I’m getting rid of my McAfee AV software because I’m fed up with the annual price hikes followed by the ridiculous game we have to play of cancelling and then being offered a much lower renewal fee.
So, what is the best free software I can download please? In the past I’ve used both Avast and AVG - are these still worth having? Any other recommendations, or negative things to look out for?
I would appreciate any pointers - I’ve got until the end of the month to make up my mind!
Is your computer a PC, Mac or other?
Hi Bathsheba 
I currently use Bitdefender (it had good reviews at the time including on WHICH) after AVG started pressing me to pay.
I payed for Norton for a while and had trouble getting rid of it.
I haven’t had any problems .
To my mind, it’s Windows Defender…never had a problem with it in 12 years…and it’s free 
I redly on both Windows Defender and AVG Free version. Between them and regular cleans from C Cleaner Free version before I shut down, I keep my 3 laptops running clean and fast.
I had the same problem with McAfee and in the end I resorted to instructing my bank to withhold all payments. They made it impossible to cancel because their site refused to recognise me AND would not resend details, but they were able to submit payment requests against my name.
Trouble, with many of the free ones, is that they don’t run in the background all the time.
You have to fire them up, and run them , on whatever schedule you remember to have.
That could mean that, if you run it once a month, a virus could be on your PC for a few weeks before you see it. That can happen if a new bit of malware has been put out there. Sometimes, they will call it out, as it arrives, not always.
The free ones, do report back to base and new fixes are written and put into the packages.
For my money, 15 quid a year ( approx) is not a bad price to pay for protection against all the scammers/nutcases out there.
Antivirus programs, maybe not all, are a big money spinner for the Companies which create them. They are not all above using tricks and scams to get you to sign up.
Watch out for ones that do a test scan, of your PC, and come up with a list of PUPS (potentially unsafe, or uninvited, programs). There are pups on nearly every PC on the planet - normally not a problem.
Just my opinion!
I should also have said I have Malwarebytes Free version (sorry, I forgot) and if any site is dodgy, it blocks my progress and warns me with an option button to proceed if I so wish. AVG Free is also always running in the background and occassionally blocks an incursion. What I have to do with the free versions, is to manually allow updates which is absolutely no bother.
EDIT … another useful free tool I deploy is the AdBlockPlus which keep my screen completely free from those pesky intrusive adverts,
Avast has to go. I am always getting badgered with discount offers and told my pc is open to all…
Well unfortunately my telephone/internet company in France rules that…they use pre set conditions within the router…I have no access to it. Same with all of them here.
p.s. spell check will not work lately, so any errors, that is the reason…I am a tad word blind.
Yes, Agreed (re malwarebytes) which I use the free version of, about once a month, as, along with “Spybot search and destroy”, they are good specialised safety program, to back up my main package.
Spybot kicks “Bots” - those things which track what you do…!
Bugger!! Yes, I forgot about SB search and destroy too. A very good tool, but the only draw back is its lengthy scanning time.
My bank gives me Malwarebytes Premium free. They do a scan every night. I also use PrivaZer on the recommendation of someone on here. I regularly use the free version of c cleaner.
Sometimes, Antivirus programs don’t get on too well, together, if you put more than one on your PC.
I suspect that this is because they include the profiles of a virus into their packages so that their package on your PC knows what to look for.
Trouble is, those profiles might show up when a different program is doing a scan!
Personally I would say do not rely upon one defence system & make sure that your main login profile on your computer does not have administrator rights. Not having administrator rights on your main log in, does not stop a few bugs from creeping through. But as there is so much that a non administrator login cannot do. It does stop much & it means you control what happens, as a box pops up asking for the administrator password to upload anything beyond an image etc onto your hard drive. Which gives you thinking time & control over what software, loads what.
If your system is Windows. Then Windows Security is very good, as part of your defence system. I back that up with CCleaner free. Malawarebytes & Adware Cleaner by malawarebytes. And I have not had an issue for years.
I have tried the paid for versions of various systems, but hated the way they slowed my PC down.
As well as the above I also use defraggler. Wise Registry cleaner & Eraser by Heidi. I run regular defrags. I regularly wipe the free space on my hard drive & I do not simply delete anything, I shred it.
I have absolutely zero problems with downloading more than one AV programme into my laptops.
Many years ago, I did experience problems with Zone Alarm, but that was at least 15yrs ago, maybe longer.
I think people who get a problem are trying to download a system that includes firewall etc. If you have one system that runs everything. I use Windows own security system for my firewall etc & then run others to scan only. Like that we have zero problems. As they sit in the background & just do specific jobs. But if you have more than one system trying to do real time protection, firewall etc, then it’s a recipe for problems.
Ah yes, now you could be on to something there. I too rely on the firewall that comes along with W10 and any others that come along with an AV download are selected to off by me.
In the recent past I’ve spoken to 2 independent IT guys about having some work done on my desktop. Both of them said to get shot of AVG’s paid for AV programs as MS’s defender is least 95% as good and is free to use. Both went on to say that malware problems today are unlikely to be from viruses but from other forms of malware. Based on their recommendations, when my AVG subscription comes up for renewal next August I shall be dumping it.
@Percy_Vere My son who made a career from computing said much the same thing when I asked him what to use .
I still kept Bitdefender though which I had already been using.
Hi, it’s a PC. I also have a Mac, but I’ve never run AV software on it and never had any problems!
Thanks Meg - that’s interesting about AVG. I used it many years ago, and never had this problem, worth bearing in mind now!
Is that normally pre-installed on a Windows PC? Do I just need to activate it?
Thanks LD, that sounds like a good plan!
That is worth considering, definitely!
Which one are you recommending paying £15 a year for? I would pay that for a good all round protection, but McAfee were asking something like £85-90 to renew. They dropped it down when I cancelled the auto-renew, but it was still very much more than £15, more like about £40. I can’t remember exactly, cos I just kept shutting down the pop-ups and telling them I wasn’t interested!
Thanks for the warning - I shall definitely bear that in mind!
