Windows 10 and antivirus? Defender good enough?

C

Copyright

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 17, 2000
Messages
6,004
Is Windows Defender good enough on its own or is it better to use something like AVAST or some other free antivirus? I always have a few maleware programs I scan with every now and then as well but Defender never seems to catch anything. Thx for any input!
 
Copyright said:
Is Windows Defender good enough on its own or is it better to use something like AVAST or some other free antivirus? I always have a few maleware programs I scan with every now and then as well but Defender never seems to catch anything. Thx for any input!
Click to expand...

Thats only cause your not downloading viruses these days judging by how old your account is
 
Some say it is good enough if you supplement it with Malwarebytes or something similar and others say it isn't. I switched to Avast.
 
primetime said:
Thats only cause your not downloading viruses these days judging by how old your account is
Click to expand...

Ya know you could be right lol.. I got ppl who don't think before they click so I may just install Avast for them.
 
I've been using Panda (free edition) since it got the best review for this year. Avast was causing bluescreens so I got rid of that real quick.
 
No blue screens here, and I have used Panda too. Panda didn't uninstall cleanly either.
 
10+ years of Avast on a half dozen machines and never had a blue screen.

What would be great would be if defender was written/coded to be a MWB clone.
Course it can't be exactly like it due to patents but defender's interface is archaic
and I'm sure the scan process and definitions are not up to par either.
 
I'ver been an avast user 5+ years. It is my go to AV for personal use and for family/friends/customers
 
Windows Defender (formerly MSE) and a free OpenDNS account to do category blocking/custom white&black lists .. plus Ghostery and Ublock in Chrome .. behind an Untangle box .. plus Spywareblaster, Spybot S&D 1.62 Immunize feature .. CCleaner and ADWCleaner & Malware-Bytes to do the occasional "just in case" scan .. I can't remember the last time I've had any kind of infection ..

..what works even better though is just disable any and all network adapters on family/friends/customers and they'll never get infected!
 
Defender is not good enough to stand on its own on user pc's in my opinion, has not been in years.
I have been using the free version of avast for user computers but the nagware does require some user training. The nagware gets old after awhile.
 
ThreeDee said:
..what works even better though is just disable any and all network adapters on family/friends/customers and they'll never get infected!
Click to expand...

... until they install or open something that a friend (for example) gives them that happens to be infected. :p
 
I've never had windows defender catch anything, ever. Or whatever it's doing, it doesn't notify you of anything.

But I've had Avast catch things dead in their tracks many times. Avast also blocks bad webpages.
 
ir0nw0lf said:
... until they install or open something that a friend (for example) gives them that happens to be infected. :p
Click to expand...

sounds like my friends .. turn the evil internetz off and they still screw things up .. it's a gift I tell yuh
 
I've used Avast and Avira since they came out. Only issue I had with Avast is when they started to use additional tools/features. I disable everything but the AV as the other stuff was either resource intensive or caused issues with browsing.

I do all my browsing inside sandboxie so I'm at a low risk anyway.
 
Microsoft states that simply using Windows Defender's detection rate alone is not the proper method to judge the product. They said that their defense system is taking a holistic approach. They utilize Defender, Smart Screen, and UAC to prevent attacks. When you start disabling these you compromise the OSes ability to defend itself from attacks.
 
dont click on websites that are suspect or attachments.
you be fine without a antivirus
win 10 is ok catch the most commonly used such
 
I had a Chernobyl virus one time on a Windows 98 PC all I can say that thing multiplied like you wouldn't believe. There was nothing I could do to save my PC except the dreaded reformat back that it was a Dreaded.
 
Not just porn sites but spoof sites, hell even just simple forums could be hacked and some exploit loaded up that redirects you to a spoof page.

I'm sure it's not just me but Avast and MWB makes for a damn good combo.
 
I have two kids and a wife, and *GASP* I let them touch my main rig :D

Anyways, a good paid antivirus is a must for my house. I used to use Kaspersky - but it's borked with windows 10. What's the deal with Webroot? I've heard good things elsewhere - but it's surprisingly absent from all virus scanner discussions here on [H]...
 
Wow this thread blew up.. I've been using Avast a while without issue. I had AVG do some wierd things to my SSD performance so I gave up on it a while back. I usually stick with Avast and Super antispyware so I guess ill stick with the same for Win10. Thx for all the input as always!!
 
SuperantiSpyware has been useless for a few years now. It's basically a cookie remover at this point, with hooks into every part of your OS.

As for AV, I tend to recommend Avast, Webroot, Avira, ESET, Panda Free and recently Trend. In no order.
 
I have used free Avast for years and never once had the blue screen error. I have tried Defender and I really don't think it does much. I trust MalwareBytes the most and I use that along with ADW Cleaner once a week to make sure.
 
vsolis said:
I have used free Avast for years and never once had the blue screen error. I have tried Defender and I really don't think it does much. I trust MalwareBytes the most and I use that along with ADW Cleaner once a week to make sure.
Click to expand...

I use both of those tools (ADWCleaner and MalwareBytes) and just had my first instance where ADWcleaner couldn't finish removing everything it found .. :eek:
 
Run it in safe mode, unless you have Win10, dummies at Microsoft removed safe mode in Win10.
 
rezerekted said:
Run it in safe mode, unless you have Win10, dummies at Microsoft removed safe mode in Win10.
Click to expand...

No, safe mode wasn't removed in Windows 10. In fact the way you access safe mode in Windows 10 is identical to the way it is accessed on systems running Windows 8 and 8.1.

There are several ways to do it but one of the easiest is to boot the system normally and then hold down shift when choosing restart. Other ways are described athttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/change-startup-settings-in-windows-10#v1h=tab01 and at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/windows-startup-settings-safe-mode
 
Block the adverts and don't run a unprotected, unscanned email system.

I see so many small businesses get hit because nasty stuff was coming in via staff email due to unprotected email servers.

The ones I look after get routed through Gmail/Zoho for business and the infections dry up.
 
Copyright said:
Is Windows Defender good enough on its own or is it better to use something like AVAST or some other free antivirus? I always have a few maleware programs I scan with every now and then as well but Defender never seems to catch anything. Thx for any input!
Click to expand...

Dont have statistics on Win 10 yet, but assuming similar to Windows 8:

https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/?=

Defender is crap, scoring a .5/5 on protection.
 
gamerk2 said:
Dont have statistics on Win 10 yet, but assuming similar to Windows 8:

https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/?=

Defender is crap, scoring a .5/5 on protection.
Click to expand...
Yes, if you strait up test Defender based on it's detection it's not great for new threats. But like I pointed out earlier in this thread, Microsoft doesn't rely on week or or less protection with definitions alone. Microsoft's security of the OS is based on a combination of Defender, UAC, and Smart Screen.

While I think AV-TEST.org is great, by linking that you are comparing apples to oranges. If you take a new install of Windows and don't start turning shit off, it's not going to be as bad as that .5/5 score would lead you to believe.

But I'm also not saying Defender can't be better, it can and it used to be better. However, there are many people who use default security configuration and are just fine.
 
Last edited:
Common Sense v1.0 is the best program you can run. It has zero impact on system performance and it's always running.
 
I used avast for years but switched to avg a couple years ago when avast became a massive advertisement annoyance, avg is getting to be just as bad and neither one of them has ever detected a virus so either I dont get any or they dont work for shit, lol!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top