What Free AV do You Recommend to Your Non-Tech-Savvy Friends/Family?

MSE or PCAV would be good install and walk away solutions. I might be inclined to suggest more feature rich applications, presuming the user has a budget and would like me to follow-up on at least a yearly basis. PCAV is really light on laptops and the UI is simple enough a non-tech user could navigate it without difficulty.

 

I always install Avast on any and all pc's I work on simply because it's free and the best security of all free av's...I can always use team viewer to help someone register or with settings in the future.

 

I install Avast free, default settings. I recommend Forticlient to those that have new laptops/pc's [W7] but have tweens at home that need category blocking.

 

Same here. I used to install Avast Free, but i´ve found that the new versions might be difficult to use for the "Non-Tech-Savvy".

I´m referring to the autosandbox, and the check for outdated applications. And also there's the need for a annual registration.

Although those two are great features, most people don't know what to do when prompted and btw, also don't know how to register for a new free version when the subscription ends.

For a paid AV i normally recommend KAV, because it's set and forget and has a great quality-price relationship.

 

it depends on the hardware and also what firewall you plan to use. for an older laptop with Windows 7 firewall I think MSE is best. currently i'm using Qihu 360 IS and that too seems very light and easy. add Windows Firewall Control to make Windows 7 firewall easier to control.

obviously avast has more features and is considered better in general, but it's also a bit more complicated and in my personal experience causes a bigger performance hit, which is why I wouldn't use it on older systems. however, if you want both AV and firewall, then I'd go with a software suite that combines both to avoid conflicts and extra complexity of having to deal with two separate programs. the free suites available are Comodo IS and ZoneAlarm AV+Firewall Free, both of which are fine, but you should expect more popups and a bigger performance hit than with MSE and Win7 built-in FW.

 

I have found both MSE and 360 to be heavy at times. But this is the not the case for everyone, so I think the best option is to try MSE or 360 and it they slow down your system try something else.

 

Not only that. Forti also has one of the top website blockers/URL blockers out there. It's one solid AV that I am rolling out as a complete replacement to Avast. No need for yearly registrations either.

 

Definitely MSE, for its simplicity, few alerts, zero False Positives.

What is interesting to me is that MSE users tend to be either novices, or those that know how to protect themselves via other means and layers of security.

A little "safe hex" instruction to the novices goes a long way in maximising protection.

 

Avast. They cannot handle outbound firewalls and HIPS so I end up just turning on the inbound protection of their integrated firewall. I feel that some of the "Shields" Avast has helps to compensate for some of the shortcomings they'd otherwise have because of this. Namely the Web Shield, practically a must without a good HIPS regimen & sandboxing IMO.

 

Panda Cloud.

It's possibile installed some extensions on the browser.
(TrafficLight Bitdefender + Avast on line security(chrome)).

 

Now my choice is Avast.

 

At this point I don't even have a recommendation. If you can manage to get a Windows 7 system infected with ITW malware, IMO you're already at the point where no AV can protect you adequately.

 

Which also means no adequate enough security because the user wants to install the malware since the first place.

 

I disagree on that point. While, I find it very hard to get infected even when using no security software - not even Windows Defender and with UAC disabled, it does happen on rare occasions.

While obviously no AV is going to offer 100% protection they will prevent some infections.

 

One should probably consider protection, etc., ratings in AV-Test and others.

 

Avast+Malwarebytes if i recommend to my family.
Since Avast behaving like kaspersky the most same about
iframe, internet attack block & low False Positives.
While Malwarebytes use for checking PUP, Adwares.

But for myself I don't need them I already have virustotal.com
that save the days for my pc. When I scan my pc I'll use
CCC, Eset Online Scan, Norman Malware Cleaner, Malwarebytes
Each of them are on demand scans & high detection rates.
With this way I can have many antivirus database for cleaning.