Recommend an Antivirus

[IcEWoLF]

So I've been running the Windows Defender the last few years, hasn't been giving me any trouble but I noticed that most people recommend other antivirus systems over windows one because the windows built in is not very good I guess.

I am a gamer, I visit tons of forums and I make a decent amount of purchases online monthly.

 

Any recommendations? I want something that doesn't impact my system as far as gaming and something that is not intrusive. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Personally, I find Windows Firewall, Windows Defender and system scans with MalwareBytes works for me. I find it's the most effective solution, while being the least intrusive and annoying. 

[IcEWoLF]

5 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Personally, I find Windows Firewall, Windows Defender and system scans with MalwareBytes works for me. I find it's the most effective solution, while being the least intrusive and annoying. 

Is MalwareBytes an antivirus? 

[Atmos]

I fell in love with avast, and their awesome ui.

As far as protection goes, for a free av its excellent, infact probably one of the best free av you can get your hands on. As far as paid av though it falls slightly short of some others, mainly kaspersky, avg, and avira. Though avira and kaspersky can slow down a computer with updates, and visiting new webpages/launching new programs.

 

 just pretty much stay away from norton (spamware) and mcaffee (Worst AV out there, straight up)

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, IcEWoLF said:

Is MalwareBytes an antivirus? 

Technically, no. It's anti-malware, but still catches some viruses. I don't have it active, I just use it to scan my system every week or so. 

[Bananasplit_00]

2 minutes ago, IcEWoLF said:

Is MalwareBytes an antivirus? 

its anti malware, not anti virus, i use Avast and i find that it works pretty good for me, its not the greatest but its not bad

[IcEWoLF]

I see, the last thing I'd want is something that pops up and advises me to get more products, which I do not want.

 

[MrTopHatPiggy]

I recommend Avast free antivirus. Gets the job done and also has gaming mode to stop popups.

[Atmos]

2 minutes ago, IcEWoLF said:

I see, the last thing I'd want is something that pops up and advises me to get more products, which I do not want.

 

Avast still gets a solid recommendation from me. been running it for a long time now, doesn't really spam stuff to "buy the full product!" it just locks down some minor features and options on the free version, but you still get great real-time protection and scanning. You'll have to register (aka click one button and done, but all in all a very good option)

[IcEWoLF]

I see, I was looking at Kaspersky Internet security which is only $15 at amazon, but I heard users complaining about the thing having pop ups when browsing banking/buying stuff online...which to me is very intrusive.

 

I think Im going to check out AVAST, which is free, but I wouldn't mind paying for the paid version, what are  the differences between paid and free?

PS: I noticed on this page some people also recommend webroot, I heard its pretty good, and I see it consumes less space/ less resources and fastest

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZ0E0HE/ref=s9_simh_gw_g366_i1_r?ie=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1F8CARAJHF0ZDKZ23305&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=6aad23bd-3035-4a40-b691-0eefb1a18396&pf_rd_i=desktop

[Atmos]

2 minutes ago, IcEWoLF said:

I see, I was looking at Kaspersky Internet security which is only $15 at amazon, but I heard users complaining about the thing having pop ups when browsing banking/buying stuff online...which to me is very intrusive.

 

I think Im going to check out AVAST, which is free, but I wouldn't mind paying for the paid version, what are  the differences between paid and free?

The free version offers protection from viruses, spyware, and adware, as well as real time protection. Also has easy scanning tools for removal of the bad stuff that gets past it somehow.

 

The paid version offers a VPN, note it does block p2p, and some other forms of communication. As well as a tertiary firewall for your computer on your network so when you're on public wifi people can't get into your computer as easily. It blocks fake "websites" though most broswers do this already, and more notably ublock does this as well. It adds in some other minor features like further email protection (the free version still has this feature, just not as comprehensive) along with some payment securities to make sure that your info doesn't get leaked. 

 

I don't personally see this as a selling point, to me the extra features aren't worth the money, since its really nothing new (save the vpn) that the free version doesn't have some form of already. It just adds some comprehensive coverage. The VPN really isn't that great anyway, I'd much rather use cyber ghost, or tunnel bear. Though more and more vpns are blocking p2p which makes me sad, since thats how I get most of my game server files, photoshop work, and other miscellaneous stuff out to friends and colleagues. It'd be nice to have that extra protection, but enabling it often stops people from being able to download from me over those networks. Damn pirates made it so bad for vpns with their torrenting of copyrighted stuff that more often to not they just block all p2p traffic now...

[RZeroX]

1 hour ago, Atmos said:

I fell in love with avast, and their awesome ui.

As far as protection goes, for a free av its excellent, infact probably one of the best free av you can get your hands on. As far as paid av though it falls slightly short of some others, mainly kaspersky, avg, and avira. Though avira and kaspersky can slow down a computer with updates, and visiting new webpages/launching new programs.

 

 just pretty much stay away from norton (spamware) and mcaffee (Worst AV out there, straight up)

What extra components do you use with Avast like webshield etc?

[Atmos]

8 hours ago, RZeroX said:

What extra components do you use with Avast like webshield etc?

I just allow avast to run on default settings, but have it in gaming mode 24/7 to avoid any popups or automatic updates. As far as I know the current version of avast doesn't allow for specific blocking of certain shields. At least on its current UI I see no option to, only to disable the whole package of active shields for a short while. Doesn't really bother me, they've never stopped me from doing anything that wouldn't have hurt my pc in some way, shape, or form.

[IcEWoLF]

4 hours ago, Atmos said:

I just allow avast to run on default settings, but have it in gaming mode 24/7 to avoid any popups or automatic updates. As far as I know the current version of avast doesn't allow for specific blocking of certain shields. At least on its current UI I see no option to, only to disable the whole package of active shields for a short while. Doesn't really bother me, they've never stopped me from doing anything that wouldn't have hurt my pc in some way, shape, or form.

 

BTW what happens with the windows built in firewall? Does it get disabled by the software when installing?

[Atmos]

1 hour ago, IcEWoLF said:

 

BTW what happens with the windows built in firewall? Does it get disabled by the software when installing?

Most of the time it either runs in cooperation with the AV, or runs in the background. only rarely these days does having that running at the same time as an AV cause issue.