Free Antivirus?

Ah, so we can die now if our computer gets infected and we have no antivirus?

Thanks for that identical comparison.

I haven't used an antivirus in 10 years. Don't need to. And, if I do happen to pick up a virus, I will then download an antivirus, get rid of the infection, and uninstall the antivirus. That's the right approach to take if you rarely, if ever get an infected computer. The consequence of having an antivirus hogging resources on my pc, for an infection I may never get, and can sort out quickly if I do, is not worth it when I weigh up the rewards and consequences.

Hardly the same as dying from not wearing a seat belt, eh?

I don't bring a phone with me when I go outside. It's a pain in the arse carrying it around. Should I put up with the inconvenience of carrying it with me at all times just in case I might need it one day, even though I have never needed it to date?

It's not as simple as saying 'it's better to have it than it is to need it'. The smart move is to weigh up the rewards and consequences, and make an educated decision.

The consequence of dying from not wearing a seat belt far outweighs the inconvenience of putting one on immediately when getting into my car.

Inconvenience is low. Consequence is high.

The consequence of getting a virus (not ONE in 10 years) doesn't outweigh the inconvenience of having a resource hog on my pc every day.

Inconvenience is high. Consequence is low.

I know when to take my chances. And I'll happily live with the consequences if they happen, because I chose to enjoy the rewards of the initial decision I made.

There's no honor in always playing to not lose, especially if there's a guaranteed win and just a possibility of a loss.

Weigh it up.

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lanfear63

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Declan O Flaherty

Ah, so we can die now if our computer gets infected and we have no antivirus?

Thanks for that identical comparison.

I haven't used an antivirus in 10 years. Don't need to. And, if I do happen to pick up a virus, I will then download an antivirus, get rid of the infection, and uninstall the antivirus. That's the right approach to take if you rarely, if ever get an infected computer. The consequence of having an antivirus hogging resources on my pc, for an infection I may never get, and can sort out quickly if I do, is not worth it when I weigh up the rewards and consequences.

Hardly the same as dying from not wearing a seat belt, eh?

I don't bring a phone with me when I go outside. It's a pain in the arse carrying it around. Should I put up with the inconvenience of carrying it with me at all times just in case I might need it one day, even though I have never needed it to date?

It's not as simple as saying 'it's better to have it than it is to need it'. The smart move is to weigh up the rewards and consequences, and make an educated decision.

The consequence of dying from not wearing a seat belt far outweighs the inconvenience of putting one on immediately when getting into my car.

Inconvenience is low. Consequence is high.

The consequence of getting a virus (not ONE in 10 years) doesn't outweigh the inconvenience of having a resource hog on my pc every day.

Inconvenience is high. Consequence is low.

I know when to take my chances. And I'll happily live with the consequences if they happen, because I chose to enjoy the rewards of the initial decision I made.

There's no honor in always playing to not lose, especially if there's a guaranteed win and just a possibility of a loss.

Weigh it up.

The consequence of looking at dubious websites outside the mainstream is often a way to get a virus. Also, taking up the offer to download stuff from them. If your email gets picked up by spammers you can get attachments that you might be tempted to click on. It's all down to to your surfing habits

However careful you are it's always good to have ongoing protection. Windows Defender for example is free, built in and is very good, it's all I use.

As for hogging your resources, for me, that's no longer an issue. Modern machines, even modest ones are now fast enough and have enough capacity, that it's not something that you would notice in general usage. Now if your machine is 10 years old or more then perhaps I would agree.

As for phones, they got larger in recent years and it is a bit restricting having one in your pocket. However, a useful tool to have if you want information and unbeatable in an emergency situation.

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Jeffery

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Declan O Flaherty

I haven't used an antivirus in 10 years. Don't need to. And, if I do happen to pick up a virus, I will then download an antivirus, get rid of the infection, and uninstall the antivirus. That's the right approach to take if you rarely, if ever get an infected computer. The consequence of having an antivirus hogging resources on my pc, for an infection I may never get, and can sort out quickly if I do, is not worth it when I weigh up the rewards and consequences.

Interesting, how do you know if you have a virus on your computer if you are not running AV software?

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lanfear63 4 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery

Interesting, how do you know if you have a virus on your computer if you are not running AV software?

That's very true. You could have a completely unobtrusive virus that is just relaying your passwords back to somewhere. Scan your PC, you may be shocked.

