What's the best fulltime antivirus

[BillW]

I need to install a better fulltime antivirus program to help keep my laptop free of viruses. What is considered the best one these days?

Thanks,
Bill

[HansV]

In my opinion, the anti-virus protection that comes with Windows (Windows Defender or Windows Security, depending on your version of Windows) is sufficient. I have relied on it for many years now and never experienced an infection.

If you prefer a paid option, Bitdefender and Norton have a good reputation

[stuck]

I'm with Hans, I use the AV that comes with Windows. I've used it since the days of XP and never suffered from a virus infection. Why pay money when works?

Ken

[BillW]

I have always had the same opinion as you two and I thought I had that in force on my wife's laptop but she got some really strange events a couple of weeks or so ago and that is what prompted me to post my question. Maybe I didn't have her built-in antivirus activated or something like that or maybe she didn't really have a virus on her system. I'll watch it carefully for a while.

Thanks,
Bill

[stuck]

AV won't stop you from shooting yourself in the foot, e.g. if the user falls for the click-bait in a phishing email then Bad Things Will Happen^TM even if the PC has an up to date AV running.

Ken

[BillW]

Yes, Ken, that is certainly true and that may be what happened this time.
Bill

[JoeP]

I use Windows Defender on our systems. About once a month I also run a scan with the free version of Malwarebytes just to get a second opinion. Then I run a free scan from either ESET, McAfee, or Trend (or whoever I can find for a free scan) for a third opinion. Scanners do not all catch the same stuff. I've been doing this for years and never had an infection on any of our systems.

Note: I just randomly pick the third party scanner. It probably is not really random I just try to use a different scanner each time.

[Ted Myers]

I thought a good router helped!

[HansV]

It does help, but it's not enough. You still need security software.

[alansidman]

@Bill
Cannot tell where you live from your profile, so if you live in the US and are a subscriber to Xfinity (part of Comcast), then you can download Norton Anti-virus for free.

Alan

[BillW]

Thanks for the tip Alan. I live in Richmond VA but I don't use Comcast Xfinity, I'm on Fios.
Bill