Why I Hate Free Antivirus Programs on Windows - Chris Titus Tech
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Date: 2022-03-21
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Comments and reviews: 10
Jesus
I'm a huge fan of your linux videos which I found as I'm starting to use Mint and I'm quite happy to learn about other distros and overall any tip for linux. However, I'm quite at a loss about this video- I really don't understand your argument. It's basically something like -Yeah, I recommend Webroot, which is a paid product, over multiple free antivirus even if those have better detection rates (therefore its inferior in its supposed purpose) because it have a low profile-. Ok, I want to believe that along with that low profile it probably consumes much less resources compared to other antivirus, however I really think you should check how those work at this point- I have been using avast for about 8 years now across different PCs with very different numbers (from an atom 455/2 RAM netbook to multiple gaming rigs) and avast isn't that noticeable either. You can easily turn down the messages about it's extra services, turn off the shields you don't need and it will end up less resource hungry, too. I'n my country we have no particular laws or any kind of enforcement about internet use and copyrights etc., so I can guarantee I have put avast to the edge of its capabilities while downloading/pirating stuff to hell and back. Can't say I'm proud, but it's one of the very few perks of living in a less tech savvy country. Anyway, just my opinion from personal experience, cheers and keep it up!
PD Avast isn't invincible by any means either. I use malwarebytes from time to time to check if I have unwanted visitors.
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I'm a huge fan of your linux videos which I found as I'm starting to use Mint and I'm quite happy to learn about other distros and overall any tip for linux. However, I'm quite at a loss about this video- I really don't understand your argument. It's basically something like -Yeah, I recommend Webroot, which is a paid product, over multiple free antivirus even if those have better detection rates (therefore its inferior in its supposed purpose) because it have a low profile-. Ok, I want to believe that along with that low profile it probably consumes much less resources compared to other antivirus, however I really think you should check how those work at this point- I have been using avast for about 8 years now across different PCs with very different numbers (from an atom 455/2 RAM netbook to multiple gaming rigs) and avast isn't that noticeable either. You can easily turn down the messages about it's extra services, turn off the shields you don't need and it will end up less resource hungry, too. I'n my country we have no particular laws or any kind of enforcement about internet use and copyrights etc., so I can guarantee I have put avast to the edge of its capabilities while downloading/pirating stuff to hell and back. Can't say I'm proud, but it's one of the very few perks of living in a less tech savvy country. Anyway, just my opinion from personal experience, cheers and keep it up!
PD Avast isn't invincible by any means either. I use malwarebytes from time to time to check if I have unwanted visitors.
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Jimmydafreak
I'm the exact opposite. Except for commercial environments, I would never, ever pay for virus protection. The paid versions are basically bloatware. AVG and Avast are preferable to almost any paid virus suite. Over the past 15 years, I have installed AVG Free on thousands of computers, and none has ever been infected with a virus. AVG's impeccable track record speaks for itself. And while I can't speak from experience with respect to Avast, I think it's probably every bit as solid as AVG Free. Paid virus protection = bloatware. Free antivirus such as AVG = pretty much bullet-proof, streamlined, virus protection with no bloatware BS. Just worked on a slow computer last. Did nothing but remove Norton and, BAM!, computer worked normally again. Bottom line is there is no quicker way to slow your computer down than putting a paid antivirus suite on a computer.
You are correct about running multi anti-virus programs. They are death to a computer.
I usually find myself in 100% agreement with your opinions, but strenuously disagree with paid anti-virus advice.
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I'm the exact opposite. Except for commercial environments, I would never, ever pay for virus protection. The paid versions are basically bloatware. AVG and Avast are preferable to almost any paid virus suite. Over the past 15 years, I have installed AVG Free on thousands of computers, and none has ever been infected with a virus. AVG's impeccable track record speaks for itself. And while I can't speak from experience with respect to Avast, I think it's probably every bit as solid as AVG Free. Paid virus protection = bloatware. Free antivirus such as AVG = pretty much bullet-proof, streamlined, virus protection with no bloatware BS. Just worked on a slow computer last. Did nothing but remove Norton and, BAM!, computer worked normally again. Bottom line is there is no quicker way to slow your computer down than putting a paid antivirus suite on a computer.
You are correct about running multi anti-virus programs. They are death to a computer.
I usually find myself in 100% agreement with your opinions, but strenuously disagree with paid anti-virus advice.
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Dj
Funny ... I actually hate any payed antivirus ... I just don-t like to invest in the creation of viruses and that is what these company-s do ... and I know this because in the past news came out about there being a new virus and the payed solution we were using had protection for it ... but when I looked it up in the virus database it actually had the protection for that virus for over a year indicating that they actually created the virus to sell better when news came out about there virus scan being the first to protect against this virus ...
Now I am not saying that all payed virus scan developers are doing this but ... who you can not be sure and that is why I am never going to pay for any virus protection whatsoever ...
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Funny ... I actually hate any payed antivirus ... I just don-t like to invest in the creation of viruses and that is what these company-s do ... and I know this because in the past news came out about there being a new virus and the payed solution we were using had protection for it ... but when I looked it up in the virus database it actually had the protection for that virus for over a year indicating that they actually created the virus to sell better when news came out about there virus scan being the first to protect against this virus ...
