Windows 10 Defender. Do you rely on it for anti-virus protection?

[Moonlover]

I've been running my Acer Aspire on Windows 10 for 1 year following the free upgrade. Thus far I've been relying on the inherited McAfee software for antivirus protection.

 

My current subscription is expiring soon and I'm interested to hear from Win 10 users who rely solely on 'Defender' antivirus which come with the Win 10 package.

 

Are there any issues that I ought to know about before I take this 'leap of faith'. 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2019 by Moonlover
Spelling correction

[ChristianBlessing]

I'm not crazy using Windows but have a couple of Windows 10 PCs for work. I only use Defender, and have yet to encounter a problem. It keeps a low profile despite pretty deep, stateful inspection, offers regular scan reports, and doesn't nag me for a license upgrade.

[marin]

It does not work. At all. I got the free version of Malware bytes for a 15 day trial. My computer was totally infected and Malware cleaned it up. Defender was still saying my computer was clean, Even when the trial is finished Malware bytes protects you. But you cant scan when you want. 

[KhunBENQ]

Not using any 3rd party virus scanners/net nannies since more than 10 years without relevant problems (a browser hijack was the worst).

Security measures:

Login for normal use as a "Standard User" (no admin privilege).

Rarely login with administrative rights and then not wildly browse in the internet, not downloading/starting unknown stuff.

Using a script blocker in Firefox.

[norbra]

Before committing to Defender download and run spyhunter5,it will detect and report any trojans,malware and viruses you might currently have on your computer. It takes a while to load and scan but worth the effort. The download is a one time trial version but can be purchased if you desire

 

[lopburi3]

Defender works very well with no issues and is updated daily.  It is not intended or designed to put fear into users or convert them to pay versions with crap reports of wife having drinking issues.  ????

 

It protects and does that well if not ignored.

[tutsiwarrior]

since Win 10 has been available I do a weekly Win Defender advanced scan followed by a malwarebytes scan and no problems thus far...nothing detected by defender followed by nothing detected by malwarebytes then I figure that I'm OK...

 

 

[Crossy]

2 hours ago, marin said:

It does not work. At all. I got the free version of Malware bytes for a 15 day trial.

 

It's looking for a different thing.

 

I combine the W10 built-in thingy with SuperAntiSpyware (similar to Malwarebytes) with an occasional scan using Trend HouseCall.

 

Plenty of tracking cookies and the occasional PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) but nothing serious.

 

[chrisinth]

5 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

It's looking for a different thing.

 

I combine the W10 built-in thingy with SuperAntiSpyware (similar to Malwarebytes) with an occasional scan using Trend HouseCall.

 

Plenty of tracking cookies and the occasional PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) but nothing serious.

 

Agree fully. If you decide that Windows Defender is all you need (for anti-virus) then it is a really good idea to also run one of the anti-malware programs out there as well.

[Pattaya46]

8 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Defender works very well with no issues and is updated daily. //

It protects and does that well if not ignored.

Agree.

I stopped using additional anti-virus since I moved to Windows 10 (more than 3 years ago already)

and never get any problem. 

 

Several of anti-virus listed above are big drain in your computer resources 

[Medicine Man]

Install Bitdefender free edition, the PC mags do reviews of free editions of antivirus software and this is rated.

[chrisinth]

17 hours ago, marin said:

It does not work. At all. I got the free version of Malware bytes for a 15 day trial. My computer was totally infected and Malware cleaned it up. Defender was still saying my computer was clean, Even when the trial is finished Malware bytes protects you. But you cant scan when you want. 

Good luck with Malwarebytes sorting out viruses.

 

Clue is in the software title...........................

[bignbad]

Been good for me for years, no problems.

No need to pay the sub charges and use up all your memory for the big name packages.

 

Touch wood and all that lucky stuff!!!

[Jen65]

I was relying on Windows 10 Defender for all my computers (as most other anti virus conflict with this and the free ones are useless )

However , just recently I was unable to do a scan and a message popped up " your internet security is being managed by your IT provider "   !!   I found this strange and shortly thereafter my Windows failed to boot up stating I would need the original software or latest to recover my account !   I ended up purchasing a new windows 10 copy from supplier (tucom) in order to get up and running again .Luckily I did not loose my files but these are now in another portion of the hard drive labelled windows.old !!   Still don't know exactly what caused the problem .   Windows 10 Defender back to normal working .

[Bigz]

19 hours ago, marin said:

It does not work. At all. I got the free version of Malware bytes for a 15 day trial. My computer was totally infected and Malware cleaned it up. Defender was still saying my computer was clean, Even when the trial is finished Malware bytes protects you. But you cant scan when you want. 

Malwarebytes is very good indeed. I use use Windows defender (not worst than mcafe or the others) and malwarebytes free to do an occasional scan.

[stud858]

From working in a computer retail store my take on it is this.

Antivirus can cause more problems than they solve. 

Computers with virus issues I've refreshed with windows had antivirus software so they don't guarantee perfect cleanliness.

Nothing beats good cognition. I.e stay away from dodgy sites, emails and check your bank accounts regularly.

