Use Search —programs & files “Windows Security”, click on that App, Virus & Threat protection, Scan Options
I ran a full one-hour scan. Clean
Then ran the offline-scan that reboots and scans. Takes 15 to 20 minutes. clean
That Search also finds Windows Defender Firewall Advanced Settings.
Is that Enough protection?
I’m not sure if the Windows Antivirus is scanning real-time. Windows Defender Firewall is real-time. It tried to stop my App install. I had to give exception for the App to have Internet access
I’ve seen and repaired many staff pc’s with viruses at my job. They all had antivirus software that was unaware and useless in preventing or removing the threat.
It’s been my experience that Antivirus catches the very old threats and simple stuff.
Your post title and poll are backwards, but I generally advise people to use Defender and not 3rd party AV software. Defender does a pretty good job and is significantly easier on resources than crapware like McAfee.
I voted no. Been using Defender for many years, never had a virus. I’m certainly no expert but I’d say the #1 best way to avoid viruses is to practice safe browsing/downloading habits.
Everything I’ve read in the past few years has told me that:
The stock Windows programs are sufficient now
The major anti-virus programs are bloated, tend to degrade performance, and nag you incessantly to buy more products.
I’ve been using nothing but Windows Defender, et al, on this laptop which I bought 2+ years ago. I have not ever had an issue, either with performance, or with a threat slipping through.
I’m not expert enough to be able to answer either of those.
But, I will note this:
I’ve had the same experience. But, back when I used Mcafee, that program seemed to (a) like to block legit programs, and (b) made it difficult to tell it to stop doing so.
Google answered any of my lingering concerns.
Defender is real-time protection.
Unless, a 3rd party Antivirus Software program turned it off to prevent conflicts with two similar Apps running at the same time. (That could nullify both Apps protection.)
You manually turned it off.
Windows 10. Win 11 should be similar. Except it has Tamper Protection.
Turning off Defender is usually unnecessary.
Alrighty then, the poll has overwhelmingly spoken. 92% do not use 3rd party antivirus on Windows computers. Windows Defender does the needed job of protection.
I still have nine months left on a BitDefender license. I will leave it on my old Win 10 laptop. It’s there and installed already. I’ll remove it when that license expires.
Bitdefender is also on my Android phone and Tablet. I will continue using Antivirus software on Android devices.
Thank you for participating in the Poll and Discussion.
Hopefully more SDMB posters will vote in the next few days. It will be interesting to see how well the voting trend of last night’s original small sample continues.
I haven’t used any third-party AV for at least ten years, probably longer. Occasionally, when I was concerned about something, I’d download MalwareBytes and run a scan, but only Defender was installed and running all the time.
On the browser front, Chrome (and Chromium products) also have some in-built malware protection.
The only malware I’ve seen recently (and it was on others’ computers) was some adware that hijacked the search bar – annoying, but fairly benign. It was probably installed when some other software was installed and the user just blindly clicked OK to every option.
I’ve been using nothing but the Windows Security for years, and I’ve been fine. I do want to stress, though, that the first and best defense against intrusion is a wise and cautious user.
Yes. Probably more so now – the virus writers are concentrating on the new Win 11 – that’s new code with more new bugs to be exploited, while Win 10 code is old & stable enough that most bugs have been found & patched.
that closes all Tabs and deletes Cookies/cache.