Jul 16, 2019 If you do have a little cash in your budget for security, the best paid antivirus software does offer more and better protection. If not, try a few of these free tools and see which one you like best. Antivirus software is critical for every PC. Without it, you risk losing your personal information, your files, and even the cash from your bank account. We've tested more than 40 utilities to.
Download the best free Antivirus for Windows 7 and Windows 10 now. Protect your devices with our Windows virus scan. If your system is still running Windows 7, our free Antivirus for Windows 7 is the one to go for. If your computer or laptop operates with Windows 10, download the best free Antivirus for Windows 10 now. 10 Best Free Antivirus for Windows 7, 8 & Windows 10 Computer Below is the list of top 10 free antivirus software which offers protection from a wide range of online and offline PC threats, these antivirus utilities all the features mentioned above. Aug 21, 2019 All the utilities listed in this feature are Windows antivirus apps. If you're a macOS user, don't despair, however; PCMag has a separate roundup. The malware protection in Avast Free Antivirus is a peg down from the top, but it's got the best assortment of extra goodies for a free antivirus program, including a password manager, a hardened.
Editor's Choice
Kaspersky Free Antivirus
Kaspersky Free Antivirus delivers excellent protection with a moderate performance impact, but it has few extra features.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition
Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition continues to be the best set-it-and-forget option among free antivirus products.
Avast Free Antivirus
Avast Free Antivirus offers lots of extra features, but its malware protection is mediocre and it may collect your browsing history.
Windows users need a strong antivirus program to ward off malware attacks, to keep their computers running efficiently and to safeguard their online identities and personal information. The best paid antivirus suites have many features to protect children, manage mobile devices and monitor a computer's firewall, software updates and other features. But some users don't want, or can't afford, to pay for those extra features and may need to go with a free antivirus program.
If that describes you, you've come to the right place. We've evaluated the best free antivirus programs based on their malware protection, system impact, ease of use and useful extra features. If you're undecided, check out our free vs paid antivirus comparison first.
So which free PC antivirus product would be best for you? Of the seven free antivirus programs we've recently reviewed, Kaspersky Free Antivirus barely edged out Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition for the top spot. Both offer excellent protection against malware without slowing down your system, but Kaspersky lets you schedule scans and has a quick-scan option.
Bitdefender, however, is still the best 'set it and forget it' free antivirus option. After installation, it takes care of itself and doesn’t need user intervention. If you need to put antivirus software on your grandparents' PC but don't have time to maintain it, this might be the perfect solution.
Both Kaspersky's and Bitdefender's products offer only the basics. If you want features such as a password manager or a hardened web browser, normally found in midpriced paid antivirus suites, then Avast Free Antivirus might be for you. But its malware protection isn't as good as the top two and its performance impact is heavier.
Latest Security Alerts and Threats
— Many smart TVs and streaming-video devices track your viewing habits and other personal information, three different studies found. ADVICE: Go into your smart TV's or streaming device's settings to see how much you can reduce the tracking.
— More than 24 million users of the online Lumin PDF-editing service had their names and email addresses compromised in a data breach. Most passwords were actually Google access tokens, which can be reset, but 118,746 users had strongly hashed passwords exposed. ADVICE:Change your password if you registered one with Lumin PDF, disconnect your Google account if you logged in with Google, and get ready for more spam.
— Police in Massachusetts are warning of a phishing scam targeting users of the Venmo mobile-payment service. ADVICE: If you get a text message warning you that your Venmo account is about to be charged, do not click the included link. Use the Venmo app or a desktop browser to check your Venmo activity.
Lean and meanKaspersky Free AntivirusReasons to Buy
Moderate performance hit
Reasons to Avoid
Kaspersky Lab doesn't advertise that it has a free antivirus product, and doesn't make it easy to find the download page. Too bad, because this is one of the best free antivirus products we've ever tested, with a no-nonsense but comprehensible interface, a light-to-moderate system-performance impact and Kaspersky's unbeatable malware protection. The only reason we're not giving Kaspersky Free Antivirus a 4.5/5 rating is because it offers no extra features.
No muss, no fussBitdefender Antivirus Free EditionReasons to Buy
Super-easy to use
Reasons to Avoid
No quick scans or scan scheduling
Like Kaspersky, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition offers nothing but the basics, and its malware protection is just as good, if a bit more prone to false-positive malware detections. Its scans are lighter on the system than Kaspersky's, but it offers fewer options — you can't even schedule a scan. It's best for users who want a set-it-and-forget-it security solution for themselves, or for a loved one.
Nearly a free suiteAvast Free AntivirusReasons to Buy
Highly customizable
Reasons to Avoid
Heavy performance hit
The malware protection in Avast Free Antivirus is a peg down from the top, but it's got the best assortment of extra goodies for a free antivirus program, including a password manager, a hardened browser and a network scanner. The program is also very customizable and offers limited access to Avast's VPN service. However, it caused a pretty heavy system load in our testing.
Finally good enoughMicrosoft Windows DefenderReasons to Buy
Built into Windows
Reasons to Avoid
Microsoft's built-in antivirus software has finally reached the big leagues. Windows Defender won't beat Bitdefender or Kaspersky in malware protection, but it holds its own against other free antivirus products while delivering a small system-performance impact and a surprising number of extra features, including parental controls and protection for all browsers. For the first time, we can recommend using Windows Defender as your primary antivirus solution.
