Windows 10: Is paying for antivirus a waste of money?

Defender is just basic protection. It's not as good as MSE once was. It ends up last all the time in various tests. Malwarebytes I have the lifetime version. Cost me just €24. I use it with Avira free.

 

Agree....

 

I'd never rely on MS Defender. I feel much safer using a third party AV software. Resources are not an issue, my pc is powerful enough to deal with the extra load. Of course there is no absolute safety and I backup my data and the system frequently so in case of an infection I could always restore my system and data but if the AV software helps to keep my system clean it's worth it's price for me.

 

Surprised at all the comments that Windows Defender isn't good enough to be used by itself...As i previously mentioned, it detected when i did get a few rather serious trojans and other viruses that i have encountered since i installed Windows 10 last year. It did a great job of destroying and isolating them and trashing them from the system...It's the only protection i am using, and my system is smooth and clean with no problems at all...

I think Defender is is being seriously underrated and under appreciated...Based on my experience, i think it's a LOT better then some of you here think...

 

Has anyone else , other than @Brink and I, run the Windows Defender Offline scan(available since 1511(November Update))?

Windows Defender Offline Scan in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Windows Defender Offline Scan shortcut - Create in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

 

*Ditto

 

I haven't paid for AV software in 15 years + and my PC and laptop are both fine.
every now and then I do a online scan with one of the big names just as a check and never anything.
you really have to be incredibly silly and use dodgy sites or software to get anything.
Common sense is also a big help.
Most of the Av company's use scare tactics to get you to buy there software, it really is blown out of all proportion

 

@Lee: great to hear...i was beginning to think i was the only one here that thought Windows Defender was fine to use by itself without the need for any other virus protector (free or paid).... *Smile

 

not recent news, but...

Anti-virus pioneer Alan Solomon thinks anti-virus is dead. He uses Linux instead | War on Error | Techworld

BTW Windows Defender does not work by itself - it also has the Malicious Software Removal Tool to deal with running threats as well as manage anti-piracy measures - unless it is disabled by choice.

 

Been using MSE and Defender since Vista.
The machine cannot do it all, the best antivirus is you!

 

On this dual boot box I use Windows Defender which includes the MS Malicious Software Removal Tool and I use Malwarebytes ( free ) on demand malware scanner and Mbam real time protection . I also use Google Chrome x64 for my default browser and a standard windows user account on the web to keep malware outta my root drives , etc,etc......and just as important along with some common sense and ~25 or more yrs experience on the web a lot of AV suites are mega bloatware these days anyway *sarc

OTOH I've had good luck and used Avast and AVG (free) and Mbam over the years also . I have AVG (free) and Mbam on 2 other W10 10586 th2 boxes here .

The HP elitebook here just has WD and Mbam like this one .

The free bloatware antivirus aka Crap aFee AV suite offered by my ISP was just that and I don't use it *sarc

Sent from Windows 10 Pro Insider Preview Evaluation Copy . Build 14279. rs1

 

It takes me three minutes to make a backup (push a button) and 5 minutes to restore. A big waste of time indeed *sarc
I am not suggesting you don't have anti-virus software, just that it isn't foolproof.

 

I've been using ESET Nod32 for the past 10 years. I tried various others before that, ie Norton, McAfee and several free ones and wasn't happy with any of them. Most were resource hogs.
imho I've always found Nod32 to give great protection and is very light on resources. And I feel that paying for it is very worthwhile and good value.

 

Never tried ESET Nod32........but it's true any AV program can affect start times and use some resources & memory to varying degrees but a fast multi core CPU and sufficient Ram helps with all that even an older 4 core AMD K10 and also ofc . an SSD for the OS and frequently used stuff including web browsers but the Free Avast and AVG aren't bad outside of WD and probably offer better protection than WD . U can get all that free . None of that AV stuff is worth paying for IMO and if any of them ( paid or free) find something it's old news anyway *sarc

 

I guess it's just a case of horses for courses. What suits one doesn't suit the other *Biggrin