What free AV do you recommend to your non tech savy friends/family?

I agree with you about changing because of one or two tests. I watch for a product to drop out of the top 5 and stay there before changing. But loyality to any vendor I have not got any of that.

Our orginal poster wants FREE and last time I looked my ESET like yours was not free.

 

What's the need/scenario for manual scanning a file??!!

Iulika0069

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Well I won't force you to use something you don't want to. But I don't like when people are say that, this or that is crap ONLY because the test results don't show the real power of the product.

Fortunately one doesn't need to be a science major to know what's a good or bad security product.

So, let's say that you know one product that's really really good, but the next day you find out that it tested really bad, and all of a sudden you're personal experience with the product means nothing because of that test! Well unfortunately you're not alone thinking like that

But of course it have, that's what all the version 2.7 users are saying.
And my response is how would you know if you haven't used ESET in such a long time.
And again, people should stop recommending AVs solely based on test results

 

I know, but just like Avast wich I recommended as the Free AV, ESET hasn't reach 100% in the test either, but i'm going nowhere.
And it was a response to oliverjia that thought it wasn't the best idea to recommend Avast since it had "tested" so badly

Enough with the test result discussion, let's go back to the topic, What Free AV do you recommend?......

 

Go back and read my post again. I said avast or eset has been performing poorly in different kind of tests consistently. I am not sure if you understand or not what is "consistently"?
Now let me ask you, how would "you know one product that's really really good" ? Are you the authors who wrote the av software and what do you really know about the software, I mean, technically? what is your knowledge level that made you so sure that one product is "really good"? Show us some evidence please. I guess my point is, how qualified are you to say one product is "really good"?
I am not a software engineer so I don't know how the AV software are constructed and what technology the coders used, so I have to rely on independent test results. Please note it's "results" in plural form. Meaning not one single result, not one single test, not done by some paid-for companies.

 

I thought I was done with this, but no. Well in my opinion ESET is one of few vendors that has a very good and stable test record in the tests done by AV-C. Avast has been a little more up and down in AV-C testing but I think that will change with V8. FYI ESET always perform poorly on the tests done by AV-Tests so I won't comment on them.

(You say "product" but I read AV) It does what it's supposed to do, it's easy to use and understand. You get the feeling that you don't want to stop using it. Many other users love it as much as I do. And it has been a high quality program over a long period of time. Made by a great company that has a good reputation worlwide. enough.

Well thank god for that, if there were information out there about how let's say Avast were coded and how their technology is built it would be pretty easy for the bad guys to get around it I guess. But still, why do you have to rely on different test results only because you don't know exactly how or with what it's built?

 

avast for home and Comodo for business.

 

on Win7 : MSE
on Win8 : Windows built-in security (Windows Defender aka MSE)

Common users just want to browse and use their computer without being hampered/stressed/annoyed by popups from HIPS, Webfilters, Behavior Blocker, etc...

I used to set up my customers like this

sometimes i add Sandboxie free and teach them how to safely use it, (if i think they have risky surfing habits.)

UAC set properly will protect them enough.

i do a image backup of their system, so in case of infection i just have to restore their system.

p.s: only the naive trust tests labs

 

I am not a common computer user but I also want to the same - I don't want to be bothered by anything else while using the computer.

 

Until a year ago I would have said avast! No longer, not after my horrid experience(s) with their unstable program updates since version 7's release. I have lost confidence in the A/V. Reading avast!'s forum has done little to change my view. I highly recommend AVG which I've been using just over a year. Right out of the box it offers excellent protection with no stability issues. Probably the most challenging part of its configuration is email scanning. IMO

 

I tried to get this on the BitDefender site, but their link

redirects me to

Can anyone provide me with the correct link?

 

The download link it's ok.

Please note:
France, Iran, Netherlands.. these are countries when we already sell this product.. You cannot install BD AV Free
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https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2202863&postcount=1456
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2203116&postcount=1457
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2203304&postcount=1458

You can try from here =
http://forum.bitdefender.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=40737&view=findpost&p=177134

 

Avast! Free V8 with PUP enabled for the shields.