Not enough oomphAVG AntiVirus FreeReasons to Buy
File shredder
Reasons to Avoid
Few extra features
AVG shares Avast's decent if unspectacular malware-detection engine while having a much lighter system-performance impact. But AVG AntiVirus Free has far fewer useful extra features than Avast Free Antivirus. The good news is that AVG's wide range of customization options and its file shredder are still available; the bad news is that there's no compelling reason to pick AVG over Windows Defender.
Not what it once wasAvira Free AntivirusReasons to Buy
Lots of add-ons
Reasons to Avoid
Most extra features are trialware
Avira Free Antivirus was the best free antivirus option just a few years ago, before Bitdefender and Kaspersky jumped into the ring and Avast, AVG and Windows Defender raised their game. Now Avira's malware protection is in the middle of the pack. Its numerous extra features are mostly just teases for paid services, and its system-performance impact is remarkably heavy. We do like that it's still got a wide range of customization options.
Has its ups and downsPanda Free AntivirusReasons to Buy
Moderate performance impact
Reasons to Avoid
No opting out of data collection
Panda doesn't take part in every lab test whose results we use, so its malware protection is a bit of an enigma. We liked Panda Free Antivirus' high degree of customization options and its appealing interface. We didn't like the constant ads for other Panda products, the attempts to hijack your web browser, and the fact that unlike every other antivirus company, Panda won't let you opt out of automatic system-data collection.
Honorable Mention
Essential side pieceMalwarebytes Anti-Malware FreeReasons to Buy
Removes adware, other unwanted software
Reasons to Avoid
Manual definition updates
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free is not antivirus software. It's more of a malware-removal tool. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free can't protect a PC from infection, but it does an excellent job of cleaning out malware that's already on your system. Plus, it doesn't interfere with any antivirus software that's already installed. We recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free as a complement to any antivirus program.
The Best Antivirus Software For Windows 7How We Tested
To evaluate installation, ease of use, interface and performance impact, we installed each AV program on the same Asus X555LA laptop, which ran Windows 10 and featured an Intel Core i3-4005U processor, 6GB of RAM and 36GB of data on a 500GB hard drive.
We conducted our own tests on how much each antivirus product affected our laptop's performance, using our custom OpenOffice benchmark. We timed how long it took to run a quick scan and a full scan while the laptop crunched numbers in the background.
We also assessed how easy each program was to use, the number of useful extra features it offered (including free add-on software) and how insistently each program nagged us to upgrade to paid software.
Our malware-detection data comes from four evaluation labs: AV-TEST in Germany, AV-Comparatives in Austria, SE Labs in England and our own lab in Utah. Each lab regularly tests major antivirus products for their abilities to detect zero-day malware and other threats.
Which Antivirus product to choose?
This is a controversial topic, but your choice of AV software may be something you want to take a 2nd look at. I suggest you visit this web site to get a sense of which AV software does the best job, depending on what kind of user you are: http://www.av-comparatives.org/ This is a non-profit that has been around for a long time and I trust their results. Their latest report: https://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/avc_prot_2016b_en.pdf The chart on page 8 is the most demonstrative of the differences.
When you interpret these results, keep in mind the difference between a product that detects 95% and another 99% of infections, is actually 5 times more likely to allow an infection.
I am speaking from a great deal of experience. I support 150 client computers. I have been doing this for 15 years. My clients NEVER have infections.
The only products I will use or recommend are ANTIVIRUS-ONLY products. Any product that is called complete protection, Internet security or deems itself to be a comprehensive security product is prohibited on my client computers.
I have good reason for this. Over the years and hundreds of PCs, I’ve learned a lesson well. That it is very difficult to diagnose and fix the problem(s) when components of an Internet Security product are actively working to prevent that diagnosis. The software sees the technician (me in this case) as a threat. I discovered that if I uninstalled that software, I am able to much more likely and quickly discover an fix the problem. Antivirus ONLY products do not behave like this.
The other components in these IS products (other than the AV itself) cause more problems than any benefit they bring and mostly work by shutting down the Windows component that does a very good job of that particular task anyway.
It is the Antivirus software that you need. It is actually allthat you need with Windows 7.
Best Free Antivirus For Windows 7
Most of the big name suppliers much prefer to sell their all-in products because they can sell them for a higher price. Some do not offer an antivirus-only product. Some push their all in ones and still sell the AV only product, but you may have to look for them. There is at least one and it is either the best or close to it.
Best Free Antivirus Software For Windows 7 Ultimate
Beware of products that try to actively engage you in the security process by asking your permission to run a program named xd43_45d*.exe, or the like.
Do not use any product that claims to make your computer run better. Virtually all of them are either bogus, themselves an infection, or put your computer at risk. Remove everything that claims to be there to prevent infections or claims to make your computer run better, with the singular exception of just one antivirus product.
Best Antivirus Software For Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
Note well. You should never have more than one protection product installed. Always ensure that you completely remove any and all protection software packages before installing a new one. That includes software that may have come pre-installed on your computer when new. Some products will conflict with one another, causing yet more problems.
You cannot fully remove most any AV software by simply using the standard Windows 7 uninstall tool. Most of the majors also publish a “removal tool” that gets the rest of it. If you do not completely remove it, it will cause very hard to understand and diagnose problems.
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