Best Free Antivirus: How to Protect Your PC for Free!

Antivirus software can slow down your computer, bombard you with ads to install their bloatware or upgrade to a “better version” and on top of that, it can be expensive! 

Furthermore, it may not always catch every threat, still leaving your computer vulnerable without you knowing about it.

So, why do you need an antivirus and what happens if you don't have one installed on your computer?

Well, you risk losing your personal information, files, and even having your computer damaged beyond repair. It's a scary thought, isn't it?

It's important to note that there’s no antivirus software that will 100% detect every threat and I’m not discussing the built-in security features that come with Windows in this video. 

Instead, I’ll be discussing a combination of other programs and techniques that you can use to protect your computer from online threats, in conjunction with Windows Security, and they’re all completely FREE. 

What I’ll be sharing today can also be used to disinfect your computer, if it’s already infected.

Before we begin, I also have a video version on this subject in case you prefer to watch rather than read and the video may also contain more information than this post.

1. Norton Power Eraser

The first program is a free virus removal tool that can be run to remove malware and threats from your computer, it doesn’t have to be installed.

Norton Power Eraser is incredibly straightforward to use, once opened, just click on Run now to start a scan.

When it’s finished, you can remove items by selecting them and then clicking on fix now.

You may be prompted to restart your system to complete the process.

Click Here to Download Norton Power Eraser

2. AdwCleaner 

The next tool is the world’s most popular adware cleaner that finds and removes unwanted programs and junkware, so your online experience stays optimal and hassle-free.

AdwCleaner is an excellent product by Malwarebytes and is really easy to use.
After agreeing to the terms, just click on scan now and when it’s done, click on quarantine.

You may be prompted to restart your system to complete the process.

Click Here to Download AdwCleaner

3. Malwarebytes

The next program is the only program that has to be installed and kept on your system.

Malwarebytes is the software that prevails when all else fails.

To use it, just click on Scan.
When it’s done it will display a list of every threat that is detected and you can have a look through it to see if it might have detected any false positives.
To remove the threats, click on Quarantine.

You may be prompted to restart your system to complete the process.

I recommend keeping Malwarebytes installed on your system and using it in conjunction with Windows Security, but you need to convert it to the Free version and disable it from running at windows startup as the free version doesn’t include real time scanning and you’ll only be using it when you intend on running a scan, which I recommend doing once a week.

Click Here to Download Malwarebytes

4. HiBit Uninstaller (BONUS)

As an added bonus, I recommend using HiBit uninstaller, which is not a virus removal tool, but can still help us double check some things.

Firstly, you should use it to uninstall old and unused software on your system, but it has a great range of other tools.

Let’s start by using the Browser Extension manager.

Here’s a list of browser extensions that are installed in the different browsers running on your system.

Select any extensions that are unknown to you or that you’re not using anymore and then uninstall them.

Next, let’s use the Startup Manager.

Here’s a list of all the software that’s running at startup, and you can deselect programs to stop them from starting automatically.

In addition to that there is a VirusTotal score for each program, which can help you determine if anything running at startup is infected.

This is optional, but you can also use the registry and junk files cleaners for some extra optimization.

When you’re done with all of these steps, I recommend doing a restart on your pc .

After that your pc won’t just be malware and virus free, but chances are it’s also gotten a little bit faster in the process.

Click Here to Download HiBit Uninstaller

It would mean a lot to me if you could leave a comment to let me know if you’ll still be keeping your antivirus software installed on your system, or if I’ve convinced you that the methods I discussed here are superior to just relying on a third-party antivirus program.