Do You Use Additional AV With Windows 10?

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Do You Use Additional AV With Windows 10?

1 | 2

1101

3122 posts

Uber Geek

#2662247 24-Feb-2021 16:11

There are Better AV's than defender, but will it make any real world difference ???
malware gets past them all. Often ( seen it )
thats the reality. :-)

So choose something RELIABLE , avoid AVG,AVAST, etc
Some Free AV products are literally no better then the malware they protect against :sell your browsing history, yep will do: use scareware tactics to con users , thats a yes

Take any 'recommendations' with a grain of salt.
Lots of user bias in 'recommendations' .
IT support company I used to work for forced staff to sell only 1 AV product , that product was really bad in every way. It was chosen because of the bosses bias .

MS has a long long history of poor(or inconsistent) performance from its AV products . Defender may be OK now, but in 6 months , 12 months ....... ?

xpd

Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13765 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2662249 24-Feb-2021 16:21

I've used AVG and Avast, never had any issues with them. Theyre as good as anything out there.

Each to their own literally plays into AV selection.

If you do need a 3rd party AV package, just stick with something thats been around for more than 10 years.

I've used a LOT of AV packages over the past 20 years and all have had their + and -.

As for saying MS has had a poor history and who knows 6/12 months, thats a stupid thing to say. You can say that about ANY AV package. Theyve all had their bad years.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

LinkTree

KiwiSurfer

1449 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2662307 24-Feb-2021 20:33

I've only used the built-in stuff. Much less hassle than the paid AV solutions which usually eventually breaks something (from experience thu family/friends tech call-outs).

gzt

17111 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2662314 24-Feb-2021 20:56

rhy7s: This piece on ArsTechnica is worth reading if you're considering installing antivirus software

Summary: Says AV is a pita for browsers, phishing is the bigger threat.

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18659 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2662371 24-Feb-2021 21:51

Something that has always hugely annoyed me is 'one size fits all' assumptions. Google is especially irritating about this, but so are Microsoft and others, including some users here.

I am elderly and I like to think that I am not a 'typical' computer user. I used to swim a lot in the Internet and I have picked up some know-how along the way, but these days my browsing is very limited and I don't visit shady sites. I use an email client and I have HTML turned off. I usually run a packet sniffer in the background and I have a network monitor on my taskbar that tells me if anything unusual is happening. There is more. I am fairly well tuned in to unusual behaviour on my system.

I use Windows Defender and also Malwarebytes, but that is all, unless something exceptional happens. I don't click on email attachments. Instead, I delete the ones that get past my filters or use the Properties function on my client to inspect them. The computer I use for browsing is not the one I use for Tor. And so on.

I don't think I am especially clever. I used to write anti-virus software but I wouldn't have a clue about anything in circulation today. What protects me is knowing my limits and not exceeding them. Also keeping a low profile. Even if I got hit (something that has never happened) there is very little of value to any bad guys on my networked computers.

The best protection in my opinion is confounding assumptions, not having a set-up that works the way bad guys might expect. And not putting anything out there that might attract them.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

nash

12 posts

Geek

#2662415 25-Feb-2021 00:52

I use NOD32 on all my windows machines, never really trusted the built in AV. However judging by some of the comments maybe I don't need to!?

Jogre

182 posts

Master Geek

#2662541 25-Feb-2021 08:42

I use Windows Defender and the Mk1 Human Anti-virus (don't click on stupid stuff).

Tradepub

Free professional, reference and technical white papers (affiliate link).

kiwifidget

"Cookie"
3420 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2662552 25-Feb-2021 09:23

I have a Sophos Home account, and run this on the family PC's, but not my own.

I did have it on an Insider PC, but twice it failed to boot after a Windows update that Sophos wasn't prepared for.

It lets me keep an eye on all the family computers and I can feel a bit assured I wont have to do a recovery on them.

I just use Win10 built-in AV on my own computers.

Delete cookies?! Are you insane?!

nztim

3814 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#2662587 25-Feb-2021 10:44

ESET Endpoint Antivirus

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

lxsw20

3552 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2662601 25-Feb-2021 11:23

We have a software product at work that sends out fake phishing emails, and collects data on who clicks. There is associated training on what to look out for with dodgy emails, we still catch out around 15% of staff, some then email us to ask why the link doesn't work as they expect.

Why bother writing a virus/malware to target an individual when it's so easy to socially engineer them?

old3eyes

9119 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2662711 25-Feb-2021 16:37

nash: I use NOD32 on all my windows machines, never really trusted the built in AV. However judging by some of the comments maybe I don't need to!?

I likewize still use NOD32 on my machines. May not renew license when it falls due in September.

Regards,

Old3eyes

vexxxboy

4244 posts

Uber Geek

#2662745 25-Feb-2021 18:54

Jogre:

I use Windows Defender and the Mk1 Human Anti-virus (don't click on stupid stuff).

This , i have gone weeks by accident without any virus protection by not realising that Defender had not been turned on again, and never got a virus, now i dont even worry about it . my wife's laptop is another thing entirely , it has virus protection and after 3 weeks use scanning it will turn up 500-600 things that need to be removed. i have given up explaining why.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

K8Toledo

1014 posts

Uber Geek

#2662841 26-Feb-2021 04:37

TLD:

One of my Adobe buddies told me today that one of the first things he did with a new PC build was to install Bit Defender. That surprised and worried me because I have relied on Windows Defender for a good few years now, so I am wondering what the consensus is about anti virus etc. with current Windows 10 builds? Google shows plenty of options, and varied opinions about whether you need them. What do you guys use?

To the best of my knowledge, I have not had a virus or malware issue for as long as I can remember, but would I even know? I am beyond paranoid about opening suspicious emails, to the point I am sure I have deleted genuine emails.

Personally I've not had any real AV protection since Windows XP, although MWBAM is on hand just in case I want to scan a suspect downloaded file. Think I ran it 2 or 3 times last year.

Otherwise the best AV you can get is NoScript/Ublock Origin/AdBlock Plus combined with simple common sense.

As an IT Professional I would not dole out the above advice to my SMB clients, but for home users sure I stand by my opinion.

1 | 2