What is a bang for the buck Anti Virus these days?

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My buddy just sold me his 2 year old Dell Optiplex 790 DT i3 SSD for $100.00. Told me I have to purchase an Anti Virus though. What is a bang for the buck Anti Virus these days? What is also a good cleaner program -- used free CC Cleaner on my last computer.
 
You don't need any cleaner things. Windows 10 built in Defender is fine but if you want the best, buy Malwarebytes.
 
I'd wipe the drive and reinstall W10. The built in defender is all that is needed.
 
Defender is fine, been using that for years. Every once in a while I install the free Malewarebytes and it doesn't really find anything. You can buy a Windows 10 Pro key online in the $10 range, but I think with those, you have to install it from scratch, can't just add the key like a real Pro.
 
My son's new laptop had Bit defender installed on it right at the store from the Geek Squad guys. I asked them just about using Windows defender but they recommended the Bit Defender instead.

Either way, Bit Defender was installed for free/was part of the deal so I assume they get a kickback?

I am not a computer guy so I have no idea what is best/necessary as I likely have too much on my PC, which includes the paid Avast Professional home edition, CCleaner (free version) and Super Anti Spyware (paid), plus I am continually clearing my history/data and using CCleaner after I close something out every time I've been into it.

I've been hacked before prior to using these things and not once since but that was quite a few years ago.
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
I always used Norton.


Almost as bad as having a virus / malware 🤣

I've always used Antivir free back when I ran Windows O/S.

Now I'm on Linux Mint ...Ž
 
Hadn't used an aftermarket antivirus since it's baked into Windows 10. It's all about having good browsing habits and having an adblocker and scriptblocker installed.
 
Originally Posted by dogememe
You don't need any cleaner things. Windows 10 built in Defender is fine but if you want the best, buy Malwarebytes.

Free Defender best bang for the buck plus Malware Bytes free or paid. Apple rep told me Malware Bytes is approved for Mac too.
 
I use Webroot only because it's provided free by my bank.
 
Windows Defender, unless you have family users actively searching out dodgy sites. Then, malwarebytes.

I'm in the "Norton, never again" camp.

I personally run Mint, but school and work requirements for the family require me to keep a Windows license or two around.
 
Malwarebytes and Avast for me. Had Norton, always seemed to take up too many resources. Used AVG Free for a while, but they changed something and it became a huge resource hog.
 
Not Windows Defender.... unless you like getting ransomware on a updated system!
 
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