yeah, browser wise i use ad-block and no-script plugins, good to go!  a lot of malware is delivered via "banner ads" or "sponsored ****" these days

Rob[atSound-Rehab]
 
Thinking about replacing it with some free antivirus, which is less intrusive (e.g. Avira AntiVirus) - thoughts, suggestions?

I have had good luck with Avira Free, and it has the same detection methods as the Pro version.  So unless you want additional mail protection or web scanning, no need for Pro.  It has a good file exclusion feature, so I just put all of my music programs and data folders in there and I'm good to go.
 
From what I've read over at AV Comparatives, https://www.av-comparatives.org/comparatives-reviews/ the consistently top three AV's today with the best detection and the lowest false positives are Avira, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky.  The first two offer free versions.  I run Bitdefender Free 2016 on my home theater PC, but it has no exclusion settings.  But there is a one-click option to turn on/off active protection.  I leave it off unless I happen to be using the web browser or downloading something.  Very light that way

There are sites that report regularly on how well the AV contenders are doing. I'd check them out, tho I will say that Norton is always near the top.
 
People are always trashing Norton but I've used it for almost 20 years without any issues. As long as I have a Windows 7 system I'll keep it around. But my Windows 10 system will doubtfully ever see it.
 
And if you think your AV is messing with your DAW, simply turn it and the WiFi off while you work offline.

soens
There are sites that report regularly on how well the AV contenders are doing. I'd check them out, tho I will say that Norton is always near the top.
 
People are always trashing Norton but I've used it for almost 20 years without any issues. As long as I have a Windows 7 system I'll keep it around. But my Windows 10 system will doubtfully ever see it.

That's all well and good, except that the OP requested some free solutions advice
 

soens
 
And if you think your AV is messing with your DAW, simply turn it and the WiFi off while you work offline.

 
Best suggestion!

Personally, if you want free AV then Defender is probably as good as any of them. But they will all be listed near the bottom of any list for reliability. You get what you pay for.

Zero issues using Defender for years.  I stay away from pRon sites as an added measure of safety 

BobF
Zero issues using Defender for years.  I stay away from pRon sites as an added measure of safety 

+2

soens
Personally, if you want free AV then Defender is probably as good as any of them. But they will all be listed near the bottom of any list for reliability. You get what you pay for.

Actually, Avira is as good as any paid AV.  Avira Free uses the same malware detection engine with Avira Protection Cloud as the Pro version. Usually scores at, or near 100% sample malware detection rate.  Good enough for me
 
The paid Avira Pro version just adds extra web scanning and mail protection, but no better detection.  It just protects you more if you're careless about what you click on, or open emails from unknown source.