There are many good antivirus software like Quick Heal, Mcafee, Avast, Protegent, K7 which are good enough to provides virus protection. In the above list Protegent and K7 are new. Protegent Antivirus claims to be only antivirus with data recovery software whereas K7 antivirus allows protection latest virus threats.
Windows defender is a good choice. I actually doesn't want to spend on antivirus so I use avira. Which is free and has a good detection ratio. But the only thing is it is very slow and takes few hours to scan the drives which have software's like c drive. For other drives which have movies music etc its quite fast.
Well for malware protection Bitdefender Free is best with 100% detection rate.
Avast is also good.
Please do not rely on Windows Defender unless you do not use interest. Windows Defender is is one of worst anti-virus and if you are using a security software then rely on good software not bad. If you do not believe in my words then do a little bit research. Below are few reviews on Windows Defender
At the end of the day common sense is the best defence but if something still misses then make sure the software you are using one of good (if not best) not bad(which is also a common sense).
Today's free Anti-virus are very good and provide better security than defender.
Right now on my personal Dell XPS 15 I have McAffee. I have a one year license that allows me to install it on as many computers I want.
At the office we are using Sophos but I don't like it at all and many of my colleagues share my opinion. Sophos was preferred by the company because it offers good functionalities for centralized administration. But on my work laptop, from time to time, I feel like uninstalling it immediately.
Another good antivirus is Bitdefender.
I suggest you to select some of them and try them for some weeks.
Note that the best antivirus isn't the best rated one but the on that suits you the most.
I will add Emsisoft Anti-Malware to the list, it has several strong components to keep your computer safe and easy to use:
- A dual-engine real time scanner
- A Behavior Blocker with anti-ransomware capabilities and a Windows Firewall fortification feature.
- A Web Filter to prevent access to malicious sites.
- A very reactive and professional customers support team
-An emphasize toward privacy.