Comodo Antivirus (FREE).
Light.
Easy.
Better than Windows Defender.

 

defender do not remove pirated software, it blocks keygens as do all anti virus programs

 

Windows Firewall and Defender, plus from time to time ADWcleaner. And dont forget to change securitysettings for your hostsfile to only read, so noone can change it in the background via malware/virus program.

 

Nothing beats hard facts:
Real world protection test 2020: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-october-2020/
2020 summary and awards: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/summary-report-2020/

Not all AVs are covered since not all of them want to participate (because they know their product sucks?)

As for the free AVs in those tests:

• Windows Defender is pretty solid: scores Advanced+ with 99,5% detection rate with 8 false positives in the real world protection test
• AVG and Avast are the overall best third party free AVs: both score Advanced+ with 99,7% detection rate and 10 false positives in the real world protection test

Personally I prefer an AV that doesn't flag keygens/cracks by default but actually scans them to see if they really are a threat or not. ESET NOD32 is the best in that department, but it's not free.

Last but not least: performance and privacy might be important to you as well. Windows Defender for example has low performance and taxes your system more than other AVs (see summary report). And then of course free AVs spy on your computer because there's no such thing as a free lunch. Reading through their privacy statements might be a good idea.

 

Last edited: Apr 8, 2021