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| 5 Best (REALLY FREE) Antivirus Software for Windows in 2020 |
There are only a handful of free Windows antivirus applications which actually offer decent PC protection.
And some free antiviruses are actually malware designed to steal your private information. This is especially true for Windows because with so many users around the world, it’s the most popular target for viruses and other dangerous malware. That’s why it’s important that you don’t fall victim to one of these common scams and only download legitimate programs with a history of high-quality performance.
I’ve tested over 80 antivirus solutions to bring you these free Windows antiviruses that are better than the rest. While there is no such thing as a “free antivirus” with zero limitations, these 5 brands each offer a free plan which will help protect your PC.
1. Panda Free Antivirus
Panda Free Antivirus is an excellent lightweight antivirus program that takes care of your system without using lots of system resources or having nagging pop ups all the time.
# Remote Security
The trick is that Panda Free Antivirus is based on so called cloud computing, and is only partially installed on your system and keeps core files on a dedicated server on the Internet. Thanks to this special cloud structure, Panda Free Antivirus doesn't have to be manually updated. You can simply forget about complicated configurations and having to download new signature files!
The cloud-based functionality doesn't mean you remain unprotected when disconnected from the network: Panda Free Antivirus features a local cache that keeps the program up and running, working at 100%.
# Analysis
Panda Free Antivirus features two types of analysis: Optimized scan – which presumably analyzes the most important areas in the system, though you can’t know for sure – and Other scans, where you can select specific folders and files to be analyzed. The program includes a behavioral analysis and blocking system that detects suspicious actions typically found in malware. Another nice feature in Panda Free Antivirus is the USB vaccine tool, which protects your computer from potentially dangerous files in USB portable memory devices.
Though Panda Free Antivirus can’t be scheduled to run automatic scans and doesn’t include filters for web or email, it’s still a perfectly valid antivirus for netbooks and low-spec computers.
# Conclusion
Panda Free Antivirus is a lightweight, simple to use antivirus tool that keeps your system safe without nagging you with messages and updates.
New UI completely redesigned. Improved subscription and device management integrated in the product. Users can manage their subscriptions and their anti-theft protection (My Devices area) from their products. Fully compatible with the new Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Engine improvements for better protection and performance. Other improvements requested by Panda Community.
# Changes
New UI completely redesigned. Improved subscription and device management integrated in the product. Users can manage their subscriptions and their anti-theft protection (My Devices area) from their products. Fully compatible with the new Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Engine improvements for better protection and performance. Other improvements requested by Panda Community.
2. Avira Free Antivirus — Best for Internet Security
Avira Free Antivirus not only lets us experience Avira’s legendary German-engineered antivirus technology, it also includes Avira Browser Safety — an extension for Firefox and Chrome which protects against malicious websites and phishing scams.
Avira’s antivirus engine operates in the cloud, meaning that most of its malware detection and analysis doesn’t actually take place on your PC. This cloud-based technology has two main advantages.
First, it means Avira can keep its methods secret by only fighting malware on its own servers. This puts Avira one step ahead of the hackers at all times because hackers won’t know what Avira knows.
Second, it means Avira can maintain an extremely low “footprint” — it demands very few system resources. In fact, Avira has one of the smallest and lightest antivirus engines of all the major antivirus brands.
And because Avira runs so efficiently, even many older Windows PCs can run Avira Free Antivirus without much impact on performance. If your PC sometimes feels slow and sluggish when you’re using applications, Avria could be your antivirus solution.
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3. Sophos Home Free — Best for Parental Controls
There’s plenty of bad stuff online that basic antivirus software won’t pick up. As well as protecting your devices and personal information from viruses, Sophos Home Free is a good free antivirus that helps protect your kids from the parts of the web that you might not want them to see.
Sophos Home Free includes great parental controls — something that usually comes only in premium internet security packages, such as Norton 360 Deluxe. Parental controls let us monitor how our kids use their devices and restrict which websites they can access.
Sophos Home Free also includes real-time protection against malware and a browser extension that keeps you away from visiting malicious websites.
Sophos Home Free also includes real-time protection against malware and a browser extension that keeps you away from visiting malicious websites.
You can install the free version of Sophos on up to 3 devices. This is very generous for a free product, but if you have more devices, you’ll need to upgrade — luckily, there’s a 30% off discount on Sophos Home Premium right here.
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4. Kaspersky Security Cloud (Free) — Best for Added Features
Kaspersky Security Cloud — Free is an impressive free antivirus suite. It includes Kaspersky’s cloud-based malware scanning engine, which caught 100% of the threats I threw at it during testing.
Not only does Security Cloud scan for malware, perform system cleanup and use active scanning to prevent new threats, but it also provides complete privacy protection with a VPN, a password manager, and dark web scanning.
The VPN is pretty good — it didn’t slow my computer down very much, and allowed me to unblock geo-restricted streaming content with servers around the globe. Unfortunately, there is a 200 MB daily limit, but that’s better than the 150 MB daily data on Panda’s free VPN.
The limit on the password manager is a little bit worse — only 15 separate logins can be saved, which is not nearly enough for most users. Still, if you have 15 logins which are your highest priority, the password manager generates and auto-fills extremely complex passwords for an added layer of security.
The dark web scanner is simple, but effective. After I gave it my essential logins, it regularly checked the database at Have I Been Pwned to see if my information was getting shared around the dark web.
5. Bitdefender Antivirus Free — Best for Simple Windows Protection
Bitdefender’s Antivirus Free is a great choice for users looking for an antivirus scanner that they don’t need to think about after installation. Bitdefender is designed to run in the background, with only essential notifications in case of suspicious program activity. Malware scans, detection, and removal all happen automatically, unless you decide to adjust the settings.
If you’re looking for extra features like a password manager, parental controls, dark web monitoring, or a VPN, this is not the right product for you (you’ll need something like Norton 360 for that). However, it’s still really good antivirus software, and its minimal design means that it won’t slow your PC down at all.
Bitdefender’s malware scanner is one of the strongest on the market, and the Advanced Protection feature now extends to ransomware detection — any suspicious behavior on your PC will get frozen immediately. This scanner is really fast — malware files and ransomware processes were all caught just moments after I downloaded or unzipped them.
The anti-phishing and fraud protection features are pretty good as well. Bitdefender flagged all of the latest known phishing sites and alerted me when I was asked to enter private data onto 3 different suspicious web forms.
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I hope This Antivirus change your Computer Life