PC security question.

[John Roberts]

I have had Avast Premium antivirus for years on my lap top as well as Windows Security. I don't remember Avast picking up anything serious during that time- well, I don't remember anything anyway- so my question is whether I really need it anyway, it currently costs £64.99 a year and is soon due for renewal. Oh, and does having two such protections slow my computer down?

What say you?

 

[littleade]

I've never heard of Avast I currently get my Norton anti virus and web protection as part of my broadband package with EE and when I installed it it removed the McAfee software that was already on my laptop. I've looked in my settings and the micrisoft defender security is switched off, which Norton must have done on installation too?

 

[Smithmas]

I have not heard of Avast, but I personally believe that certainly with any Windows based machine then anti virus software is a must.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I have heard of Avast and use it on my laptop
Being in Yorkshire-it’s the Free version
Never had a problem
For my business computers I use Bit Defender which is actively run by the company who sort out my computer needs and they run it from their servers and charge me a monthly subscription (it works well)

 

[sparkplug]

Avast have been around since the 90s and last time I checked they had the second largest market share in the anti malware market and they win industry awards all the time - so I'm surprised that you haven't heard of them.

It's a good product.

If you don't want to pay for it anymore then they offer a free version too but it obviously doesn't have all the same features.

There are other free AV providers out there which I would rate such as Bitdefender and AVG

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.

AV is useful but these days there's more focus on phishing and trying to get into your bank or locking your computer and making you pay to have it unlocked.

Antivirus isn't going to be much help there.

Sure, it's well worth having but don't expect it to protect you against everything. It won't.

 

[JoeBiff]

Avast have been around since the 90s and last time I checked they had the second largest market share in the anti malware market and they win industry awards all the time - so I'm surprised that you haven't heard of them.

It's a good product.

If you don't want to pay for it anymore then they offer a free version too but it obviously doesn't have all the same features.

There are other free AV providers out there which I would rate such as Bitdefender and AVG

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.

AV is useful but these days there's more focus on phishing and trying to get into your bank or locking your computer and making you pay to have it unlocked.

Antivirus isn't going to be much help there.

Sure, it's well worth having but don't expect it to protect you against everything. It won't.

Good, helpful post.
I recall free Avast from the early noughties….

 

[theoneandonly]

i used to run 2 AV programs plus windows defender . chatting with a man who does computers for Siemens , he said ...WHY ??? windows AV is really good , plus running 2 AV's they will fight each other . just use one .
stuff i have used .
AVG
Avast
Malwarebytes

 

[wessie]

I used free Avast in the olden days. It was renowned as needing fewer system resources as the better known names. Now, Windows has developed their own product which is pretty good for a domestic silver surfer. I run the occasional Malware bytes scan and it does not pick up anything missed by Windows. The only other security I have installed is a popup blocker for Chrome.