Windows Defender Scores Nearly as good as any Anti Virus software

not for me lol... i had to VPN to another country to get the page.

 

I don't trust Avast either, but in my experience their marketing is far less obnoxious, so they don't annoy me as much.

 

Here is a USA link if the .co.uk one doesn't work for you.

https://usa.kaspersky.com/free-antivirus

I'm not here to push this on anyone but if you want to try it out then that's up to you.

 

For most people defender, smartscreen and UAC on it's highest setting should provide enough protection against most common threats but it won't protect against the person using the computer in the wrong way just like any other AV solution.

 

As expected, don't need an additional data collecting system performance hog. Avast and AVG may be free (owned by the same company) but they love your data.

 

UAC is almost completely useless (especially on single-user PCs), and the average person is the type of person who will use the computer in the wrong way (which, is also why UAC is nearly useless).

Windows Defender is sufficient for those who aren't criminals or complete morons, but may make an honest mistake once in a while. I'd argue fewer than half of all computer users would fit such a description. Malware infections may be on a steady decline, but that doesn't mean people are getting any smarter. Instead, they're just becoming hyper-paranoid about everything, including software known to be trustworthy. And, a lot of applications have become web-based, so people don't have a need to download software as often as they used to.

 

It improves every day, because the definitions are being updated daily (sometimes 2x daily).

 

Since Windows Defender adopted machine learning, A.I and cloud technology, it has dramatically increased its effectiveness. Coupled with the anti exploit features, Windows 10 is now a fairly secure OS all things considered. That's why the overall infection rates for Windows 10 are much lower than for previous operating systems from Microsoft.

 

If you use Torrents which many of us probably do then the risk is a lot higher.

I'm no angel but not a criminal either. I use torrents sometimes for legal downloads and i'm fully aware of the risk that i put my computer into.

I'm also aware that viruses and normal software can use an option to by-pass UAC warnings especially if like me you have it on the lowest setting.

Again i'd say 99% of viruses/malware/spyware come from dodgy downloads or clicking links in spam emails for example.

It's like the Movie of Wow, the Orcs could of never invaded Azeroth if they weren't invited in in the first place. ^^

 

Defender will do fine for the conscious user, i haven't installed third party AV softwares in years, no problem, like at all.

 

I'd argue against the fact that UAC is useless since i use it on PC's i need to do maintenance. I basicly do not encounter any problems whatsoever apart from some niche programs not willing to cooperate with me. Even the ones with little to no back off when they get the UAC pop up and know they are doing something wrong. For me the only hyper paranoid programs are those damn AV's where there is always some virus or a pc that needs a tune-up for no reason.

 

I've used Kaspersky for two years now and felt that it's last version updates are worse. It's a performance hog when downloading games from Steam and is very intrusive with several things plus has a lot of bloat that may not be needed. I preferred Norton which was easy to use and did what you wanted it to do. It would be nice to try Defender after my next fresh install of Windows.

 

I do not use AV of any sort. MS's Defender is only thing which is enabled. Once every 6 months I download few free AV/online scanner like NOD32. They never find anything.
Best defense for me seems to be between chair and keyboard.

 

I use Avast and never once had an issue, no pop ups, no random messages, no getting in the way of games... been pretty good from what i can tell

 

i have more than 3 years without using any AV, in fact as i see it, many of those popular AV like avast or AVG work more like virus than the virus themselves. last time i have an infection was because of my own stupidity (i wanted to try some software but there was not demo of trial available, so i pirated it and it came with 3 tons of spywares, i install it recklessly and BUM! i was infected, i invest 5 minutes on removing those spywares and that was all).

 

Like I said, single-user environments is the problem, and that's how the majority of non-office PCs are set up. In multi-user environments, UAC is modestly effective.

A lot of the especially dangerous forms of malware reign undetected. It's a lot like having a brain tumor, where you could have one for years and never notice it until something weird happens like sudden blindness or vertigo.
Basically what I'm saying is just because Avast doesn't detect something, that doesn't mean you don't have a problem. Or, if your system is in fact clean, but you're just a sensible user and Avast may not have had nothing to do with it.

To look at this in another perspective:
You'll continue to think it's good protection until it doesn't actually protect you. I know of people who thought "<self-congratulating AV program> is great, it works fine for me" and then I get called up because they have a problem with their PC. And there I am, staring right at a virus in task manager and it went completely undetected by the scanner. Avast is a program that, in my experience, has completely failed to protect on multiple occasions. Keep in mind, I'm using the word "protect" generously here. Sometimes, malware can slip past the active protection but can be caught in a scan later on, so I'd still consider that protection (just crappy protection).

 

On Win10 v1803, defender actually surprised me by being the TOP in detecting various PUPs, which for me, is a big plus. These are my own tests comparing to a few other AV's, so of course take that for what it is. But i have to say i was really impressed.

 

I have used Bitdefender for almost a year, because last autumn I got a one year license for 15 €. If I get any decent anti-virus software package with built-in firewall for 20 €, then I will buy that every year for that price or lower. I hope I can get a code that cheap to renew the Bitdefender license in time, but I got to get lucky for that.

Bitdefender is certainly a robust and secure software, but it could use more system resources since it opens and operates slow. It tries to use as little system resources as possible, but I have a Ryzen R7 1700, so I wouldn't mind it being smoother to operate by using more resources.

I recommend everyone to buy the best possible security suite if you get one cheap enough, whatever is to your taste or gets discounted. I wouldn't trust Windows Firewall that much.

 

Defender is just still too slow https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/performance-test-april-2018/

Also remember when Anti virus software was simply AV and a Firewall, now it's just anti this, protect that and this cloud crap too.

 

Actually Windows Firewall is very good. You can configure it quite well, its just time consuming to do so unless you use something like TinyWall, which isnt updated anymore...
Speaking of which, anyone know a good alternative to TinyWall?

Other than that, the only thing WF is missing is HIPS and with Windows 10 overall security, I don't think it really matters.

As for Windows Defender being too slow... Thats one thing they need to improve on, but overall, I am quite happy with Defender. MSSE back in the day was a joke...

Edit: Hmm, TinyWall is still working. Had issues when w10 update first came out.