IObit Malware Fighter: Your Complete Guide to Real-Time PC Protection

Ensuring that your computer is safeguarded from common online threats is more important than ever in today’s digital age. If you don’t have security software installed on your PC, it could be open to an attack that could expose your files or damage your system. One such trusted application to keep your computer protected is the IObit Malware Fighter 12 Free, a PC protector developed by IObit, that always provides real-time protection against malware.

Whether you’re new to antivirus software or simply looking for something easy to use and powerful, our guide is here to help. You’ll discover how to download, install, and use IObit Malware Fighter 12 Free step-by-step. When you are done with this piece, you will be prepared to nicely defend your PC against malware.

What Does IObit Malware Fighter Do?

IObit Malware Fighter is a security software designed to protect your Windows PC from various types of malware and online threats. It focuses primarily on threat detection, prevention, and removal, acting as a dedicated anti-malware solution.

Multi-Engine Approach: It often uses a combination of its own “IObit Anti-malware Engine” and, in its Pro version, integrates a world-leading engine like Bitdefender’s antivirus engine. This dual-engine approach aims to provide a higher detection rate for various threats.

Threat Database: It maintains and regularly updates a large database of known malware signatures to identify and remove a wide range of threats, including viruses, spyware, adware, trojans, worms, keyloggers, ransomware, potentially unwanted programs, etc. 

Proactive Defense: Unlike on-demand scanners, IObit Malware Fighter provides continuous, real-time monitoring of your system. This means it actively scans files, processes, and network activity to detect and block threats before they can infect your computer.

Security Guards: IObit Malware Fighter typically includes multiple “guards” (e.g., Network Guard, File Guard, Startup Guard, Process Guard, MBR Guard, Camera Guard, USB Guard, Behavior Guard) that offer multi-layered protection across different areas of your PC.

Dedicated Anti-Ransomware Engine: It includes a specialized engine designed to detect and prevent ransomware attacks, which encrypt your files and demand a ransom. It aims to block unauthorized encryption attempts on your important data.

Safe Box/Sensitive Data Protect (Pro): This feature allows you to password-protect sensitive files and folders, creating a secure vault that even ransomware or other unauthorized programs cannot access.

Anti-Phishing/Malicious Site Blocking: It helps to prevent you from visiting dangerous websites, including phishing sites, scam sites, and those hosting malware.

Homepage & DNS Protection: Safeguards your browser’s homepage and DNS settings from being hijacked by malicious software.

Ads Removal: Blocks annoying pop-up ads and potentially unwanted advertising.

Anti-Tracking: Cleans tracking cookies and helps prevent websites from collecting data on your Browsing behavior.

Browser Password Guard (Pro): Encrypts and protects locally stored browser passwords from unauthorized access.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using IObit Malware Fighter 12 Free

1. Running a Quick Scan

The fastest method of scanning your PC for malware is the Quick Scan. To do this, from a main dashboard, click on the “Quick Scan” button.

This scan focuses on important sections of your computer where malware often hides, including running processes and the system directory. While it is scanning, you can also watch the progress on the screen.

The software will give you a report of any threats that it finds once the scan is finished. You can then decide whether or not to quarantine or delete these threats at the click of a button. Quarantine places suspicious files in a safe location, allowing you to recover them, if necessary, at a later time.

Frequent quick scans will help you stay on top of threats and keep your PC secure.

2. Performing a Full System Scan

For a deeper inspection, select the Full Scan option. This scan combs your entire computer, file for file and folder for folder, to root out and eradicate hidden or deeply buried malware.

To begin a full scan, choose “Full Scan” from the scanning menu. Remember that this does take longer than a quick scan, but it’s better than risking a threat going unnoticed. The program checks your hard drives, system files, and other areas thoroughly. When the scan is complete, you will get a report of all the malware that was detected. Remove or place these threats in quarantine as advised.

For the full safety of the system, it is a good practice to make full scans once a week or once a month.

3. Enabling Real-Time Protection

Manual scans are only as good as the static definitions, which serve to detect threats, with the superior security being that of real-time protection. That means that IObit Malware Fighter never stops working, trying to keep your PC safe as you use it.

To check that the Real-time protection is enabled, visit the Protection Center tab.

Here, you have the choices to enable protections:

• Malware Protection: There is real-time scanning of files and programs.
• Ransomware Shield: Blocks ransomware from encrypting your files.
• Browser Guard: Prevents dangerous websites from unseen and phishing attacks while you are browsing.

4. Using USB Disk Guard

External USB drives, such as pen drives, are the most common cause of malware infections. Viruses can jump from one PC to another by hopping onto infected USB sticks.

IObit Malware Fighter offers a feature called USB Disk Guard, which scans your USB device automatically when inserted into the computer. Make sure to check the settings in the USB Disk Guard from the Protection Center or from its tab. This function can protect your removable drives from some threats in your system.

Free vs. Pro Version

Free Version: Offers basic malware detection and on-demand scanning, along with some real-time protection.

Pro Version: Significantly enhances protection by:

– Including the Bitdefender antivirus engine for superior detection.

– Providing more comprehensive real-time protection with additional “guards.”

– Providing automatic updates and 24/7 technical support.

Choose Free if you need a basic scanner to occasionally check for malware or if you already have a strong, dedicated antivirus solution and just want a secondary layer for specific malware threats.

Choose Pro if you want a comprehensive, real-time security suite that integrates top-tier antivirus protection with IObit’s anti-malware capabilities, alongside advanced privacy and ransomware defenses, for a more secure and worry-free online experience.

A Final Word

It’s essential to protect your PC, and IObit Malware Fighter 12 Free provides a powerful, easy-to-use way to do that. It provides real-time protection, on-demand scanning, ransomware defense, and a USB disk guard to keep you protected from all kinds of threats. The user-friendly installation and use make this to be easy enough for beginners. Use this guide to make sure your system is clean by scanning your computer regularly and keeping it free from malware so you can enjoy fast, trouble-free performance every day.