If you have Windows Ten, and your computer came with a free trial of Norton, or something, and you uninstalled it..You know that Windows Defender kicks in automatically. You would have to disable that.
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lanfear63

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Eric Wise

Got rid of Avast a long time ago because it was doing a poor job detecting viruses. Installed Kaspersky and it detected a virus that Avast couldn't. However Kaspersky I noticed was hogging up resources and slowing my PC down. So I decided to get Bitdefender. It picked up a virus that Kaspersky couldn't. Holy shit what an orgy huh?

So far I'm liking Bitdefender because it doesn't appear bloated with so much option shit that Kaspersky and Avast have. Especially Avast which comes with an arsenal of paranoid protection. Kaspersky also installs a Firefox addon without your consent and difficult to remove and requires registry tampering.

What is your favorite Free Antivirus or even paid for 2020?

Windows Defender, which you already have, been using it for years, no problems

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MoneyPools

4 years ago

Try any open source one if possible. Most of these companies have govt connections and backdoors.

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JPs copy

4 years ago

I've had BitDefender on my Mac for a few years. No issues here. I'm surprised to hear that Avast has been dropping the ball lately.

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WF- Enzo

Administrator 4 years ago

Windows Defender. Built in with Win10, free, gets the job done, and is always updated.

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tagiscom

4 years ago

MelwareBytes, anti Malware, is a great one, but only available for free on old OS.

So works on XP, but not W7Pro, but l think it still works for free for W7 home.

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Janice Sperry

4 years ago

Originally Posted by tagiscom

MelwareBytes, anti Malware, is a great one, but only available for free on old OS.

So works on XP, but not W7Pro, but l think it still works for free for W7 home.

The free MalwareBytes has always worked on my Windows 10. If I had an issue it was always one of my first programs to run. It was great at finding and quarantining malware and viruses. In the last few years Windows Defender has gotten so good it is very rare something gets through. I still run MalwareBytes every few months for sort of a 'just in case' thing but it never finds anything anymore.

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tagiscom

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Janice Sperry

The free MalwareBytes has always worked on my Windows 10. If I had an issue it was always one of my first programs to run. It was great at finding and quarantining malware and viruses. In the last few years Windows Defender has gotten so good it is very rare something gets through. I still run MalwareBytes every few months for sort of a 'just in case' thing but it never finds anything anymore.

It won't run on 7Pro, not without coughing up, so l am surprised it runs for free on W10, well not that surprised.

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lanfear63

4 years ago

Originally Posted by tagiscom

It won't run on 7Pro, not without coughing up, so l am surprised it runs for free on W10, well not that surprised.

And based on your Photoshop thing I don't suppose you will be coughing up anytime soon.

I tried Malwarebytes a few years back. Had quite a few problems with it.

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tagiscom

4 years ago

Originally Posted by lanfear63

And based on your Photoshop thing I don't suppose you will be coughing up anytime soon.

I tried Malwarebytes a few years back. Had quite a few problems with it.

No l only cough up when l have to, although these days l am more physically sick than coughing.

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Jeffery

4 years ago

The most dangerous virus is the one you do not know you have.

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whateverpedia

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery

The most dangerous virus is the one you do not know you have.

I think you'll appreciate this documentary. Well worth a couple of hours of your time.

Zero Days (2016) [Documentary] - YouTube

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Jeffery

4 years ago

Originally Posted by whateverpedia

I think you'll appreciate this documentary. Well worth a couple of hours of your time.
<snip>

Watched it years ago and will watch it again. The first time I watched it was in Germany where it was banned for a short time on U.S. Military networks. Ironically, years later, when I returned to the U.S. the fallout was still activve here in the U.S. on certain Military Installations.

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whateverpedia

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery

Watched it years ago and will watch it again. The first time I watched it was in Germany where it was banned for a short time on U.S. Military networks. Ironically, years later, when I returned to the U.S. the fallout was still activve here in the U.S. on certain Military Installations.

The documentary is only from 2016. I got the impression your service ended quite a while before that.

There is another documentary by the same name from 2003. Perhaps you're getting the two mixed up (easy to do when they share the same title).

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Jeffery

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Frank Donovan

Do you use the same principle for seat belts?

Originally Posted by Declan O Flaherty

Ah, so we can die now if our computer gets infected and we have no antivirus?

Thanks for that identical comparison.

Can't speak for Frank, but it is an analogy in that taking a chance or risking the death of a hard drive owed to not utilizing readily available protection such as AV Software equates to the same end result as the principal of not utilizing readily available protection such as seat belts when operating a vehicle.

