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Windows Defender free alternative?

Ravz
By Ravz
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Can anyone suggest me a free alternative to Windows Defender which includes real time protection from infections and a little bit of internet security too. Not too many features is required. Thank you.

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Avast is decent.

I have been using Windows Defender for years now, never had any issue, as long as you don't look for trouble, Avast and all the alternatives wont give you much more.....

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I used Bitdefender for some time, they say it has less overhead than Windows Defender on older systems. Avast is kinda bloaty in my experience. It keeps shouting about buying the paid version when you're just minding your own business using the computer, it installs Chrome and some Avast browser by default and it tries to sell you on some "PC speedup" product every time you scan and also by random popups.

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18 minutes ago, Constantin said:

Avast is decent.

I have been using Windows Defender for years now, never had any issue, as long as you don't look for trouble, Avast and all the alternatives wont give you much more.....

Yes I do also use defender which does do the job as long as you don't visit malicious websites.Actually it's for my cousins, who are not aware as to which website is malicious or not. They just go to some websites and download games, ads and stuff. So I don't want them to be infected in such a way that I have to clean install their Windows every time I visit their place.

And besides I have lost faith in Avast after continuous data leaks.

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28 minutes ago, Ravz said:

Can anyone suggest me a free alternative to Windows Defender which includes real time protection from infections and a little bit of internet security too. Not too many features is required. Thank you.

Windows security is fairly robust these days but if you wish, Avast or Bitdefender.

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2 minutes ago, Matej101 said:

I used Bitdefender for some time, they say it has less overhead than Windows Defender on older systems. Avast is kinda bloaty in my experience. It keeps shouting about buying the paid version when you're just minding your own business using the computer, it installs Chrome and some Avast browser by default and it tries to sell you on some "PC speedup" product every time you scan and also by random popups.

Is Bitdefender free? And yeah Avast has a lot of trust issues regarding recent data leaks.

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Just now, SansVarnic said:

Windows security is fairly robust these days but if you wish, Avast or Bitdefender.

I will never trust Avast over their controversies, so I think I should try Bitdefender. But is it free though?

 

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Just now, Ravz said:

I will never trust Avast over their controversies, so I think I should try Bitdefender. But is it free though?

 

They have a free version and a paid version. The free version doesn't have some features of the full, but it's actually free in the sense that it doesn't bombard you with ads and stuff like that.

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2 minutes ago, Ravz said:

I will never trust Avast over their controversies, so I think I should try Bitdefender. But is it free though?

 

Honestly I only use Windows Security, I haven't purchased or used another since Windows Security came out some 15 years ago.

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6 minutes ago, Matej101 said:

They have a free version and a paid version. The free version doesn't have some features of the full, but it's actually free in the sense that it doesn't bombard you with ads and stuff like that.

How about Kaspersky? Is it any good?

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5 minutes ago, SansVarnic said:

Honestly I only use Windows Security, I haven't purchased or used another since Windows Security came out some 15 years ago.

I too use Windows Defender since Windows 10, but I need a proper antivirus for my cousins who doesn't even have an idea of what website they're visiting and what are they even downloading from those websites stating free games and stuff.

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Avast owns AVG since a few years ago. Both are bloated.

 

The best free choices would be Kaspersky Home Free and Bitdefender Free.

 

Avira AntiVir isn't bad either, but it recommends their VPN and other tools - a bit annoying advertisements.

 

Comodo is free even for companies, but it requires a skilled user since it asks and asks and keeps asking.

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7 minutes ago, 191x7 said:

Avast owns AVG since a few years ago. Both are bloated.

 

The best free choices would be Kaspersky Home Free and Bitdefender Free.

 

Avira AntiVir isn't bad either, but it recommends their VPN and other tools - a bit annoying advertisements.

 

Comodo is free even for companies, but it requires a skilled user since it asks and asks and keeps asking.

Will definitely try both Kaspersky and Bitdefender. Btw is Kapsersky Cloud better than Kaspersky AV?

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Kaspersky or Bitdefender and combine that with Malwarebytes, and you're good to go.

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4 hours ago, Aimi said:

Kaspersky or Bitdefender and combine that with Malwarebytes, and you're good to go.

Malwarebytes too? Doesn't the latter AV's do the job as Malwarebytes?

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Malwarebytes can do some more advanced scans as far as I know, but the free version does not do background protection. Therefore the best free setup is probably Kaspersky/Bitdefender (whichever you like) as a normal antivirus and Malwarebytes for manual on-demand scans.

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8 hours ago, Matej101 said:

Malwarebytes can do some more advanced scans as far as I know, but the free version does not do background protection. Therefore the best free setup is probably Kaspersky/Bitdefender (whichever you like) as a normal antivirus and Malwarebytes for manual on-demand scans.

Okay will install Malwarebytes too.

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