Reasonably priced but effective laptop protection

[Newportnobby]

I currently use Avast but am told it gets into everything and slows the laptop so, as it's coming up for renewal (Avast, not the laptop) has anyone got a recommendation please? TIA

[JanW]

Simple: if you have a Wndows laptop use the built-in Windows protection (Defender).
I have two windows machines and use the Windows protection for years now.
Never had a problem with it.

Jan

[devonjames]

Simple: if you have a Wndows laptop use the built-in Windows protection (Defender).
I have two windows machines and use the Windows protection for years now.
Never had a problem with it.

Jan

I second that.  These days Defender will do the job as well as anything else and it is part of Windows so won't cost you anything.

However, just because your Avast subscription us coming to an end that won't stop it running on your laptop albeit without getting updates. You will need to completely uninstall it which isn't as straightforward as it sounds. You may well find that until it is uninstalled it may suppress Defender from working so as to avoid a conflict. You will need to download the Avast uninstaller utility Avast Clear. Details can be found here:
https://www.avast.com/en-gb/uninstall-utility

[port perran]

Thirded.
Several years ago (when I was working) I used Norton but it became intolerably obtrusive.
I now find that Defender suits my needs perfectly.
Cheers
Martin

[keithfre]

If your operating system is too old to include Defender, I can recommend Webroot SecureAnywhere, which I've been using with no problems on Windows 7 for several years.

[Railwaygun]

Simple: if you have a Wndows laptop use the built-in Windows protection (Defender).
I have two windows machines and use the Windows protection for years now.
Never had a problem with it.

Jan

its important to run "windows   update" regularly to get defender updates.

[ten0G]

 

Having eventually bought what seems to be a suitable Windows laptop I wonder if anyone can advise me how to enable Windows Defender properly. 

My previous Windows experience pre-dates Vista(?!), and as the PC has Win11 preinstalled, I am quite out of touch with most of the facilities offered. 

The machine was supplied with a free McAfee subscription for a month, which expired 15 days ago.  My problem is how to competely remove McAfee safely so that I can then fully enable Defender. 

Currently, most usage is offline anyway after installing a couple of trial versions of layout planners for evaluation. 

All advice welcome. 

[lil chris]

@ten0G  Are you on Windows 11, if so just type windows security in the search bar, probably works the same with w10.
Too remove McAffe go into control panel and click on Programs/uninstall a program.

[Railwaygun]

Malwarebytes has a good free version and works well  for me
( multiple Win10 machines)

[Chris Morris]

I've used Windows Defender for ten years of more.

[AlexanderJesse]

I use german Avira to protect my Windows machines. With good success. Free version is available.
https://www.avira.com

[The Q]

I work for a company with over 100,000 computers round the world, I have 3 in here I use , and another 20 come in attached to their test systems.. They all depend on defender..

[njee20]

Just another +1 for Defender; it's all we use on our work machines too (software tech company). Aftermarket antivirus software feels very 20 years ago!

[joe cassidy]

I like Avast because it sends me messages on  a regular basis which me reassures me that it is there and hopefully doing its job.

[PLD]

I like Avast because it sends me messages on  a regular basis which me reassures me that it is there and hopefully doing its job.

I dislike Avast because it sends me messages on a regular basis nagging to upgrade to a more expensive version...