best free virus scan

[onethatcares]

is there a consensus as to what is the best free virus scan? Avast? Malwarebytes?

[RainCaster]

1. MWB

Malwarebytes has been a solid performer for years. Always been my favorite.

[Jack the Greater]

2. Avast vs Malwarebytes

Both providers offer a free version of their antivirus, and each one is quite basic. The free plan of Malwarebytes comes with a virus scanner, while Avast comes with malware (includes viruses) and ransomware protection as well as a firewall.

[Jack the Greater]

3. Here is another site comparing the two

This site claims that with the free option of Malwarebytes you must manually initiate scans for virus, malware, and ransomware, while Avast scans in real time.

"Avast offers many of the same features as Malwarebytes, including a freemium version that protects against viruses, malware and ransomware. However, whereas Malwarebytes requires you to manually run a scan, Avast’s free version runs discreetly in the background protecting you from these threats as they come up."

[onethatcares]

4. thank you very much for the replies

I used to have MWB on my desktop but don't know what happened to it. I can't tell if my download for MWB has worked because there was an icon that showed on the top of my screen the last time, this time, no icon.

I am very untechy.

[Ptah]

5. The Windows Defender / Windows Security that come with Windows works fine.

It's free.