Avast being intrusive

[Kosheh]

Petie, you're absolutely right about what commercial AV's are these days.
It's also just wonderful most of them now lack any form of shut-off switch/button.
Pretty sure one of my friends says he doesn't use them at all, anymore. They waste resources,  essentially hi-jack your computer, detect the wrong files, and tend to miss some of the legitimate threatening or unwanted programs.

I didn't know free antivirus programs were worse than Norton Antivirus (who literally prey off of people that just bought computers who don't know any better with automatic yearly subscriptions)

ESET

hahahahahehehehahahahahaha what a humongous dweeb why would you even suggest that, who the HELL uses this antiquated pizza shit anymore

* Kosheh has ESET NOD32 installed on all of his machines, literally nothing has touched my computer ever despite the shady shit i've waded through on the internet. 

At this point I'm not even sure I could suggest anything else.

stick with something like Microsoft's free Security Essentials and some common sense

most people probably would if it was not literally only supported by Windows 7 (XP refuses to work because it's OLD, as does Vista; 8 and 10 replaced it with Defender which actually scored lower than even Avast) I love suggesting this to clients, but the sad truth is that not many people use 7 anymore and you've got to contend with big crapola juggernauts

I'm not calling you out here or anything Petie it's just Security Essentials is really good but their newer products aren't (also, people unsurprisingly don't have much common sense either nowadays)

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That said, when it comes to free options, Petie's right: if you're running 7, Security Essentials is a great option. 

If you're running anything up to Windows 8.1, BitDefender is also a great option. Currently it's what I recommend to clients here at my job if they're looking to use something lightweight and free. Like Avast, it requires you to make an account with them (but this one you can actually use to monitor stuff with). However, given the way the way their free antivirus works (on startup, it makes a fake "virus" that just auto-flags and then catches it to make sure things are running at optimal speed) it isn't yet compatible with Windows 10. The only time it'll nag you is if you don't register. Like ESET, Bitdefender originates from Eastern Europe (the progress bar shows up in Czech for some curious reason when you install it)
BitDefender Free runs on anything from XP to 8.1.

If you're running 10 or even XP, Avast isn't a terrible idea, either - but nowadays just be ready to uninstall SafeBrowser and SafePrice once you finish installing it. Avast is a huge company and can't make money just on antivirus installs alone and mailing list subscriptions alone, so it's gotta install those things too to make a little side money (even when you uninstall it - y'know how it gives you that survey? Yeah that page load gives them like 1/5 of a penny) The paid versions of Avast come with WebRep - that's just Avast's way of keeping you safer than safe.



Oh yeah don't forget to turn on Silent mode right after you install Avast otherwise you're in for some lady's voice blowing out your speakers every time you do a virus scan.