problems, they’ve been relatively minor.
Most users will find Kaspersky’s default settings adequate, but if it’s fine grain control you’re after, you’ll find plenty of it within the many submenus. There are even submenus within submenus. For example, in settings you can dive into the antivirus menu for file scanning and choose a security level (low, medium, or high), or dig even deeper by clicking on Advanced Settings to bring up more options. There are even submenus within that submenu. The downside is that it can take several clicks to dig your way to a specific setting, but it’s better than having no control at all.
You can currently save $30 on Kaspersky and get three PCs covered for a year for $29.99.
3. Webroot SecureAnywhere
When Webroot approached us several years ago about a nimble security product that existed almost entirely in the cloud, we couldn’t help but roll our eyes. The level of hype that followed felt like a marketing schtick—here was this new AV program that was supposed to install in under 10 seconds and barely help itself to RAM or storage, yet provide adequate protection on the level of much bigger security suites. Yeah, right!, we thought. But here’s the thing, Webroot was right.
SecureAnywhere was and still is a remarkable outlier in AV. It takes up just a few megabytes of disk space and uses about 5MB of RAM when idle. During an active scan, Task Manager shows SecureAnywhere using around 50MB of RAM and less than 15 percent CPU utilization, yet takes just a couple of minutes to scan 150GB of data spread across two SSDs.
Webroot also makes a special version of SecureAnywhere for gamers. It differs from the regular version in that it offers a system optimizer tool to “analyze your devices and the operating systems to detect system issues, wipe away all traces of online activity, and make deleted files unrecoverable.” In practice, we only saw it delete temporary files to free up some disk space. SecureAnywhere also politely stays in the background so you’re not bothered by updates or added lag when playing games.
Since it’s cloud based, SecureAnywhere works best when there’s an Internet connection. In the era of ubiquitous broadband, that’s not going to be a problem for many people, particularly gamers. And though it’s lightweight and short on local storage requirements, SecureAnywhere is surprisingly high on adjustable settings. There’s well over 100 of them, and you can export your settings to make setup on another PC quick and easy. In terms of pricing, Webroot is currently at $19.99 for a single device for one year.
4. Avira Free Antivirus for Windows
The best free anti-virus
Arguing over the best free antivirus is a lot like debating beers. Some prefer a fuller bodied ale with hints of fruits and spices, while others go for a less bitter lager to quench their thirst. And so it goes in our free antivirus category in which we narrowed the choices down to Avira and BitDefender. We ultimately gave the nod to Avira, but it was close.
We chose Avira because of the level of customization available. Whether you want to duck your head into the software’s menus and start fiddling with knobs and dials is up to you, but if you do decide to tweak Avira’s behavior, you’ll find a modest toolchest of options. One setting we highly recommend enabling is to search for rootkits before scanning. It will increase scan times, but rootkits are particularly nasty in how they dig their hooks deep in the OS, so it’s better to err on the side of safety.
You can also configure how aggressively Avira scans for zero-day threats through heuristic analysis, which is set to a medium detection level by default. Cranking it up to high puts Avira in an extra cautious state, but at the risk of reporting false positives. Putting it on low has the opposite effect, or you can turn off heuristic analysis altogether, an option we don’t advise.
Avira’s scan engine isn’t the fastest on the block but it routinely racks up awards from independent testing labs, including AV-Test, AV-Comparatives, and Virus Bulletin. You don’t get to over 400 million downloads in the AV space unless you’re doing something right, and clearly Avira is.
What you don’t get with the free version of Avira is a Game Mode. And though Avira doesn’t cost any money, you pay for it through ads. This is where BitDefender’s free version has the advantage. In contrast, it doesn’t use ads or nag users with pop-ups, and it pauses system scans when you’re gaming. It’s a no-fuss solution, though the downside there’s not much in the way of options, just a couple of on/off switches.
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The Windows Defender Security Center comes loaded on all Windows 10 devices, and it is quite good at its job. It isn't an enormous resource hog, it runs in the background quietly so that most of the time you won't even know it's there, and it doesn't bug you to upgrade to its full, paid versions. Many people swear you need nothing more than Defender, but others disagree. For anyone who wants a bit more protection without having to pay an arm and a leg, we rounded up the best free antivirus alternatives to Windows Defender.
Avast is a popular free antivirus option among our readers, and for good reason. It offers robust malware protection — PCMag's tests on Avast came back with a high malware-detection rate — while giving users a slew of extra options.
