Anyone know any good (free) antiviruses?

[Jae]

So I just got a new computer and, unfortunately, my student permissions have expired so I can't download the paid programs my alma mater offers. Being that this is the first PC that I've ever owned, I'm not super familiar with what anti-virus software is available for Windows. So if anyone has any recommendations - preferably for modern ones - please let me know! I just had to make my student loan payment for the month so my budget at the moment is 'free or bust'.

edit: just remembered that I plan on having malwarebytes because that saved my dad's old PC a number of times, so I would very much prefer an antivirus that will work in conjunction with that.

[Layla "Nimbus" Karimi]

I have Avast, which was recommended to me by someone who's good with this kind of stuff and which keeps itself up-to-date. I've used it in conjunction with Malwarebytes before as well, so they should be able to work together.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

I use AVG (which was recommended to me), which also works with Malwarebytes

[M is for Morphine]

Seconding AVG, I've used the free version for years and never had an issue. It's a bit of a pig when you run a scan, though. I couple that up with Ublock and malwarebytes.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

Dec 1, 2015 18:49:15 GMT -5 M is for Morphine said:

Seconding AVG, I've used the free version for years and never had an issue. It's a bit of a pig when you run a scan, though. I couple that up with Ublock and malwarebytes.

Definitely agree that it's a resource hog during scans, but it's not as noticeable as say, Norton. That was part of the reason why I switched from Norton to AVG.

[Zoey]

I tried both Avast and AVG, and I like AVG better, because it doesn't bog down my computer as much on startup. Avast supposedly has slightly better protection, but usually I'm pretty good with not accidentally downloading viruses. XD

[Allison]

I was also going to suggest AVG.

[Lord Hayati]

MALWAREBYTES antimalware. Don't do the free trial, but trust me, its very effective at what it does.

[Coaster]

I would suggest a mix of a few things if you want to be totally sure (ordered from "essential, easy" to "difficult, extra cautious"):

• AVG or Avast (but not both at once) for typical antivirus
• Malwarebytes for an extra-deep scan whenever you feel like double-checking or are suspicious
• AdBlock on your browser of choice (Firefox and Chrome work) because ads can have nasties
• Safe browsing habits: don't download unfamiliar files; don't go looking for naughty pictures or watch videos illegally especially if it wants you to install a plugin or converter; if you must install anything at all make sure you read carefully and uncheck any options for crudware, etc.
• NoScript (I know it's available on Firefox, not so sure about Chrome), and only unblock a site when you trust it or it's essential for the page's function (typically, the website's domain, and things like cloudfront, typekit, js.(something), and such; becomes a bit of a puzzle at each new page to find out what you need to enable)
• Never ever do anything that involves the Internet or any form of file transfer. Ever again. Just... make a big bonfire out of your Internet-enabled devices and roast weenies over it or something. But then don't eat the weenies because computers burning give off bad fumes and such.

[Jae]

Thanks for the responses, guys!

I wound up going with Panda Free, just because AVG and Avast had some really sketchy user reviews on cnet - the only positive ones for the most recent versions of both were cultish 'there are no cons to this program. it will be everything you need, just click download' - granted both of their 2016 versions were recently released so maybe people just haven't gotten the hang of them yet.

I'm familiar with NoScript and Adblock and all of that already~