Windows 10: Antivirus Security Software

Hello, I'm not totally active in Community Forums, but I do have a question. My Bitdefender has 30 days then I can renew it for another year. I'm really having second thoughts whether I should keep it. The main question is do I really need it? Is Windows Security enough? Thank you

:)

 

Antivirus software

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Windows comes with in-built Windows Defender Antivirus.

You might want to read:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hub/4099151/windows-security-help


especially:
Stay protected with Windows Security

Also see:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4466972/windows-10-antivirus-and-antimalware-software-faq

Whether you want to use Windows Defender Antivirus or a third party product depends on your personal preferences.

No matter on what you decide, you might want to download and run occasional scans with on-demand scanners...

Suggest reading all of
Answers to common security questions - Best Practices

especially:

• Choosing an Anti-Virus Program
• Safe Steps for Replacing your Anti-virus - Why should you use Antivirus
  software?
• Supplementing your Anti-Virus Program with Anti-Malware Tools

 

Antivirus software

No, you don't need to. But you can.

Depends on your own preferences and needs.

Suggest reading all of
Answers to common security questions - Best Practices

but especially:

• Choosing an Anti-Virus Program
• Supplementing your Anti-Virus Program with Anti-Malware Tools
  

 

Suggest me best total security/antivirus for windows 7

I don't think many, if any, will agree with me here, but I have finally settled on the best antivirus program I've found: CSA. Common Sense Antimalware.

No matter which one you get, everyone single security program will fail to catch malicious software at some point, or at least be unable to remove something it finds. So at some point, you're probably going to take some manual steps to remove it, just like you would if you had none. And I recommend reinstalling Windows regularly anyway. So the difference between having security software and not having it, for the malicious software that is really problematic, is that with the security software installed, you run into more conflicts and system slowdown, and have to do regular updates.

Instead of counting on something always running in the background, I suggest thinking smart on the sites you visit and the files you download. Google everything unfamiliar or even slightly suspicious before accessing it in any way. Don't even click on ads; Google the product being advertised first. Porn is the worst; if you wanna look at it, do so on well-known, reputable sites.

I've been running "CSA" instead of an actual antivirus program for two years now. They've been the most malware-free years of my computing life.