Originally Posted by Declan O Flaherty

I haven't used an antivirus in 10 years. Don't need to. And, if I do happen to pick up a virus, I will then download an antivirus, get rid of the infection, and uninstall the antivirus. That's the right approach to take if you rarely, if ever get an infected computer. The consequence of having an antivirus hogging resources on my pc, for an infection I may never get, and can sort out quickly if I do, is not worth it when I weigh up the rewards and consequences.

Hardly the same as dying from not wearing a seat belt, eh?

The consequence is the cost of replacing a dead hard drive when it could have easily been avoided.

Originally Posted by Declan O Flaherty

I don't bring a phone with me when I go outside. It's a pain in the arse carrying it around. Should I put up with the inconvenience of carrying it with me at all times just in case I might need it one day, even though I have never needed it to date?

It's not as simple as saying 'it's better to have it than it is to need it'. The smart move is to weigh up the rewards and consequences, and make an educated decision.

The consequence of dying from not wearing a seat belt far outweighs the inconvenience of putting one on immediately when getting into my car.

Inconvenience is low. Consequence is high.

The consequence of getting a virus (not ONE in 10 years) doesn't outweigh the inconvenience of having a resource hog on my pc every day.

Inconvenience is high. Consequence is low.

I know when to take my chances. And I'll happily live with the consequences if they happen, because I chose to enjoy the rewards of the initial decision I made.

There's no honor in always playing to not lose, especially if there's a guaranteed win and just a possibility of a loss.

Weigh it up.

Me personally, after the consequence of losing hard drives to viruses when I was "not" running AV Software taught me the rewards of running AV Software far outweighed the consequences.

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Frank Donovan

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery

Me personally, after the consequence of losing hard drives to viruses when I was "not" running AV Software taught me the rewards of running AV Software far outweighed the consequences.

Same here. I don't get this talk about inconvenience. My AV program runs unnoticed in the background and my machines have resources to spare. And anyone who thinks all they have to do is install an antivirus after they get infected has never experienced malware (such as ransomware) that can remove access to a PC's critical functions, or a virus that's been programmed to anticipate any likely remedial action.

Personally, installing a reliable AV program has been one of the more straightforward business decisions to weigh up.

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tagiscom

4 years ago

Originally Posted by lanfear63

The consequence of looking at dubious websites outside the mainstream is often a way to get a virus. Also, taking up the offer to download stuff from them. If your email gets picked up by spammers you can get attachments that you might be tempted to click on. It's all down to to your surfing habits

However careful you are it's always good to have ongoing protection. Windows Defender for example is free, built in and is very good, it's all I use.

As for hogging your resources, for me, that's no longer an issue. Modern machines, even modest ones are now fast enough and have enough capacity, that it's not something that you would notice in general usage. Now if your machine is 10 years old or more then perhaps I would agree.

As for phones, they got larger in recent years and it is a bit restricting having one in your pocket. However, a useful tool to have if you want information and unbeatable in an emergency situation.

One of the newest smart phones out, are a clam design, so they easily fit in your pocket, but fold out to a true scale smart phone screen.

Or the screen is flexible.

I messed about with one while the shop was still open, and pretty cool how it overcomes gorilla gripping the thing all day, but at a retail price of almost 2k, you pay for the convenience.

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Jeffery

4 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery

Watched it years ago and will watch it again. The first time I watched it was in Germany where it was banned for a short time on U.S. Military networks. Ironically, years later, when I returned to the U.S. the fallout was still activve here in the U.S. on certain Military Installations.

Originally Posted by whateverpedia

The documentary is only from 2016. I got the impression your service ended quite a while before that.

There is another documentary by the same name from 2003. Perhaps you're getting the two mixed up (easy to do when they share the same title).

Could be. The branches of service I was in (more than one) were akin to "You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave."

First was the U.S. Coast Guard, second was the U.S. Army and last was as a civilian liaison for the U.S. Department of Defense, now called Homeland.

BTW, you know a thing or two about social engineering don't you.

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whateverpedia 4 years ago

Originally Posted by Jeffery

BTW, you know a thing or two about social engineering don't you.

Whatty whistles nonchalantly while staring off in the opposite direction.
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klixion

4 years ago

Bitdefender antivirus free version is ok but you should look into upgrading to the Bitdefender Total Security.

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DURABLEOILCOM

4 years ago

I have used pretty much all the Antivirus Programs out there Kaspersky, AVG, Webroot, Norton, McAfee, Avast and out of all of those programs Bitdefender is King.

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