Virus removal software has gone from an option to a necessity in the last 10-15 years of the Internet. Believing that smart habits and safe visits to websites will keep you safe from the malicious cyber-criminals roaming the Internet isn’t just ignorance, it’s a blatant disregard for your online safety, your personal information, your financial wellbeing, and the safety of every person you contact via email or instant messenger.
Whoever you are and whatever you do for a living if you’re reading this then you’ve either been burned by viruses or malware or you’re fearful of it happening. But picking the top free adware tools to protect your information and your assets can feel overwhelming given how many options exist in the marketplace.
What makes things more complicated is that some anti-virus offerings are malware in disguise. Thousands of people a week are victimized by false apps that promise security but are really just installing more problems in their systems.
Fortunately, there are resources that provide adware tools reviews that give objective, balanced reports for different platforms including PC and Mac, and different mobile devices like Android and iPhone.
To get a glimpse of what some of the best virus, adware, and malware removal tools look like, here’s a deeper dive into five that get consistently high marks from reviewers and consumers alike.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Malwarebytes is like a beacon in the night the first time you realize something has infected your computer. It’s free to download, gives you a 14-day free trial of its premium edition, updates daily and has a lot of cool stuff included. The premium version lets you have first-class protection against ransomware and offers real-time scanning, but the basic version is almost as good without costing you a single penny. Make sure you manually configure it to run often and you won’t be sorry.
Zemana
Zemana has three signature applications that can be purchased specifically to your needs. The first is Zemana AntiMalware that is one of the industry’s best when it comes to removing adware. It also offers real-time protection against malware, can detect and remove bootkit and rootkit problems, and offers protection specifically designed for ransomware protection. There are free and paid versions of all three tools. Zemana Antilogger secures your keystrokes and SSL connections and Android Antivirus focuses specifically on the smartphone’s security measures.
Bitdefender Antivirus (Free Edition)
What’s better than getting terribly sick and having to go to the emergency room? Never getting sick in the first place. Bitdefender lets you pinpoint files and folders – such as your Downloads folder – that often house questionable files as they are brought onto your machine. Its Protection Shield feature will even tell you if someone’s trying to hack your system.
Emsisoft Emergency Kit
When malware appears, an emergency is a good term for how you feel. This is a portable app that you can keep on a USB stick or in the cloud that you can plug into or download onto an infected device. Once there, it will use its robust database to figure out the problem and eradicate it.
SUPRAntiSpyware
The name sounds sort of like a government agency in a superhero movie, but it goes after all spyware and adware and removes it completely from your system. You can control what types of files it scans so you don’t waste time going through the same files over and over. It does tend to slow your machine down a little when it’s being used, but just schedule it for 3 a.m. and you’ll be fine.
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