Due to my nature of checking and testing games as a hobby, I always have to download games made by other people but recently, I almost lost my PC because a game that was passed to me had a backdoor installer despite me scanning it three times (had a good online samaritan help me remove it). And I don’t really earn much to pay for a premium subscription so I am looking for a better Free Antivirus. So any recommendations?
Hello,
As far as protection goes, any of the programs listed in the wiki at https://old.reddit.com/r/antivirus/wiki/index#wiki_anti-virus_.28aka_anti-malware.29_developers would be a good start.
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If you are looking for a free program, check out the ones with a check mark (“
”) in the Free Version? column. -
If you are looking for a paid program, check out the ones with a check mark (“
”) in the Paid Version? column.
”) in the Free Version? column.Also be sure to read the https://old.reddit.com/r/antivirus/wiki/index#wiki_securing_your_computer section towards the end for additional tips for protecting your computer.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Windows defender and malwarebyte are good option’s, more advanced setup I use WD, malwarebyte and controlD (dns provider), controlD when they find out about the c2c server they block the domain and ip address so that helps, not saying it’s perfect but for me works
Bitdefender would be great.
If you look at the real world results, no 3rd party antivirus is worth anything; time to install, issues with use, or money (even if it’s free!).
Windows defender can be configured with Hard Configurator to lockdown a system rather well. But I think you need a different solution than an antivirus. I’m thinking virtual machines or machinisms to restore the disk image from before testing. That way even undetected infections should be prevented.
I also believe VMs would be a better fit. You can either use a type-2 hypervisor (VirtualBox, VMWare Workstation Pro) on top of your host OS (I am guessing Windows), or install a type-1 hypervisor (e.g. Proxmox) on bare metal and create Windows VMs to test your stuff. This way even if shit hits the fan, you can nuke the VM and start all over again.
Most important you can use vm backups to restore to a previous state (e.g. before a suspicious game install).
your built in windows defender if youre on windows.
Bitdefender or Kaspersky.
I recommend changing what types of games you are testing; you can NEVER trust anything someone else gives you! If you really want to test games, I’d recommend trying to do so through more official means. You could try getting on the QA testers for official software/products, enter betas/alphas or play early access titles and provide the developer/s with suggestions through those means. It’s better to avoid a situation where you can get affected as opposed to leaving cracks in your defence for people to exploit, regardless.
Ever hear of Virtual Machines?
AVAST or Bitdefender with Bitdefender Traffic Light installed. Also install Ublock Origin
Windows Defender with DefenderUI (A better GUI for windows defender), occasional scans with malwarebytes and a good adblocker go a far way.
Another alternative is bitdefender free, tho I like windows defender more.
Kaspersky Free. For USA Bitdefender Free
DefenderUI (hardens windows defender for you) + Weekly Norton NPE scans (just do them manually once a week / fortnight - can be automated but not sure its worth 99 per year?)
Virtual machine software like QEMU is really what you would want for this.
been using Panda Dome free for years, no issues and at least it asks what to do if it finds smth, if it is false positive you can simply let it pass instead of having to go retrieve it from the vault
there are no good free realtime protection AV’s other then windows defender, they spy on you and you are the product… malwarebytes for a scan tool is great for free, for paid I would recommend ESET or just use windows defender. a good web browser like brave and addons (ublock origin for example) can protect you from a good chunk of what you pick up surfing the web and just be cautious of what you download and run as admin
Kaspersky free if you live outside America or Bitdefender free if you live inside America or you can go with Windows defender with defenderUI
Kaspersky has a tool for that… Cant remember what it was called tho.