when I go to Major Geeks and look for Bitdefender Antivirus, the newest thing I find is Bitdefender Online version 1.0.10.12. When I bring up, as I just did, Bitdefender assures me I am logged in to their system, that the system is working, and that it updated today, about an hour ago. Which is the same version number I see when I click on the BitDefender icon on my toolbar. It s a 293 MB program with version number 1. Īccording to the 'Uninstall or Change a Program' display from the Control Panel, I've been running 'BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition' since. I have to admit I have no idea what version of BitDefender is on my system. Windows Defender definitely caused false positives from both AVG and Panda while I was using those dreadful programs on Vista in the past, and Defender never successfully defended me from anything.Įdited by Abzyx, 12 March 2018 - 04:38 PM. Avast remains the most popular third-party freeware solution for some reason.Īs you probably know, recent versions of Avast create Group Policy registry keys to prevent you from turning Windows Defender back on, which is a good idea in my opinion. My personal experience with Panda Free was nothing short of disastrous, but that was three years ago now. Avira, Bitdefender, Sophos Home and even Microsoft Security Essentials can be ruled out because they no longer support Vista (or never did in the case of Sophos Home). As I mentioned in that thread, I cannot recommend Kaspersky in view of the cyberwarfare threat from Russia. There was a similar thread not so long ago. The anti-malware protection provided by Windows Defender in Windows 7/Vista is weak, meaning it does not provide comprehensive protection and cannot prevent, detect and remove all threats at any given time. Once you make a decision, remember that an anti-virus solution is not enough since most do not offer comprehensive protection.be sure to read Supplementing your Anti-Virus Program with Anti-Malware Tools.

If you don't want or can't afford to pay, then I would recommend Kaspersky Free Antivirus, Sophos Home Free Antivirus, Panda Free Antivirus or Bitdefender Anti-virus Free Edition if you prefer not to use Microsoft Security Essentials, the free solution for Windows 7 and Vista SP1/SP2 that combines the features of an anti-virus and anti-malware scanner to provide real-time protection.įor other suggestions, please refer to Choosing an Anti-Virus Program. Although it uses the same name, Windows 8/10 Defender is not the same since it integrates both anti-virus and anti-malware provides the same level of protection against malware as Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) provides on older operation systems plus enhanced protection against rootkits and bootkits. Windows Defender in Windows 7/Vista is an anti-malware (anti-spyware) program intended to supplement your anti-virus program, not replace it.

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