Free Virus Remover App

These days all of the main operating systems come with some form of in-built security protection, such as Windows Defender, XProtect and Play Protect. Frankly, at this point in time, it is very risky to rely on these programs alone, even if you do practice “safe surfing” (or try to).

The free antivirus programs can be a step up from this (assuming you go to a reputable provider). At this point in time, however, the average person’s data not only deserves, but needs robust protection. With that in mind, it’s worth spending a little money on a high-quality, paid-for virus remover app and here are six key features you should look for in one.

Virus Remover App

Six key features in a good virus remover app

The ability to run without slowing down your computer or mobile device

Perhaps the reason why people resist using virus remover apps is because of the performance issues some of them cause. These can be noticeable on higher-end PC and mobile devices and can really become painful on lower-end devices such as budget Android smartphones and tablets.

The key point to remember here is that you are protecting your data rather than your device and the data does not even need to be on the device to need protection. For example, if your mobile device contains a password for data which is stored elsewhere, then compromising the mobile device also compromises the data.

Fortunately, there are antivirus products out there which run happily and quietly in the background, offering robust protection without compromising the performance of the computer or mobile device. In particular, Comodo is known for the fact that its products deliver robust protection without slowing down even budget-level computers and mobile devices.

Solid malware protection

Ideally you don’t want your virus cleaner app to have to remove viruses from your computer or mobile device. You want your virus remover app to prevent them from getting on it in the first place.

This is where cloud-based antivirus solutions (like Comodo) can have an edge since their virus definitions are guaranteed to be updated, whereas virus definitions held a computer or mobile device can become dated unless the user makes sure that they are updated regularly.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of this because new viruses are being created all the time (and they are becoming more sophisticated) so basically an out-of-date antivirus program could, at best, give very limited protection and, at worst, create a false sense of security.

Spyware scanning

Technically (most) spyware isn’t actually classed as a virus, but it is definitely malware and you really want to avoid getting it on your computer or mobile device. All malware is bad news but there is something particularly nasty about spyware, perhaps it’s the fact that viruses, as a whole, “just” cause damage to date and hence can lead to a whole lot of expense and inconvenience, whereas spyware allows an actual human to track your every move and having it on your computer or mobile device can allow a human to pry into anything and everything, including your most sensitive personal content such as family photographs.

A sandbox for untrusted software

If you do wind up with a virus on your computer, a good virus remover app will pull it into a sandbox before cleaning it up. Basically this ensures that if the virus tries to pull off any final tricks, the issues will be contained within the sandbox, rather than creating problems in the main system. This feature is becoming increasingly important as viruses become more sophisticated and may try to deceive antivirus programs into thinking that they have been cleaned out when in fact they are still very much active.

Personalized protection alerts

Ideally your virus remover app will learn about your behavior and adjust its alerts to reflect this. Some people might argue about whether or not this is a key feature, but it’s indisputably very convenient.

A value-for-money price

These days, most people will need more protection than is likely to be available from the free virus remover apps. For the sake of completeness, it’s worth noting that these malware removal apps are a whole lot better than nothing, but they do not offer the same level of protection as the paid-for virus clean app and can slow down your computer or mobile device. The good news is that Comodo has an excellent virus clean app which they have made available for about the same price as a cup of coffee. You can head to the Comodo website to buy it now.