Free antivirus is a great way of getting you through the door but do they actually work? Most antivirus companies will offer a free solution as well as a paid suite. But is there much of a difference? For a start, free antivirus has limited features and the features that are included can be worse (reduced performance) than the comparable paid version. Free antivirus can also come loaded with adverts and offers to encourage you to upgrade. Yes, they are encouraging you for a valid reason but they can be very annoying and can often be mistaken for adware. For the added protection, increased performance and lack of adverts we’d highly recommended upgrading to a full antivirus suite. This does however depend on…
…Usage. What do you use your Window computer for? Drawing images in paint? Creating video compilations in Windows movie maker? Or browsing the internet? Offline tasks are completely safe from viruses that are sourced from the internet, so you’d think you wouldn’t need any protection at all? Incorrect. Viruses can also be spread via Media devices like USB sticks, free antivirus software is usually capable of protecting you from this though so at the very least you should be using a free AV. But if you ever venture out into the world-wide-web then we highly suggest upgrading or purchasing a full suite whilst you’re still safe. Note: Viruses developers have worked out that there are massive vulnerabilities in browser extensions and plugins and so any suite you look into, make sure a browser protection feature is included, any extra features will be a bonus.
To conclude, free antiviruses do work to a certain degree and they will certainly help you more than not having any protection at all, but the benefits of a paid package easily outweigh the negatives (price). Having to send your Windows computer into repair could easily rack up a bill of over 3 times the price of a full antivirus suite.