For many years, Bitdefender has offered free antivirus to all, but that ends soon for Windows users. As of 1/1/2022, they say that their free software will be discontinued. And they’d love to sell you their paid antivirus!
But whoa there, let’s slow it down a bit. If they’re trying to convert you to a paying customer, put your wallet away and consider other free protection software. There’s plenty of options out there!
Your first step will be to uninstall all Bitdefender Free software from your computer. After you do that and reboot your PC, check the white or blue shield icon in your taskbar. The Windows Security Center should allow you to turn on Microsoft’s built-in protection, Microsoft Defender Antivirus. (And in many cases, it turns itself on!) That is enough protection, and equivalent to any other free antivirus out there!
If you really want to go above and beyond, you may. I don’t necessarily recommend it, but I realize that some folks appreciate having a 3rd party antivirus app. And many other companies still offer free antivirus, like:
These programs are trustworthy and quality, but may advertise to you after you install them. If you go with Microsoft’s free protection, you won’t see any ads or sales offers!
If you have any difficulty or concern with this switch, please call me! I can remotely assist with this quick changeover.
Great — thank you.