Choosing between antivirus software best suited for Windows

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#2023752 28-May-2018 09:51

GEOMAX:

I have had a good read again but dont see any users actually saying some problem with windows defender found by something like Norton NPE or Malwarebytes etc caused them to look elsewhere. Would like to hear from them here.

seen that OFTEN.
Part of my job is cleaning up infected PC's. Defender is near worthless for removing/cleaning up malware (always a few exceptions of course)
However , cleaning & prevention/blocking malware are 2 different things

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Rikkitic

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#2023868 28-May-2018 11:41

I’m not generally too bothered about security. I use Defender and Malwarebytes and I monitor my traffic and that has always been enough. Even so, I thought after reading this thread that maybe I should consider being a little more proactive so I decided to give Windows Security Essentials a go on one of my Win 7 machines. Immediately it started bugging me to step aside for updates. I thought ok, it will settle down, but it didn’t. Every time I used the computer I was interrupted with messages that said I had to restart again to install more updates. This got old very quickly.

Then I lost wired LAN connectivity to my router. When the computer booted I couldn’t access the Internet. I tried various things but nothing worked and that was the last straw for me. So I uninstalled Essentials. At first I still couldn’t get online, but at least the diagnostic started working again. It said DHCP had been disabled (presumably by Essentials) and offered to repair it. So I said okay, it did, and everything is working normally again. Thanks, Windows.

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Pumpedd

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#2023875 28-May-2018 11:48

Rikkitic:

I’m not generally too bothered about security. I use Defender and Malwarebytes and I monitor my traffic and that has always been enough. Even so, I thought after reading this thread that maybe I should consider being a little more proactive so I decided to give Windows Security Essentials a go on one of my Win 7 machines. Immediately it started bugging me to step aside for updates. I thought ok, it will settle down, but it didn’t. Every time I used the computer I was interrupted with messages that said I had to restart again to install more updates. This got old very quickly.

Then I lost wired LAN connectivity to my router. When the computer booted I couldn’t access the Internet. I tried various things but nothing worked and that was the last straw for me. So I uninstalled Essentials. At first I still couldn’t get online, but at least the diagnostic started working again. It said DHCP had been disabled (presumably by Essentials) and offered to repair it. So I said okay, it did, and everything is working normally again. Thanks, Windows.

Win 7 really???

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#2023908 28-May-2018 12:44

Pumpedd:

Win 7 really???

Yes, really. Why do you ask?

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GEOMAX

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#2023937 28-May-2018 13:18

I see in an earlier post that windows defender became an option in Windows 7 after service pack 1 and how to turn it on. I may be wrong but I think Windows security essentials was not an AV but malware only back then.

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#2023976 28-May-2018 14:46

Whatever it was I got it from the Microsoft site. The real one, not a fake.

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GEOMAX

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#2023990 28-May-2018 15:14

Rikkitic:

Whatever it was I got it from the Microsoft site. The real one, not a fake.

I am unaware that anybody would have fake windows defender but from your description of what happens etc it does not sound like the defender I know. Do you have service pack 1 installed?

If you don't you dont have AV protection.

GEOMAX

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#2023996 28-May-2018 15:25

1101:

GEOMAX:

I have had a good read again but dont see any users actually saying some problem with windows defender found by something like Norton NPE or Malwarebytes etc caused them to look elsewhere. Would like to hear from them here.

seen that OFTEN.
Part of my job is cleaning up infected PC's. Defender is near worthless for removing/cleaning up malware (always a few exceptions of course)
However , cleaning & prevention/blocking malware are 2 different things

thanks for the reply. Thats the sort of thing I want to here. Preventing malware is I understand is nearly impossible? What do you put in place that guarantees they wont be back?

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#2024003 28-May-2018 15:41

GEOMAX:

Rikkitic:

Whatever it was I got it from the Microsoft site. The real one, not a fake.

I am unaware that anybody would have fake windows defender but from your description of what happens etc it does not sound like the defender I know. Do you have service pack 1 installed?

If you don't you dont have AV protection.

Even before Windows Defender being packed with the updated Windows 7 one could download the Windows AntiMalware.

As for "fake Windows Defender" there lots of cases of malware that would popup on compromised websites offering fake antivirus that did nothing but to opint out dozens of false positive just so people would put their card numbers to "buy" the protection - obviously a protection that wasn't needed at all, since it was all a scam with false positives. This still happens a lot around and it's called "Rogue security software".

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#2024023 28-May-2018 16:34

This is where I got it from. The problems were not with Defender itself, which worked like it always has, but with the Essentials package. After I downloaded it I started getting Essential popup windows interrupting whatever I was doing to nag about important updates that required rebooting, with reminder intervals I could choose for the next nag, up to four hours. I put up with this for a couple days, then got fed up. I had already decided to uninstall it when I discovered that my LAN port had quit working. This was new. I spent all morning fiddling with it. All useless Windows could tell me was that my 'broadband modem' had quit working and I should ask someone else for help. I tried other things instead, including renewing the port and other things but it wouldn't work. After I uninstalled Essentials I got a new error message on the LAN port when I ran a diagnostic, saying DHCP was not working and offering to repair it. I figured what the hell and said go ahead. Since then everything has been back to normal. The evidence that all this was the fault of Essentials is only circumstantial, but it seems pretty compelling to me.

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#2024295 28-May-2018 21:26

From what I understand there's two flavours of Defender, the full blown AV and malware version for use on Win 10 and I think Win 8. There is a cut down malware only version for Win 7.

If you want AV protection on Win 7 so far as I can tell you need Micrsoft Security Essentials instead of Defender.

In the past I've use Norton, Avira, and Avast. So far as I'm concerned MSE has worked the best of may of them.

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#2024342 28-May-2018 23:08

Really should try to get off Win 7 if possible.

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#2024388 29-May-2018 07:58

I use Win 7 as a matter of choice. I also have Win 8 and Win 10 on different machines. Win 7 works fine for me and I prefer it for the use I make of it (mainly email and GZ, with minimal browsing). I have never had any malware issues. I just decided to give Security Essentials a go but didn't like what it did to my machine so uninstalled it. Everything is back the way it was and working perfectly. Whether the problem was with Essentials or not, this kind of thing is not a new experience for me in my long history with Windows.

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#2024389 29-May-2018 08:04

If I am reading this right the device in question that is using Windows 7 is getting minimal use and light internet use. Just to put this out there have you considered Linux on this machine say Ubuntu or Mint? These are way more secure than Windows 7 would be now and are fully patched against all the latest threats.Best of all, you are fully in control.

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#2024393 29-May-2018 08:10

I have played with different Linux versions at different times, including Mint, but they always caused more problems than they solved so my use of them has remained experimental. Mostly, they seem to only want to work correctly with a very narrow range of hardware choices. As I grow older, I have less and less patience for fiddling with things to get them to work. Windows offers a lot more options for me.

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