Now I am not saying that all payed virus scan developers are doing this but ... who you can not be sure and that is why I am never going to pay for any virus protection whatsoever ...
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TMER
On modern machines you don'-t need to worry about the impact of running two real-time scanners at the same time. I am running free version of bitdefender alongside with Malewarebytes. On top of that i have an dedicated ESXi server with sophos as my internal fw and cisco asa as my edge fw. Plus my windows box is hardened where local fw is manually controlled. That is over the top and most likely nothing the everyday user gonna do, but to the comment on wether you should run only one AV or not, i would say it is better to not have one tool to do all the work, but rather have multiple tools for different situations. Just my opinion.
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On modern machines you don'-t need to worry about the impact of running two real-time scanners at the same time. I am running free version of bitdefender alongside with Malewarebytes. On top of that i have an dedicated ESXi server with sophos as my internal fw and cisco asa as my edge fw. Plus my windows box is hardened where local fw is manually controlled. That is over the top and most likely nothing the everyday user gonna do, but to the comment on wether you should run only one AV or not, i would say it is better to not have one tool to do all the work, but rather have multiple tools for different situations. Just my opinion.
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MAKAB36
When I first surfed the net I fell for the you have a virus download this anti-virus and we will remove it, that was around 25 years plus ago and since then I have been using Avast free version and 60 day trials of the full version, to the best of my knowledge I haven't had a virus since unless you count the ASK bar (which I would like your help on the BEST way to remove as it is a mission), I do agree it slow my pc down but not so bad I would be willing to risk my security without it. I'm going to give webroot a try just so I can have a more unbiased opinion.
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When I first surfed the net I fell for the you have a virus download this anti-virus and we will remove it, that was around 25 years plus ago and since then I have been using Avast free version and 60 day trials of the full version, to the best of my knowledge I haven't had a virus since unless you count the ASK bar (which I would like your help on the BEST way to remove as it is a mission), I do agree it slow my pc down but not so bad I would be willing to risk my security without it. I'm going to give webroot a try just so I can have a more unbiased opinion.
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David
I completely agree with you about Webroot; they've been my antivirus for years and years, and I love them. The small difference in detection rate refers to detecting new virus' that haven't been marked before in their cloud. However, once that malware is detected by Webroot, it becomes part of their -cloud immunity- and everyone using Webroot will now be protected. So, yes, there's a weaker initial detection rate, but the exchange for how much speed you gain and how simply unobtrusive Webroot is as a program is totally worth the exchange.
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I completely agree with you about Webroot; they've been my antivirus for years and years, and I love them. The small difference in detection rate refers to detecting new virus' that haven't been marked before in their cloud. However, once that malware is detected by Webroot, it becomes part of their -cloud immunity- and everyone using Webroot will now be protected. So, yes, there's a weaker initial detection rate, but the exchange for how much speed you gain and how simply unobtrusive Webroot is as a program is totally worth the exchange.
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j.
Chris Titus Tech my ESET subscription just expired and I switched to Webroot on your recommendation and WOW what a difference, I thought ESET was light....Holy Moley you are 110% right when you said -I don't even know it's there-. I too have to open up the app to be sure it's there.
Thank you so much, you are one of the very few Computer Techs I truly trust, thank you so much
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Chris Titus Tech my ESET subscription just expired and I switched to Webroot on your recommendation and WOW what a difference, I thought ESET was light....Holy Moley you are 110% right when you said -I don't even know it's there-. I too have to open up the app to be sure it's there.
Thank you so much, you are one of the very few Computer Techs I truly trust, thank you so much
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Lodewijk
Best first defense: Sandboxie. (Not free, but worth every penny.) A free scanner that uses 68 scan engines is herdProtect. After that there are some good free top brand names for anti-malware protection. Just search for Best Free Anti-Malware or Best Free AV. I'm sure there will be one you like. But you might still like to whine and get yourself annoyed of course.
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Best first defense: Sandboxie. (Not free, but worth every penny.) A free scanner that uses 68 scan engines is herdProtect. After that there are some good free top brand names for anti-malware protection. Just search for Best Free Anti-Malware or Best Free AV. I'm sure there will be one you like. But you might still like to whine and get yourself annoyed of course.
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EthanRivers
I used AVAST for a long period of time while I was in college. I loved it so much until it started blocking my emulators and League of Legends. It got to the point where I was fighting AVAST for control of my own computer. When I went to get rid of it it wasn-t letting me uninstall it. I got fed up and restored my computer and haven-t used anti viruses since.
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I used AVAST for a long period of time while I was in college. I loved it so much until it started blocking my emulators and League of Legends. It got to the point where I was fighting AVAST for control of my own computer. When I went to get rid of it it wasn-t letting me uninstall it. I got fed up and restored my computer and haven-t used anti viruses since.
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GhostMiner
-2012 Avast:- I can protect your windows XP from all the pesky viruses.
-Avast 2018-2021:- Please, buy the premium version. Also you've got a lot of junk that's slowing down your computer, but you have to buy it to use these and you can't mute this. Btw. There's a sale just for you right now!
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-2012 Avast:- I can protect your windows XP from all the pesky viruses.
-Avast 2018-2021:- Please, buy the premium version. Also you've got a lot of junk that's slowing down your computer, but you have to buy it to use these and you can't mute this. Btw. There's a sale just for you right now!
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