Windows 8 comes
with a lot of new features, out of which one is the built in antivirus,
Windows Defender. While it’s a good solution, most prefer dedicated
security software. We recommend one of the solutions from out best antivirus 2013 for Windows 8 list,
but if you’re not up to shelling out money for security, you better get
one of the top free antivirus for Windows 8 detailed here. You might
face compatibility issues with older antiviruses, so make sure to get
the newest ones. The antiviruses here provide adequate protection, but
if you’re looking for complete internet protection and additional
features, we recommend going the premium way and getting an internet
security suite or paid antivirus. Nevertheless, you should always have a
security software installed.
(1) Comodo Antivirus
Comodo
Antivirus was always known to be one of the good free antiviruses, and
now it makes its way into the list of best free antivirus for Windows 8.
It’s more suited to advanced users though. While it has an excellent
malware detection rate, it falters in actually cleaning up the damage.
Furthermore, if you decide to give it a spin, get ready to see a lot of
notifications and prompts because there’s a lot of user intervention
required. Bottom line is, Comodo Antivirus will keep you safe, but won’t
clean up infested systems.
(2) ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall
We
know that ZoneAlarm firewalls are amongst the best in the business but
this time, even their free security solution is noteworthy. Bundling
both a good antivirus and powerful firewall, ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus +
Firewall offers all round protection, online and offline. Malware
detection, malware blocking and online protection is excellent, but it
unfortunately tends to slow down your computer a bit. If your daily
computer use consists mainly of online activity, this is the best free
antivirus for Windows 8 you can get.
(3) avast! Free Antivirus 7
You
can’t really mention free antiviruses without avast! in there
somewhere. The updated version 7 of avast! is an excellent and easy to
use product that provides good protection for well, nothing! It does a
good job of both detecting and removing threats and the addons like boot
time scanning, online protection and automatic sandboxing suspicious
programs only add to the deal. However, malware blocking could still be
better and it can take a toll on system resources, specially during
scans.
(4) Panda Cloud Antivirus Free
Our
next entry is Panda Cloud Antivirus, the lightest free antivirus for
Windows 8. Just like Webroot SecureAnywhere, Panda Cloud Antivirus Free
is cloud based and hardly stores any files on your hard drive. That
means less slowdown and faster scan times. On the protection front, it
detects threats well but again lags behind on cleaning them up. It’s a
barebones alternative though, there’s no firewall included so it’s got
less features than your average free antivirus solution. However, since
it’s a cloud based antivirus, even the newest threats are accounted for,
so you don’t have to worry about much.
(5) AVG Anti-Virus Free 2013
No
free antivirus list is complete without AVG and for good reason. AVG
Anti-Virus Free 2013 comes highly recommended on our list of the best
free antivirus for Windows 8 because it offers protection rivaling some
paid products. The core antivirus is basically the same as the paid one,
so it’s got excellent malware detection, blocking and removal rates.
The online protection and toolbar is also pretty useful. You might have
trouble installing it on infected computers, but it does a good job of
keeping threats at bay. AVG’s new modern UI based interface looks good
and is easy to use as well. One of our complaints was that this product
scans your computer and gives solutions to speed it up, but to actually
apply the fixes you will have to buy a separate product worth 39.99$.
It’s a tad misleading, but we can live with that. Overall if you’re
going for free protection, AVG Anti-Virus 2013 Free should be at the top
of your list.
We’re
aware that Windows 8 has issues with older security solutions, so those
were our picks for the top free antivirus for Windows 8. Do leave us a
comment and let us know what you think, and queries are welcome too!
