Which Free antivirus is best for Windows 10?

Question

Which Free antivirus is best for Windows 10?

Anonymous

* Moved from Windows 10/Security

* Original title: Antivirus

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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8 answers

Answer 1

The latest version of Windows Defender includes some very powerful next-gen antimalware features, but because there’s a bit of a learning curve involved with these, many of them are either turned off by default or set to a low level of protection:

Potentially Unwanted Application Protection (PUA Protection) is turned off.

Controlled Folder Access ransomware protection is turned off.

Attack Surface Reduction rules are not applied.

Block at first Sight zero-day threat protection is set to its lowest possible level.

So what we’re seeing in the AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test is an inability to precisely define Windows Defender’s level of protection, or to make any valid comparisons with third-party AV apps; because Defender has such a large “user dependent” segment:

http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php?chart=chart2&year=2017&month=11&sort=0&zoom=2

But if you decide to stick with Defender, then you should definitely review the steps here for maximizing its protection level:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_defender-protect_start-windows_10/if-i-buy-a-new-computer-running-windows-10-do-i/49a25783-647e-48ec-9e06-dbc0e56b8798

I still find Neil Rubenking’s “Free Antivirus” reviews helpful, although he definitely needs to update his comments on Windows Defender – it was actually removed from that old “baseline” status a long time ago:

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp

GreginMich

Answer 2

DaveM121 894.3K Independent Advisor

Everyone will have their own favorite Anti-virus, I use the free version of Avast.

The 2 main reasons are, it is just as good as the paid for versions and it does not slow my PC down . . .

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Answer 3

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