Free Antivirus Software for Windows- Tips to Choose the Best One

Antivirus is one of those programs that should not be missing from any computer. With the internet, our computer is exposed to possible dangers via an exposed web page, an email that hides a malicious attachment. And an antivirus program, together with a firewall, acts as a barrier.

It is not the first time that I speak of the subject nor will it be the last. They are not perfect, although they try with each new update, and they consume resources such as CPU or RAM, but an antivirus can help us prevent our files from being exposed to malware or our PC from running slower or worse due to malicious programs.

Antivirus firms have long offered, in addition to their commercial products, a free version. There are them for all tastes, with real-time protection or only disk analysis, automatically or manually updatable, with all functions or with only a few expandable by payment, for all types of malware, etc.

Virtually all antivirus software manufacturers have a free version: Kaspersky, McAfee, Panda, Avast, AVG, Avira, Bitdefender, Comodo, Sophos ... Even Windows itself has its own antivirus tool, Windows Defender, which it introduced in XP through optional installation but is currently pre-installed.

Faced with so much variety, which antivirus to choose? What should be my choice according to my needs? Aren't they all the same?

Instead of limiting myself to listing the entire free antivirus for Windows currently available, what better way than to review the characteristics of a good antivirus and the additional precautions and tools that we should take into account.

In real time or on demand

Do you need your antivirus to be constantly monitoring the files and programs on your computer or with doing an exhaustive scan once a week you have enough?

The most advisable thing is to go to an antivirus with real-time protection, but this implies that your computer loses resources for that program. If you do not need permanent protection because you occasionally access the internet or external sources (stickers, external memories, etc.), perhaps with an on-demand antivirus you will have enough.

The same happens on old computers or computers dedicated to tasks that require all available memory and resources.

Personally, in a normal environment, with permanent internet access, I recommend using an antivirus with real-time protection and, optionally, having a second antivirus on demand, to have greater security.

Third-party advertising and software

That an antivirus is free does not mean that it is not profitable. It may be the case that the antivirus in question offers advertising on its interface. It is not bad in itself, but it can be a nuisance or it can cause rejection.

The same happens if, together with the installation of the antivirus, additional programs are recommended as a recommendation but that is still advertising. In principle it is not a problem, we only have to look at the installation wizard to uncheck that option (toolbars, programs, etc.).

License

An important detail is the license of the program. Usually free antivirus for Windows is intended for the home, not for work environments. You have to look closely at the license before installing one or another free antivirus, especially if we manage networks or an office computer park.

Additional functions

The differences between a free antivirus and a paid one are usually mainly in the technical support, paid and in a more advanced interface with more functions than the free version. Still, between free Antiviruses there are also differences. Internally, they can use their own or external motor. ESET, Avast, AVG, Bitdefender or Kaspersky, for example, have their own antivirus engine.

Others use a third-party engine, among which the Bitdefender engine stands out used in Lavasoft Ad-Aware, Bullguard or Auslogics, among others. And there is a third option, combining your own engine and a third one, as Emsisoft, Ashampoo or F-Secure do. As additional functions we can take into account if it has specific surveillance for email managers and web browsers, main virus entries, integrates its own or third-party firewalls, updates the definitions automatically and how regularly, etc.

Don't forget the firewall

Antivirus is one of the pillars of your computer's security, but not the only one. As or more important than having antivirus software is having a firewall.

Although Windows comes with a firewall by default, we may want one from another manufacturer, more customizable or offering more information in real time about data inputs and outputs . An example is GlassWire or the popular ZoneAlarm, but there are many more.

As a third option, it would include a backup tool. If antivirus and firewall fail and we are victims of malware, such as the popular ransomware, sometimes the only solution is to restore our files . Having backup copies can be our salvation.

Your habits as a safety measure

It also depends on ourselves whether or not we are more confident. It is useless to have a good antivirus, free or paid, if we later download files from any source or access undesirable pages. Taking certain precautions, such as those recommended by experts, will help so that, in case our antivirus does not give more of itself, we can navigate or work with our computer without problems.