For the free version, this ensures that your scans pick up on the latest threats. Like MSE, Malwarebytes also releases frequent updates of its malware database. Like the normal malware scan, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro’s real-time malware protection is designed to be light on resources. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free doesn’t offer real-time active protection, but the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro edition does.

In fact, I’m performing a full scan on my system while writing this post and am noticing no slowdown at all. Unlike the pesky trial versions of Norton and McAfee that come preloaded on budget computers, MBAM is also very unobtrusive while running in the background. So, right off the bat, MBAM is already picking up on malicious items that snuck past me and MSE. I was surprised by that, since I’m fairly conscientious about what I click on and download when browsing the web. And within a minute of running a full MBAM scan, one malicious object was detected. I’ve been running MSE on my PC since I first installed Windows.

To elaborate on those points a bit, the big two things that make MBAM worthwhile is its speed and thoroughness. Active forum community and responsive official tech support team.Log files (great for copying and pasting into forums).Doesn’t hog resources-won’t massively slow down your computer.Protects against malicious software that most antiviruses miss, such as adware, trojans, and spyware.Here are some of the main features that make Malwarebytes Anti-Malware particularly groovy:

Malwarebytes antimalware