antivirus Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Why can’t I remove the Antivirus app from my computer?

Posted on February 15, 2025

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Question from Dale: Hi, Rick. I have a problem that I hope you can help me with.

I just bought a new antivirus app for our computers. I read your post about only running one antivirus app at a time and I’m trying to uninstall AVG Antivirus before installing the new program.

I was able to remove AVG from my wife’s computer with no problems at all, but when I try to uninstall it from my laptop it gives me an error and the uninstall fails.

Can you tell me what I need to do to remove AVG from my computer? [Read more…]

Real-Time vs. On-Demand: Antivirus protection explained

Posted on July 24, 2024

I’ve been receiving questions from folks who are confused about the terms Real-Time and On-Demand in regards to antivirus protection, so I thought it might be helpful to explain the difference between them here.

Both real-time and on-demand antivirus protection is important for keeping your computer free of viruses and other forms of malware, but while they are closely-related, they operate in very different ways. [Read more…]

How to remove an antivirus app that Windows can’t uninstall

Posted on July 7, 2024

I receive hundreds of tech questions every week, and as you might expect some questions get asked over and over.

One of the questions that gets asked most often is some variation of “How do I remove [McAfee, Norton or whatever] from my computer?”

For various reasons, antivirus apps can sometimes be difficult to remove with Windows’ native uninstaller, and I’ve had my own issues with many of them in the past.

Luckily, there’s a simple way to remove most any antivirus program from your computer: Just download and run that company’s automated removal tool! [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is Microsoft Defender not working?

Posted on May 24, 2024

Question from Ellis: My new computer came with the trial version of McAfee Antivirus preinstalled and I ended up not liking it.

I uninstalled it from my computer last night and now I can’t get Microsoft Defender to start up.

Is there something else I need to do besides just uninstalling the McAfee program? [Read more…]

Q&A: Are free antivirus apps just as good as paid ones?

Posted on May 1, 2024

Question from Hailley: Hi, Rick. I’ve been reading your blog for a good while now and I love your tips!

I’ve noticed that you often recommend using free antivirus software instead of one of the expensive paid programs.

I really like the idea of using free software whenever possible, but I want to make sure my laptop is protected from all the nasty viruses that are out there these days.

My question: Are the free antivirus programs really just as good as the ones you pay for? [Read more…]