Those of you who live in apartment blocks or have many devices on the same network can take advantage of a network scan; Avast will essentially check out your entire network and any devices connected to it, and report back to you if it notices any security issues. After all, you might not have noticed that a random laptop was a part of your network, and who knows at that point what it's up to.
Add a password manager, phishing protection, behavior analysis, and game mode to the mix, and you have a great free antivirus alternative, especially if you're worried about network vulnerabilities.
AVG
Thanks to AVG's clever way of verifying the legitimacy of files — it checks signatures against its ever-expanding database of known malware — it received a perfect six out of six rating from independent lab AV-TEST in the usability department. TopTenReviews called AVG 'the best free antivirus software' in its review.
On top of potent real-time protection, AVG also delivers some great add-ons, like email protection, a firewall that keeps away ransom hackers, and payment protection when shopping online. There is no quick scan feature — a bust for some of you — but you can direct it to look at specific files and folders. Overall, the scan is quite a bit faster than most other free options, especially after you've completed an initial scan.
Anyone looking for an able antivirus that can scan quickly and that has a lot of customizable options should consider checking out AVG. Although it was acquired by Avast in 2016, it is remaining an independent product for the foreseeable future.
Best Antivirus Reddit 2019
Avira
Avira is a favorite among many antivirus users due to a combination of exceptional protection against malware and a bunch of free add-ons you'd usually only find in paid offerings. When it comes to actually protecting your computer, independent lab AV-TEST gave Avira a six out of six protection score — it doesn't get much better for pure defense against malware. Performance, or how much Avira will slow down your PC, also received full marks, making it one of the least-impactful antivirus alternatives you can find.
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Having a low impact doesn't mean it works slowly, either. Anyone who hates watching the scan bar move slowly toward completion as you wonder whether or not your PC is infected will love how fast Avira's quick scan completes its job. Tom's Guide, in its review, said:
At 1 minute and 28 seconds, Avira's Quick Scans were more reasonable — in fact, among the fastest in the free category.
If you'd like some extra features, Avira comes with a few optional add-ons. Phantom VPN gives you 500MB of free data per month — you can browse the web securely knowing your data is encrypted, and you'll also have access to geo-restricted sites.
Bitdefender
Sometimes PC users just want a solid product that doesn't come with a lot of bells and whistles. Enter Bitdefender. This free version of the full antivirus suite offers the same incredible malware protection you'd receive if you paid top dollar. Independent lab AV-TEST found a 100 percent success rate against malware attacks when it tested the product over two months, and it also came back with a perfect usability score. Tom's Guide calls it 'one of the best antivirus programs available at any price.'
Bitdefender checks signatures against those of known threats, ensuring your protection is always at the cutting edge. The user interface is no-nonsense due to its overall lack of features, but that might be what some of you are looking for — keep in mind that you can't schedule scans or do a quick scan.
Although the paid version of Bitdefender has all the features you'd expect from antivirus software, you won't be constantly pestered to upgrade while using the free version. Anyone looking for a free antivirus with a simple user interface, impeccable malware protection, and who doesn't mind a lack of features should definitely have a look at Bitdefender.
Sophos Home
Sophos has primarily been about protecting businesses from outside threats, so its free Home version offering a decent set of features is no surprise. It can protect you against phishing and malicious links, plus its remote access feature lets you check on your PC's health at anytime, from anywhere. PCMag, in its review, says:
Sophos Home Free gives home users much of the antivirus protection found in business security tools from Sophos, including remote management of up to three installations.
Setup is relatively easy, and once the app is installed and the antivirus definitions are updated, you can easily navigate settings through the intuitive user interface. Sophos is using the same highly-rated technology here as is found in its paid services, and independent testing labs, like AV-TEST give it great marks for security, performance, and usability.
Malwarebytes
Malwarebytes isn't antivirus software. It is, however, used by a ton of people and was suggested by several of our readers as a great way to scrub your PC of anything that made it past the primary defense system. A 14-day free trial with all features is available, and after that you'll still get anti-malware, anti-spyware, and anti-rootkit tools.
The beauty of Malwarebytes is that you can use it alongside other antivirus software as a backup. It won't hog a bunch of your system's resources, and you can scan your PC anytime you want. There are also a couple of tools that let you delete locked files and registry keys for times when malware is embedded deep.
More great protection for your PC
If these free options above don't satisfy your needs, have a look at our list of the overall best antivirus software of 2018. There are plenty more options available there to keep your PC protected.
Updated July 12, 2018: I've refreshed this list to ensure you're still getting a top selection of free antivirus alternatives.
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