Spyware, viruses, & security forum: which is the best free anti virus?

Still, AV is not about "being comfortable" with. It is about being able to detect and prevent threats. So unless you are saying that all AV are the same and it is all about UI, there are better and worse AV, regardless of user preference. It is not like picking your media player.

As a non professional, I find it quite puzzling to pick one because I have no benchmark whatsoever how to compare or assess them. I chose Avast simply because it has good reviews on CNET and because it is widely downloaded. But is it the best available option? Is it sufficient? I also read somewhere that it should be used in conjunction with Malwarebytes anti-malware. <div>
So if you could enlight me over a good combination of computer protection applications, I believe that would be of interest to many people around here.
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the "best" is the one YOU will actually USE and keep updated.

All the AV products will find some problems otjhers miss and miss some others find - NONE ARE PERFECT.

You can look for and read reviews about AV products but the reviews leave you at the mercy of what the reviewer may or may not have been looking for and what is important or not important to the reviewer.

Would you dump your present car and buy a KIA, or a Volt, or a F 350 Pickup simply because I or someone else told you it was the "best" car? You want something you are comfortable with and that you can customize the setup easily to meet your specific preferences and that means you should EXPERIMENT with different AV products until you find the one you are happiest with. One reason I list AVAST first is simply because it updates more often and in small, fast increments.

Supplement your choice of AV application with a good malware scanner such as MalwareBytes or Super Anti-Spyware or Emisoft Anti Malware (or all three and only use as on-demand scanners) and you should be good to go AS LONG AS you, the end user of the computer take some responsibility by avoiding bad sites and not opening email attachments from senders you do not know.