Personal anti-virus software - Windows 7

[stevejp]

Evening, everyone,

Please forgive me if this is a duplication or in the wrong place - I've done a quick search, but couldn't find what I was looking for.

I use Apple at home, but am having to move over to a borrowed laptop with Windows 7 for a specific purpose (cricket scoring software). Could anyone recommend a free/cheap anti-virus program, please? Doesn't need bells and whistles, just something that will do the job.

Many thanks.

[DJ-1701]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/14210/security-essentials-download

[JonThompson]

Sophos for home is good. It’s free but they do offer a paid version which I’ve just upgraded too.

[ZeroHour]

Bitdefender also do a free package, it's very light compared to security essentials.

[LeMarchand]

Bitdefender also do a free package, it's very light compared to security essentials.

 

This is what I tend to recommend for family who want more than MS's built-in stuff as it's quite unobtrusive.

 

If you want something that will give you a bit more in the way of knowing what it's up to, I use Comodo.

 

If you want something that will give Vladimir Putin a bit more in the way of knowing what you're up to, there's Kaspersky .

[rich_tech]

Bitdefender free caused a major issue with my windows machine a while back with its certificates on the free version, to the point I uninstalled it and went to Panda Free AV here on my windows box.

[angrycomputingteacher]

I recommend Immunet. It's free and it's made by Cisco.

[stevejp]

Thanks, everyone for all of your help and suggestions - plenty to think about, there!

[OLPTech]

I know this thread is old but I use trend and it seems to work very well.

[Ertech]

AVG free is ok.

[Duke5A]

If the computer is browsing the web then you really do need to run an ad blocker of some flavor in conjunction with your AV. Personally I use uBlock Origin on any machine that even touches the web. Take it an additional step with Privacy Badger or No Script.

 

Honestly, I find that the vast majority of infections anymore come right through the web browser via malicious sites masquerading as legit ones and exploited ad networks. This goes without saying though, but you should white-list the sites you frequent if you go this route.