Nowadays, no one thinks of connecting to the Internet without an antivirus. However, although we can find a wide variety of security solutions on the network, not all security programs protect you the same. Connecting to the Internet with a poor quality antivirus is almost like doing without it, since viruses, Trojans and hackers will be able to bypass your protection without much difficulty.

Next, we are going to see which are the best antivirus https://www.bestadvisor.com/antivirus-software that we can download and install in Windows to protect ourselves from the threats that are hidden on the Internet and that, in addition, do not slow down our computer.

What should a good antivirus have?

A good antivirus must offer us a good engine that is capable of detecting all types of malware before it runs on our computer. This engine, in addition to having a database that is updated several times a day with new threats, must also be able to make use of the cloud to protect against zero-day threats, and a heuristics engine capable of recognizing malware from their behavior, even though it has never been seen before on the Internet.

Of course, you must also have other security shields that protect us from other threats. An email filter, a firewall and even an anti-spyware and an anti-ransomware are, today, essential characteristics that we must look for when choosing an antivirus.

In addition, it is very important that the antivirus we choose is correctly optimized so as not to slow down the computer. Thus, while protecting us, it will allow us to take advantage of all the available resources of our hardware and extend the battery life to the maximum.

Free or paid antivirus?

When choosing security software to protect our safe computer, the first question that comes to mind is whether we choose a free antivirus to protect Windows, or we pay a license for a paid antivirus.

Is the protection of a paid antivirus better than that of a free one? The truth is that practically all of the well-known security firms and companies will protect us practically the same, since many even share the databases between them.

The main difference between a free antivirus and a paid one are the shields, or additional protection modules. The free ones are usually simpler and protect us only against malware, while the paid ones usually include a complete firewall, email protection shields, purchase protection and other additional security tools.

It is up to us to choose whether we want a free antivirus that only protects us, or a paid one that provides us with superior protection with its additional shields.

Best free antivirus to protect Windows

Getting good protection for our computer does not imply at any time having to spend a lot of money. On the web we can find a large number of free antivirus for Windows that will allow us to be protected from malware.

Windows Defender

The first of the free antivirus that we recommend is Windows Defender. This is Microsoft’s antivirus that is included by default in Windows 10 and that offers us outstanding protection in every way.

Windows Defender provides us with comprehensive protection for our Windows computer. This antivirus has a complete engine capable of detecting all kinds of threats that could endanger our computer, a firewall to protect the PC’s network connections (the well-known Windows firewall), and other additional shields to offer us additional protection. For example, it has modules to protect the kernel of the operating system, a protection shield against exploits and even modules to protect the little ones and other members of the family when they use the Internet.

Among its main advantages we can highlight the low consumption of resources and, above all, that being integrated with the operating system guarantees that we will not have problems when installing Windows updates. Something that, unfortunately, does not happen with other browsers.

You don’t have to download Windows Defender to use it in Windows 10, as it is installed by default. If we have a previous version of the operating system, we will not be able to download and use this free antivirus.

Avast Antivirus Free

Avast is one of the most popular free antivirus that we can find on the net. This offers us complete protection against malware and other threats directly from the cloud. Avast has its own engine that analyzes and protects our computer in real time, and its database is updated in real time so that we are protected against all threats from minute zero.

This free antivirus has one of the easiest interfaces to use. Thanks to it, any user, even without knowledge, can have the protection of their PC under control at all times. Thanks to the passive mode of this antivirus it is even possible to install it together with other security programs. It even has a do not disturb mode so that it does not show messages while we play or enjoy our favorite movies and series.

Among its additional features we can highlight the possibility of sending suspicious files directly to the security company for analysis, an engine to control our Wi-Fi network and prevent intruders and even an intelligent analysis system to detect security breaches in our PC or our network and help us protect ourselves.

Avira Free Security

Another of the best known free antivirus that we can find is Avira. It is also one of the simplest that we can install to protect our computer. Thanks to its efficient and powerful antivirus engine, we can be sure that our PC is fully controlled and protected against all kinds of threats.

In addition, this antivirus has other security modules that allow us to surf the Internet without worries. One of them is the shield that is responsible for analyzing the websites we visit and blocking all those that may be dangerous and hide malware that could endanger our security. In addition, it includes a password manager that allows us to generate strong passwords and save them safely, avoiding repetition and protecting our identity online.

Finally, this antivirus  also has a tool that allows us to fix more than 200 security settings so that our Windows is always as protected as possible.