Best free antivirus for Windows 11 Reddit

I bought bitdefender total security and it's the worst antivirus for me, feels like beta, lots of false positives, firefox crashing, excluding files and still finds them as a virus and a few other small problems...after 6 months I uninstalled it, I hate it.

Now I'm using eset IS trial, to test it and maybe I'll buy it since I like it after 4 days of using it.

No, there's no need to but any 3rd-party anti-virus. Windows' built-in Defender is more than adequate for users who don't spend their time on the dark web, or downloading from other sketchy web sites. At most, you might want to download the free version of Malwarebytes to due the occasional manual scan.

Also, please be advised that you'd be well-served to immediately uninstall that excretable McAfee Virus Protection; it bogs down performance so much that it might as well just be called "McAfee Virus."

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This. Common sense and a bit of tech savvy goes a long way in combating viruses. Windows Defender is more than enough for the sneakier ones or a lapse in judgement.

Whilst you're at it, it's worth checking out an online backup option such as OneDrive, Google drive or Dropbox in the case of a ransomware attack.

I assume that you are interested in making your computer more secure!

Well, Security is not created by installing softwares...You build security by using a regular useraccount for your daily usage and then have a separate, administrators-account on the side.. This is the first step of them all....

The thing is that any malware (or other piece of code) you run into are run in the security sphere of your own...

So if you run into a malware while using an administrators rights, then the malware will "inherit" your own administrators rights and may therefore cause sever damage to your computer system..

If you, do as you should, and use a regular useraccount, the malwares that you run into will simply lack the rights to inject code to system-processes, the are not alloed to copy files to the system-folders and they will not have the rights to wright to the registrys most vulnerable place (HKLM)...

This means that simple by not using an administrators account, but use a regular account will protect your Pc much better than even the best antivirus (or other security-)software can do IF you continue to sign in an administrator all the time..

Read more here: HOW TO BEST SECURE MY WINDOWS COMPUTER? or here: To Stop Malware, Restrict User Accounts

This also reduces the risk of letting an attecker use any unpatched vulnerabilities, as told here: Report: Non-admin accounts mitigate 94% of critical Windows vulnerabilities

And YES! Doing so makes you to be "ADMIN" on your PC if you know the password to enter to the UAC..

When you have done this, THEN you select a better antivirus/security software for your PC...

I myself prefer: https://home.sophos.com

I myself, dislikes the built in defender since it always seems to find malware to late (when the malware is already installed in your PC)

A proper antivirus STOPS most of the malwares before it enters your PC...

NOTE! IF most antivirus-programs where as good as they say, then most malwares would be extinct by now, would they not?? (And they aren´t). Every Windows computer has Defender, and yet they keep getting infected with both new and old malwares..

Defender is to be seen as a protection in between2 proper antivirus-softwares..

Disclaimer:- The list below is based on my intensive inhouse testing of dozen of AVs against Zero Day Malware since December 2021. Malware in the wild evolves continuously. AVs have to also evolve themselves in time otherwise an AV blocking 100% malware last week might struggle to block even 90% in the current week. Hence do note that this list does change with time as well.

Conclusion : A single best AV does not exist.

I would like to suggest u following AVs in decreasing order of preference:-

Free:- Kaspersky, Wisevector Stopx, Comodo(not for rookie users), LMT Antimalware, Bitdefender, Avast.

Wisevector Stopx is not as well known, but YT channels like Eclypsee Tech, COMSSTV and J ITech Solutions have reviewed it and you can check them out if you want to see how it performs.

Sincerely

Bs

Independent Malware Hunter and Analyst

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/user/bsforvt727

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