Guardian Internet Security Reviews & Ratings

4.6/5

“Emergency Boot Disc = Lifesaver”

When my sister got ransomware, I created Guardian’s emergency disk and booted her PC without logging into Windows—it cleaned the infection. That was a serious relief. The process is technical though—I wish it had a simpler wizard.

Pros : Can create emergency bootable disk to clean heavily infected machines

Cons : Creating the disk is a bit technical for non-geeks

Switched from : Kaspersky Internet Security For Android

Reason to switch : Needed quicker emergency cleanup without downloading separate tools.

4.6/5

“Auto-Silent Mode Saved My Presentations”

Nothing’s worse than antivirus pop-ups during a big presentation. Guardian’s silent mode shuts everything off during full-screen, which saved me from embarrassment. I just wish I could schedule it without toggling manually.

Pros : Suppresses pop-ups during presentations

Cons : No granular granularity to control silent mode timing

Switched from : Norton Antivirus

Reason to switch : Moved to Guardian because Norton still had intrusive notifications even in presentation mode.

4.5/5

“Browsing Protection, But Doesn't Support Chrome Well”

I thought I was browsing safely until Guardian blocked a cunning phishing site—I’d have fallen for it otherwise. Problem is, it only protects IE, not Chrome or Firefox which I use daily.

Pros : Blocks phishing and fake websites

Cons : Only covers Internet Explorer (no Chrome/Firefox support)

Switched from : MalwareFox

Reason to switch : Needed better browser-wide protection—Guardian only covers IE.

4.5/5

“Ransomware Shield That Actually Works”

I switched from Avast after seeing headlines about Avast selling user data. With Guardian, I feel safer—its behavior-based DNAScan caught a suspicious file trying to encrypt my documents. It’s a relief knowing that ransomware defense actually kicks in. The interface feels clunky, and scans aren’t the fastest, but I’ll take security over speed any day.

Pros : Real-time ransomware and behavior-based detection

Cons : UI feels dated, and scans can be slow

Switched from : Avast Antivirus

Reason to switch : Moved to Guardian after privacy concerns with Avast and for better ransomware protection.

4.5/5

“Self-Protecting & Quiet, But Resource Use Is Noticeable”

Guardian ensures its core processes can’t be killed—that’s perfect. It also stays quiet unless something serious happens. But on older PCs, I notice it using around 200?MB RAM even when not scanning.

Pros : Stops tampering of its own processes

Cons : Uses noticeable memory even in idle mode

Switched from : AVG Antivirus

Reason to switch : AVG used too many pop-ups and bundled software; Guardian was more self-contained.

4.5/5

“Strong Firewall—But Network UI Could Improve”

I do a lot of remote work and love that Guardian includes an IDS/IPS firewall that stops odd incoming traffic. But setting up custom rules is confusing—it’s not as seamless as Windows’ firewall interface.

Pros : Includes IDS/IPS and firewall features

Cons : Network rules are hard to configure

Switched from : Bitdefender Antivirus Plus

Reason to switch : Needed firewall and network protection without Bitdefender’s resource-heavy bundle.

4.3/5

“Password Protection for Settings—Neat!”

I love that I can lock the Guardian settings with a password—great for shared family PCs. But I wish it kept logs of failed password attempts.

Pros : Password lock for antivirus settings

Cons : No logs of failed password attempts

Switched from : Avira

Reason to switch : Needed settings lock; Avira didn't offer that feature.

4.3/5

“Affordable Price, Good Coverage”

I got Guardian Internet Security voucher for just ?375 on sale (?799 MSRP)—amazing value! It protects one device well. I wish they offered cheap family packs, though.

Pros : Priced around ?799/year—budget friendly

Cons : No multi-device pack

Switched from : Mcafee Antivirus

Reason to switch : McAfee's yearly price was much higher. Guardian gave similar features at half cost.

4.2/5

“Deep Behavior Scans, But Slow On Demand”

Guardian paused a sneaky keylogger using its behavior detection—awesome! But when I ran a full system scan, it took well over an hour. It’s thorough but slow.

Pros : Advanced behavior detection with DNAScan

Cons : On-demand full system scan is slow

Switched from : Microsoft Defender

Reason to switch : Needed deeper sandbox-style protection missing in Defender.

4.2/5

“USB Protection Saved My USB!”

After a friend handed me his USB stick, I let Guardian scan it, and it quarantined an embedded malware right away. Super grateful I avoided that infection! I do wish it had cloud backup for quarantined files, but local storage is okay.

Pros : Scans and cleans USB drives automatically

Cons : No cloud-based quarantine

Switched from : Quick Heal Total Security Multi-Device

Reason to switch : Needed better USB protection than Quick Heal offered.