Malwarebytes is good for malware

Recent reviews have pointed out that the free Malwarebytes is very good for removing malware once you've been infected; but it provides no real-time watch on potential "incoming." In the most recent review I've seen, the free versions got very good ratings for detecting infections, but only fair points on removal of all it could find. The paid version(s?) got decent ratings in that review, for both blocking and removal.

If you let Microsoft do updates on schedule, they will scan your PC regularly to remove currently common infections (much the same thing as for free Malwarebytes?), but only looks for the infections most prevalent at any given time . I believe they call that one "Microsoft Guardian." That utility doesn't provide any real-time features.

The slightly different Microsoft Security Essentials is a real-time filter and is considered adequate for many users. If you do a lot of web surfing, and/or if you do lots of email correspondence outside your known circle of associates (and you trust them?), you might want something that provides a more complet "suite" of protections; and you might be better served by another kind if you are using a 24/7 connection (of course that's if your computer is on all, or nearly all, the time).

AVG may have been the "popular" one you remember from a while back here. The paid subscription has received consistently favorable reviews over a fairly long time, but the free version has varied from "better than average" to "unacceptable" within the past year from the same (credible) reviewers. The most recent reviews have moved the free version back to "acceptable for wimps?"

Remember that new malware schemes arrive at the rate of about one per minute according to the security mavens, so what may be good today could be a total dud tomorrow (or later today) if the provider doesn't have an aggressive update system in place.

Note that if it's applicable to your situation, several of the AV sellers offer "multi-computer" packages that per computer are a lot cheaper than separate subscriptions for each machine.

John