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This wasn’t an easy task, and I learned that there are only a few free antiviruses out there that offer decent protection for Windows computers.īut there are also some really good free antivirus programs that offer improvements over Windows’s built-in protections. Running virtual environments for various PC operating systems from Windows 7 – Windows 11, I not only looked at each antivirus’s malware protection capabilities, but also its user interface and its reputation for safeguarding user privacy.
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I tested every free antivirus I could find against thousands of old and new Windows malware files.
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Short on time? Here’s the best free Windows antivirus for 2022:
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