Is Windows Defender Enough?

[Praxius]

Since installing Windows 10 on three systems at home, I noticed that my anti virus is not running on any of them.

I checked and the program is still there, but will not load at startup, nor can I manually start it up. I have tried running it as an Administrator and in Windows 8 compatibility mode, but it simply won't work.

I did some trouble shooting and turns out my anti virus program is not compatible with Windows 10. I suppose that makes sense as Windows 10 is a differently running OS in various degrees.

Oh and the Anti Virus program in question is AdAware Free Version.

I used to use AVG Free but noticed after a while it couldn't detect a few things that AdAware could.

As Windows 10 is pretty new and not even official released yet, I assume most other Anti Virus programs would have the same compatibility issues.

So at the moment, I am left with Windows Defender, which said two systems are clean but the third had a virus along the name of Hack:System32/Keygen or something like that.

It did remove it, but I never entirely relied on Windows Defender in the past and never considered it to be nearly as protective as an Anti Virus program.

What are your guy's thoughts?

 

[dKp1977]

I stopped using dedicated anti virus applications a long time ago, as I never liked their impact on performance. Since then I'm relying on Smartscreen Filter and Security Essentials. Paired with a little common sense, this is working perfectly fine. If you're not one of those who immediately click on every link or ad possible or download programs from questionable sources, anti virus tools are pretty much overrated and useless.

 

[Pete]

I agree. Windows Defender and safe browsing habits are the best way to go.

You should ideally be in a position where you can trash your Windows 10 system and start over without losing anything important.

 

[Praxius]

I've just become accustomed to having one in the background as a safety net.

Even still, I have had a few systems built and setup immediately to boot up and after only an hour being connected to the internet and only installing Nvidia drivers for the video card, after I got the antivirus running it ended up with several tracking cookies and two Trojans.

I think it's mostly due to these experiences that I like to have that backup whenever possible.

 

[etphoto]

Its been awhile, but running Defender on a device have missed things that Webroot (program I use) has found. But, like I said, that was at least a year ago.

 

[Ralph Ellis]

The other key is to run EMET 5.1 which helps protect against key issues with Java, Flash and Adobe Reader.

 

[naeem151287]

Unless you spend your days in the shady parts of the Web, Windows Defender should de absolutely fine. I haven't used an antivirus since the first Windows 8 beta (used Microsoft Security Essentials with Windows 7) and haven't had a single problem on any of my machines.

 

[realwarder]

Indeed. Use a Linux Boot CD for shady browsing or a Virtual Machine as those sites are most likely where malware resides.

But for regular use Windows 8.1 with Windows Defender is fine.

 

[nomanquadri]

Unless you spend your days in the shady parts of the Web, Windows Defender should de absolutely fine. I haven't used an antivirus since the first Windows 8 beta (used Microsoft Security Essentials with Windows 7) and haven't had a single problem on any of my machines.

Same with me.

 

[xandros9]

Like I've once said before, Defender is enough for basic protection.

I personally use a more-featured product (avast) simply because I like the additional bells-and-whistles/guns it has.
Defender'll be fine, but having something on-demand like MalwareBytes in case you need some backup might be nice.

TL;DR: Defender is fine, but there are others if you want more firepower.

 

[Praxius]

Thanks all. I am always willing to try different things, therefore I'll see how we go with just Defender by itself for a while.

 

[jmshub]

I've been using only Windows Security Essentials / Defender for about three years now and have not been bitten by anything. But as other people have said, an anti-virus program is no substitute for using your head when you're online.

 

[TechFreak1]

Like I've once said before, Defender is enough for basic protection.

I personally use a more-featured product (avast) simply because I like the additional bells-and-whistles/guns it has.
Defender'll be fine, but having something on-demand like MalwareBytes in case you need some backup might be nice.

TL;DR: Defender is fine, but there are others if you want more firepower.

I think this the best approach and also have "hijackthis" installed just in case.