LOL no I'm not but I like a lot the program. Of course there are other ways: Anti-exe Policy restriction HIPS etc.
I know the title of this thread is "Best Free Antivirus Software" , but the paid versions aren't any better than most of the free apps. As a side business where I work- we do computer repairs- it's really mostly virus removal nowadays- and I've literally seen every AV program under the sun (paid and free) let stuff in. Best bet is practice safe surfing, and if you need to vist a less than reputable site- use someone else's computer
1st. its not a security forums so the members telling you their experiences using different free/paid AV in their system. It depends on the usability of internet , there are instances, people running no av paid or free but their system is clean but where as, there are some, who, change their av just like they change the undergarments still their system gets infected very often. So you try yourself the free AVs linked above and decide yourself or try any paid AVs for 30days which suits your needs, then buy it. Yes free version AV has some annoying adds if you don't like then go for the paid version.
Well, I have been just satisfied with free Windows Defender, but I would pay instead of saving a little money, if the choices are on the above ... History: Trend Micro, AVG, Avast, Panda, Windows Defender (Security Essentials) - never found any true viruses running in my Computers, except false positives and those AV programs often causes me headaches by hurting my valuable softwares
Symantec Endpoint Protection is the way to go. (w/ Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on the side) Both go well together.
Here's my experience with some antivirus. Windows Defender - Please just don't... Seriously, Microsoft should focus on OS, their antivirus isn't worth it... tested this AV on my relative's computers (4 people) after 6 months made a scan with various virus removal tools and damn I had to press the red button. Nasty little bugs just went through Windows Defender without getting noticed. Avira - Loved the initial versions of Avira, simple and lightweight, regarding its detection rate, never had many problems, a few false positives, most viruses were caught by it. Now with the latest versions, gonna be honest, despite that their detection rate might be good (and I say "might" because I haven't used it in a while). Regarding its performance it has become awful, and performance is something that you should consider, even on an antivirus. AVG - I was pretty skeptic about this one, always avoided it, don't ask me why, I just did. Eventually I just started using it and was surprise by it, it was the most user-friendly AV I have checked and it had really nice performance. Regarding it's detection rate, nothing to complain about, there were a bunch false positives, but oh well, you'll get those in any antivirus. Symantec Endpoint Protection - My favorite, BUT I don't advise people on this one unless they got some expertise, this bastard is really confusing, it's just a mess, once you start tweaking it you'll end up asking yourself wtf have you just done. Still, It's a pretty good one. ClamWin - Simply the most lightweight antivirus out there, period. It's a simple On-Demand scanner, so there is no real time protection. Still, It's a good one. Now, I have just written about some free ones, so I'll leave it as it is since this is a "Free app search" thread. Honestly, there is no best antivirus, most of them have their own virus database, what one might pick up as a virus, the other one might see it as a false positive, while another might not even be alarmed by it. So, besides the AV, you might as well use some extra security tools, Adware Cleaner, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (they are giving free licenses), Spybot Search & Destroy, there are plenty of tools that together may help enforcing security, but in the end, it all comes down to the user's behavior (sort of). This types of subjects regarding viruses is just stupid, for a simple reason, It's just like real life viruses, one pops out, a few people get infected and ONLY THEN is the anti virus made (after the virus is known), so, this just re-enforces the idea that there is no best anti virus, at least regarding detections. Regarding performance, well, that's another subject to discuss. Currently I use is ClamWin alongside with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and I might even pick up a few other tools just to make sure (no real time scanner activated), simply because I don't need a real time scanner and I like things simple and lightweight (don't bash me please... I am extra careful with this kind of stuff xD)