Anyone have any experience with IObit's free protection software? CNET reviews look strong, but I'd rather hear from people I kinda sorta know and trust.

Free versions of commercial "protection software" these days are nagware. (maybe there are exceptions...)

I forget which one I installed first, but they have something like 10 different programs that all look useful (especially if they're free). I'm not a "high PC performance gamer," but I also don't wanna have my PC slowed down by these things either.

Don't waste your time with that snake oil...

I'm fairly certain that Microsoft Security Essentials (or whatever it's called now - the antivirus and firewall that's built-in to Windows) does what you need.

Stay away from the so called freeware as it ain't that good but there are extreme exceptions and they are hard to find. Installing freeware, just to have a look or because it looks interesting and does backflips can really do damage to speed of pc and registry which they will attack and stick to and then you would need a plumber to clean out the swamp.

As Randalator said, many of those programs are unneeded overhead and a simple free(not free version but one that is only given for free and doesn't have nag screens to upgrade/a premium version) firewall and anti virus combo usually works very well.

Also with a good firewall one can often not run the AV at start/all the time and only run scans on DLd files and every so often.

I service 4k employees and 24k customers install Windows 10, keep it fully updated and use malwarebytes firewall control set to medium filtering and actively protect your system. there is nothing better... If you dont like that firewall controller then Comobo Firewall is the only other one worth its salt.

You dont need anything else, keeping windows, your software, drivers and BIOS up to date is the most important thing.

I used the pro version a long (?) time ago, and it was really nice.
However, since windows 10 has been out, I feel like those kind of "Optimizers" are doing more harm than good.

Let your OS do that stuff: it knows what it's doing.

I was gonna suggest malwarebytes myself.....def a good program.What about a portable av on mem stick for if the main av gets corrupted by a virus or malware? ;)

I once managed to brick my laptop with their oh so 'amazing" Driver Booster.

Trust me you dont want any of their shovelware useless garbage on your pc.

Do you really mean nagware, or rather crippleware? Or a mix of both?

I meant nagware. Avast even pulls "tricks" to get people to pay. Like a tiny grey button to update for free next to a big green one to "upgrade" to the paid version.


I had to look up crippleware... sounds like what I would call a demo version.

The best all in one i know off that can be maintained and updated offline is CCE Download the version you want, get definition updates and run offline... you'll need to manually update it every few weeks or so to keep it viable.

Its a rootkit, virus, malware, PUP and HT scanner that gives you cleaning control.

cnet is a spyware site, and iobit sucks, if your looking for a decent pc cleaner software privazer is f ree and is trusted i have used it for many years,

if oyur on windows 10 i also suggest getting shutup10 to disable telemetry

also get ribbon disabler which gets rid of that god awful windows 10 explorer bar and makes it look like windows 7 one

classic shel lcan make windows 10 start menu look like xp,vista,7

these are all free softwares a nd worth having, iobit has never been good and cnet is terrible

also a good site to register with to ask this qwestion with people who talk about this alot more than on GOG is malwaretips.com its basically a site where uses can ask qwestions and review secruity software e tc, it can range from basic softwares to advanced system lockdown techniques, but it is just a forum