Virus and malware removal is our third-biggest repair category — roughly 1 in 9 of all jobs across more than 15,000 workshop records, behind only screen faults and machines that won’t boot. And it’s lopsided: the overwhelming majority of it is Windows PCs. On Apple machines, malware is a much smaller slice of the work.
But here’s the thing that surprises people. When we open up a machine that’s “got a virus”, it’s rarely the dramatic, data-stealing infection they’re picturing. Far more often it’s junk software, nagging trial antivirus, and scam popups — problems of clutter and trickery rather than genuine malware. That distinction matters enormously, because it changes the honest answer to the question everyone asks: do I still need to pay for antivirus?
What’s actually on the machines
Here’s the real mix of what comes through the door labelled “virus”:
| What we find | What it actually is | The real fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Your PC is unprotected!” popups | Trial antivirus (McAfee/Norton) nagging for renewal | Remove the trialware; enable built-in Defender |
| Popups from a “cleaner” or “booster” app | A potentially unwanted app the owner installed | Remove the junk app |
| Browser full of ads, redirects, odd toolbars | Adware / browser hijacker | Clean the browser and extensions |
| “Call this number to fix your computer” | A scam popup / fake tech support | Close it; never call |
| Genuinely malicious software | Actual malware | Proper removal and a security check |
Notice how much of that list is not a virus. Let’s go through the big ones.
The paid-antivirus myth
New Windows laptops almost always ship with a trial of a paid antivirus — usually McAfee or Norton. It’s a commercial arrangement designed to convert you into a subscriber, and to do that it needs you to feel unsafe. So as the trial runs down, the warnings escalate: “your PC is unprotected”, “act now”, countdown timers. Plenty of people pay simply to make the nagging stop.
What the popups won’t tell you: Windows already includes its own antivirus. Microsoft Defender is built in, free, updates itself automatically, and is independently rated as effective against mainstream threats. For the everyday home user it’s genuinely enough. One of the most common things we do on an infected-feeling PC is simply remove the trial suite and let Defender do its job — and the machine usually speeds up too, because trial antivirus is a heavy background tenant. You rarely need to pay for antivirus.
The fake-cleaner-app trap
The mirror image happens on tablets and phones — and increasingly on PCs. Someone’s device is a bit slow, so they install an app promising to “clean”, “boost” or “optimise” it. Once in, that app does the opposite: it serves intrusive ads, throws up fake warnings, and nags you to install more of the same. The popups you’re trying to escape are being generated by the app you installed to escape them.
These are “potentially unwanted programs”, and they run on a neat bit of psychology: a scary popup makes you crave protection, and the thing offering “protection” is the thing making the popups. The fix is never another app — it’s removing the junk you already have. If a free app is aggressively telling you your device is broken, be suspicious of the app, not the device.
Do Macs get viruses?
Less than PCs — but yes, they’re not immune, and “Macs don’t get viruses” does real harm because it convinces owners a Mac needs no care at all. In our records, malware is far rarer on Apple machines than on Windows. But Macs still collect adware, junk apps and browser hijackers, and there’s a quieter risk that’s arguably bigger: a Mac left on an old, unsupported version of macOS. Once a Mac falls off Apple’s security-update list, it stops getting patched and modern browsers stop working on it — at which point it’s both exposed and increasingly useless. The fix for a neglected old Mac is usually a clean-up plus an OS upgrade, not an antivirus subscription. If you’re on a Mac, our note on MacBook repair and keeping macOS current is the more useful place to start than buying security software.
The scam popups — never call the number
The most important one to recognise, because it targets people directly. A popup fills the screen: “Your computer is infected. Call this number immediately.” Sometimes there’s an alarm sound and a warning it’ll lock if you close it. It’s a scam, every time. No real antivirus ever asks you to phone a number. The goal is to get you to call fake “support”, who then talk you into giving them remote access to your machine or your card details.
Don’t call. Don’t click “fix”. Close the browser — and if a fake full-screen page won’t let you, force the browser shut or restart the machine. If it keeps coming back, that’s when it’s worth having the machine cleaned properly, because something is triggering it.
So when would you want more than Defender?
Being honest, because “you never need paid security” would be too glib. Businesses handling sensitive data, machines used for higher-risk activity, households wanting central parental controls or a managed solution across many devices — there are real cases where a paid product or a managed cybersecurity setup earns its place. The point isn’t that paid antivirus is worthless. It’s that the average home user doesn’t need it, and certainly shouldn’t be scared into it by bundled trialware.
How to actually stay safe (without paying for it)
- Keep Windows or macOS updated. Most real infections exploit things that were already patched. Updates are your biggest free defence.
- Leave Defender on (Windows) and don’t stack multiple antivirus programs — they conflict and slow the machine without adding safety.
- Be sceptical of popups and downloads. Don’t install “cleaner” apps, don’t call numbers in warnings, and think before clicking “download” on anything unexpected.
- Use an ad-blocker in your browser — a surprising amount of adware and scam-popup exposure comes through dodgy ads.
- Back up your important files. If the worst ever does happen — including ransomware — a backup is what turns a disaster into an inconvenience.
A fair word on the data
These figures describe what people bring to a repair shop, not a survey of every infection everywhere. Machines with mild adware often get tolerated for months, while a dramatic popup takeover comes in fast — so the mix here reflects what makes people seek help. Percentages are rounded and based on how each job was logged. Even so, the shape is consistent and clear: most “viruses” are junk and trickery, the work is overwhelmingly on Windows, and paying for antivirus is rarely the thing that would have prevented it.
Get an honest clean-up
If your computer, Mac or tablet is throwing up popups, warnings or ads — or nagging you to renew antivirus you never chose — we’ll clean it up and tell you honestly what was actually wrong, without selling you a subscription you don’t need. We handle virus removal, junk-app clean-ups and PC repair from our Putney workshop (SW15), serving South West London.
Call 020 7610 0500, drop in to SW15, or use the contact form.