I never use them until I think they will help to fix once infected. But 90% it's just a clean install that's prefered.

I have faith that windows o.s starts off with decent design anyway to avoid easy hacking of passwords, firewalls, etc

 

If I had to recommend one after an infection though it would be this

 

 

[Greyhat]

Defender is all you need for everything else try Common Sense 2019! It's the best prevention from getting infected. Keep your browser up to date, stay away from dodgy sites and stop downloading Thisisamovie.mp4.exe

Edited March 8, 2019 by Greyhat

[paddyfield7]

My preferred IT shop convinced me that Windows Defender is absolutely sufficient, and there is definitely no need for any other specific antivirus program. This was 5 years ago, and I didn't have a single problem since. In the years before, I observed that most antivirus programs promote a free version, but almost force you to upgrade to a costly pro-version to have additional functions available, with no apparent benefits to my experience.

[SunsetT]

1 hour ago, tomazbodner said:

Using NOD32 but if I didn't want to pay for it, at least I'd put free edition of Avast or Bitdefender on it. On Macs I use Avast.

I used Avast until a couple of years ago then all sorts of shinnanigans started on my PC which I concluded was Avast trying to make me believe I had virus problems when I didnt in order to get me to upgrade to a paid version (which I once did years ago and it was more trouble than it was worth.) Since then I have relied solely on Windows Defender and had no problems whatsoever except twice when Avast somehow re-installed itself and then my start up really slowed down and other weird shinnanigans started once again! I realise now that Avast gets installed automatically when u update CCleaner unless u untick a very unobtrusive box! Anyone know if CCleaner and/or clearing one's cookies regularly takes care of malware? Whatever, touch wood, I never seem to get any problems.

Edited March 8, 2019 by SunsetT

[FarangRimPing]

Based on an in-depth article a few years ago on PC Magazine online, I stopped using the 3rd party AV programs I was using, such as Avira, Avast, etc.

 

Their suggestion was to use the built-in Windows Defender on Windows 10, and then to be extra safe, run a Malawarebytes scan every now and then. So that's what I do. Windows Defender active all the time, and every Sunday morning, I scan using Malawarbytes. To date, never a problem found. Malawarebytes sometimes flags some software installation files, but that's it. 

 

I'm really happy I did this because years ago I had some problems when the 3rd party AV quarantined Windows system files because of bugs in the AV software. PC dead until the AV companies delivered emergency patches. 

[Laza 45]

22 hours ago, ChristianBlessing said:

I'm not crazy using Windows but have a couple of Windows 10 PCs for work. I only use Defender, and have yet to encounter a problem. It keeps a low profile despite pretty deep, stateful inspection, offers regular scan reports, and doesn't nag me for a license upgrade.

I've been relying on Defender on my Acer for over 2 years now.. I did pick up a bit of malware with pop up adds.. but a a scan with the cleanup tool got rid of it.. otherwise no problems.. I agree with the above comment.. I like it.. 

[GalaxyMan]

I found that Defender didn't do the job. Far too often something got through that shouldn't. I switched to Kaspersky's FREE version and have been much happier.

[KarlS]

I have used Win 1O's 'Defender' and nothing else since Win 10 became available.  I have experienced no problems.

[Pattaya46]

1 hour ago, GalaxyMan said:

I found that Defender didn't do the job. Far too often something got through that shouldn't. I switched to Kaspersky's FREE version and have been much happier.

As many other people here, I think that Defender make well its job, and is enough for anyone who knows what he makes on his computer. 

 

It's obviously not enough for people who systematically click [OK] when appears a Windows popup "This app wants to modify your system. Do you accept it?" (and I know many who do so ! )

[GalaxyMan]

40 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

As many other people here, I think that Defender make well its job, and is enough for anyone who knows what he makes on his computer. 

 

It's obviously not enough for people who systematically click [OK] when appears a Windows popup "This app wants to modify your system. Do you accept it?" (and I know many who do so ! )

Don't let reality get in the way of what it is that you want to think. TechRadar, PCMag, SafetyDetective don't even mention Defender in their TOP lists. There's a reason for that. They do mention Kaspersky, all of them.

[mserror]

Yes

[myshem]

it's clearly enough but you will have dozens on genius with nothing important on their computer who will tell you that you need the best antivirus ! This is clearly why antivirus are sold, for people like them who live in paranoia.

 

[helloagain]

The Best 2 are kaspersky total security and malwarebytes. I use both. 

[OneMoreFarang]

"Windows 10 Defender. Do you rely on it for anti-virus protection?"

 

No, I wouldn't rely on any anti-virus software. I rely on thinking before I do something stupid.

Any anti-virus software is just a 2nd stage if above thinking failed.

And Windows defender is currently one of the best.

[elgenon]

On 3/7/2019 at 7:11 PM, Bigz said:

Malwarebytes is very good indeed. I use use Windows defender (not worst than mcafe or the others) and malwarebytes free to do an occasional scan.

I've been disappointed. I installed it years ago but it has never said it found any problems. Super-anti always says it has found a lot. Which to believe?