Worth Buying Antivirus? Advise Please

[gryffinwings]

Hi guys, I've been getting back into using Windows again as one of my primary machines, as I have been using Apple for a while, but I'd like to know if it's worth buying an antivirus or should I use a free one? Which ones are good? Right now I have free version of Bitdefender.

Bitdefender actually missed something that was causing my computer to act bottle necked so to speak.

Recommendations?

 

[Raizinman]

Sort of depends on what you use your computer for. If it is only a recipe holder with no Internet then you don't need an Anti virus. On the other hand if you use it to download softward and other things, then yes you need an anti virus. I've tried most the major brands and find they all pretty much work the same. There fore price is the determining factor. I purchase from Frys, 10 user license McAfee for $49 with a $39 rebate with free shipping. So for basically $10, you can install on 10 devices including phones.

 

[mdram]

i just use the on built into windows
make sure to use a browser with an add blocker also

 

[Rifter]

IMO nowadays locking down your browser is more important than antivirus.

 

[sourceninja]

I have not had an antivirus on my computers in years. I use the builtin windows AV on windows, nothing on mac, and nothing on linux. I don't download from untrusted locations and I use other forms of security on my network.

 

[gryffinwings]

I think it’s important that I include that my machine is running Windows 7 at the moment.

What kind of things can I do to lock down my internet?

 

[UsandThem]

I'm probably am one of the few users here who still use and recommend a commercial security software. While the built-in Windows security is much improved from its original days, I still buy Norton Security for $20 once a year, which covers my 5 main PCs.

If you don't like Norton (I have been a little annoyed with their broken Identity Safe/Norton Vault/Password Manger myself), you can always get a mostly universally liked program like Eset Security for the same $20 that activates on 5 PCs as well.

 

[sourceninja]

If you are running windows 7, the most important thing you can do is upgrade. It's going to become increasingly harder to keep windows 7 safe. In addition I'd use a secure DNS service to filter out any known malware websites. Install a AV product (free, paid, or otherwise they are all about the same), and ensure you are using a up to date browser with strong security posture (sandboxing, adblock, privacy blocks, etc).

 

[balloonshark]

Been using Avira free for years. I also run my browser in a sandbox. Most importantly keep everything including add-ons (flash, java, pdf reader, etc.) updated.

It also doesn't hurt to have a couple of free on demand only scanners around. I like malwarebytes and hitmanpro. You can also upload anything you download (before running it) to virustotal to be scanned by multiple scanners. Just be prepared to see false positives though. https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/upload

 

[UsandThem]

You can also upload anything you download (before running it) to virustotal to be scanned by multiple scanners. Just be prepared to see false positives though. https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/upload

I use that link quite a bit here (along with Norton Safe Search). Another one I use a lot here on suspicious links is this one: https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search

Usually between the 3 different reports, I can be fairly certain if the link is bad.

 

[gryffinwings]

If you are running windows 7, the most important thing you can do is upgrade. It's going to become increasingly harder to keep windows 7 safe. In addition I'd use a secure DNS service to filter out any known malware websites. Install a AV product (free, paid, or otherwise they are all about the same), and ensure you are using a up to date browser with strong security posture (sandboxing, adblock, privacy blocks, etc).

Yeah, I think the Windows 7 Professional, is only going to be temporary, it was mainly to get the new to me Dell Precision T3500 up and running. Currently running Firefox at the moment, I'll have to see what I can do about adding more security measures.

 

[gryffinwings]

Well, I now have Microsoft Security Essentials installed. At least it's something.