 

avast! due to configurability and Remote Assistance option.
You'll just have to tweak it a bit if required, but from there on, it will do its job on its own. There are other options that are simple to use but sort of garbage (MSE) or they don't offer enough settings to really make it properly silent, automatic and non annoying (AVIRA etc).

 

Panda Cloud and Bitdefender Free are the best options, IMO. they are really maintenance free. Avast has to be re-registered every year and I saw many cases where it wasn't re-registered (remember, non tech users).

 

Avast in RejZor's quiet setting is nice, allthough I have changed the update confirmation pop-up to display for 2 seconds.

Our mind has a bias for risks we don't understand. For risks we do understand we are completely comfortable with an acceptable risk level. For the risks we don't understand like most have with nuclear radiation/contamination and malware infection, people like to have a zero risk guarantee. This also explains the often seen 180 degree switch from security illiterate to security paranoid (well known state of mind on this forum).

Reason for making some noise (the update display) is such a great change on RejZor's quiet setting is that I can tell them: "as long as you see the update pop-up from time to time everything is well and you are secured". When they want to be When it does not call me and I will fix it (remotely) within 10 minutes. Also the send e-mail option when a risk is detected is a great option.

This gives the security illiterate the idea "cool everything is taken care for me" and the security paranoid the idea "I can check it. therefore I have influence". To show the newly security paranoid that he/she will get a e-mail when an infection is found also adds to the feeling of being "in control". So both type of users are satisfied this way and won't (allow anayone to) change their setup.

 

I put avast! Free Antivirus on all of my client pc's and I usually hear nothing but praise from the majority of them.

I think the only downfall or complaint I get about avast!, is that they still require a yearly registration of the product, which in turn sends me to a clients house or giving instructions over the phone on how to re-register it.

If you do plan on using avast!, keep the registration in mind.

Also mentioned here: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2207435&postcount=68

Bitdefender AV Free and Panda Free AV are also great options for a non techy - Both quiet, provide great protection, very simple interfaces and hardly any options for the user to swift through.

Choose any of those and I think you'll be fine.

I didn't list Microsoft Security Essentials due to personal reasons - I'm not listing my reasons for the sake of this thread, don't want it to be an A vs B thread, Plus it's just my personal opinion on the product.

 

First hand choice; MSE (comes free with Windows Update as well!!)
Second hand choice; Bitdefender AV Free

 

I ended up settling on Avast! and installed it onto my grandparents PC's when I was there visiting. I think the protection is great, it's simple enough to install and use, has the remote assistance feature, has the software updater, and carries a good name with it. Bitdefender and Panda both seemed to have some issues from what I've read and stability is highly important to me so they where out. Plus, I've always been partial to Avast!. I installed it onto my laptop to test it out and to create my own configuration for my "clients". I have PUP detection enabled and heuristic sensitivity at the max with no problems so far. I have it set to attempt to repair, then quarantine, then delete whatever it finds in order to keep the popups and decisions down.

Good idea. I have mine configured to not display any popups except when malware is detected or it blocks a webpage. I was debating on even showing these but figured that if they see this every once in a while, they will feel more secure. Plus, it also could be confusing if they download something and then go to their downloads folder to run it but they can't find it because it was quarantined without them knowing.

 

Actually my settings are designed in a way that if everything updates fine, you won't see any popups. But as soon as there is update error during updating, you'll still get red warning popup. So far i haven't had any issues with updating on any system.

 

Being a non-techy myself, I usually suggest Panda Cloud to my friends. If they don't like Panda, next in line would be Avast. Panda's UI is simple and clear enough for folks like me to navigate through as opposed to other free AV's.

 

Avast! Free.

 

avast! of course. Once it's configured to the user's convenience, there's no hassle, no cry from it. Sleeps like a baby. Fights like a ninja.