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Bitdefender free antivirus
BitDefender Free Edition is currently one of the best alternatives to the antivirus integrated into Windows 10, which it manages to replace really in a sublime way without sacrificing performance: in fact, it is one of the lightest antiviruses we can install, but also one of the most effective and powerful in the fight against malware. If we haven’t downloaded yet BitDefender Free Edition we can do it from the official page.
Bitdefender interface
BitDefender Free Edition is currently only available in English but no we have to worry since the antivirus comes with a minimal interface and can also be used by people who are not very familiar with the English language.
As mentioned, there is currently no simpler and more minimal antivirus in circulation than this: once installed we will have a simple interface where we will find the results of the latest scans and updates. From the same interface, we can start a full system scan by pressing on System Scan or alternatively, scan a single suspicious file or folder by simply dragging it into the interface.
There are no other particular functions: to access the scarce antivirus options, all we have to do is press the gear icon at the top right and choose from the menu items present.
To disable Bitdefender antivirus protection (even if only temporarily) just press the gear icon at the top right, bring us to the menu Protection, and turn off the switch next to the item Protection Shield.
Bitdefender features
Even if it is very minimal and light in memory, Bitdefender manages to block practically all web threats, with accuracy even higher than Windows Defender or another free antivirus. Below we can find a valid list of the security features of the antivirus:
- Real-time scanning: the Bitdefender protection module (which starts as an unblockable Windows process) monitors files and processes that are opened, modified, or created in the background as they are used by the computer, it performs occasional system scans when the PC is idle and cleans any infections on its own.
- Cloud updates: the antivirus does not require maintenance, as it proceeds to download the new virus signatures as soon as an Internet connection is available, synchronizing with the proprietary cloud service.
- Global Protective Network: Much of the scanning power is done through the cloud, so we have less impact on performance when we use other programs.
- Automatic Threat Removal: Any malware found or intercepted on your PC automatically ends up in quarantine, leaving no difficult decisions for the user (who will only be notified of the detection)
- Link and URL scanning: the real-time scanning module can also intercept links pointing to dangerous resources or resources recognized as a threat, so as to promptly block emails containing phishing links.
- Defense against advanced threats: Bitdefender antivirus can effectively block ransomware or other malware that encrypt files and block user actions.
- Bitdefender Photon: this technology integrated with the Bitdefender antivirus allows to optimize the RAM consumption of the antivirus processes, so as to significantly reduce the impact on any PC (even older ones with only 2GB of RAM memory).
With these features, Bitdefender places itself at the top of the list of free antivirus that can be used on Windows 10, even on PCs that are no longer very young.
Performance real-time tests Bitdefender
In order to fully understand the qualities of Bitdefender’s free antivirus, we can rely on the results of independent tests conducted by AV-Comparatives, which places the antivirus in question among those that received the highest marks during the various tests.
As you can see in the image above, Bitdefender boasts top marks in Performance tests, top marks in real-time protection tests, and top marks in advanced protection and malware removal as well.
Another site we can turn to for independent antivirus tests is AV-TEST, which assigns a grade from 0 to 6 for the main testing categories.
Although the Internet Security version of Bitdefender was used in the tests, the results for the antivirus are also valid for the free version, which therefore boasts a rating of 6 for protection, a rating of 6 for performance, and a rating of 5 for the ‘usability (the paid version of Bitdefender has many more options and is not as minimal as the free one).
Conclusions
Bitdefender Free Edition is definitely to be included among the best free antivirus and can be considered the best antivirus for beginners since it does not require any configuration, is immediately ready to use, does not disturb when using the PC, and cleans malware on its own without requiring any action from the user, thus behaving like a great antivirus “install and forget”.
Always on the anti-virus theme, we invite you to read our guides Differences between antivirus and antimalware and which one to use e Should You Pay For An Antivirus?