Windows Defender questions

[chipcreep]

I recently bought a Toshiba Satellite laptop with Windows 8. Someone told me that as far as protection goes, Microsoft Essentials would be enough. Well, with Windows 8, its Windows Defender. So, my free 30 day Norton trial is now up and I was wondering if Defender will be enough.

Also, I'm running a full scan now with Defender. Its been going for three hours and still hasn't made it very far. Is this normal?

 

[Alexffiala]

Regarding your long scan time: Scan time is basically the program looking through every bit on your HDD and making sure there are no malicious or errant programs located within the drive.

Therefore, there would be a significant difference in scan time depending on both the speed (5400/7200 rpm) and size (500gb-3TB) of your hard drive.

Full systems scans take longer than quick system scans (obviously). I'm not sure of the specifics, but that's pretty much it.

Regarding Windows Defender as the only anti-virus on your computer:

I am always very wary of using only Windows security suites as they aren't updated nearly as much as dedicated softwares like Norton, AVG and Avast.

I personally use Avast's free version. I have never gotten a virus and Avast updates virus definitions constantly. You can also make your Avast Program talk like a Pirate :{D.

 

[carnageX]

I am always very wary of using only Windows security suites as they aren't updated nearly as much as dedicated softwares like Norton, AVG and Avast.

I personally use Avast's free version. I have never gotten a virus and Avast updates virus definitions constantly. You can also make your Avast Program talk like a Pirate :{D.

The built in Windows AV in Win8 is an updated scanning engine of MSE. I've used MSE on my other computers and they've been fine, and I haven't had anything but Defender on my Win8 laptop and I've been fine.

Also, Norton sucks. AVG is on the downslope; haven't done much with Avast personally.

 

[Alexffiala]

The built in Windows AV in Win8 is an updated scanning engine of MSE. I've used MSE on my other computers and they've been fine, and I haven't had anything but Defender on my Win8 laptop and I've been fine.

Also, Norton sucks. AVG is on the downslope; haven't done much with Avast personally.

Fair enough, maybe I'm just behind?

I remember back in XP and Vista days Defender was pretty much useless, especially if you don't want to update windows.

 

[carnageX]

Defender was indeed useless then. Since Win8 however it uses an updated engine from MSE.

 

[Yevrag35]

Defender was indeed useless then. Since Win8 however it uses an updated engine from MSE.

I can understand where somebody comes from when they see Defender on Win8 and think back to previous Windows verisons.

But this pretty much sums it up, "Windows Defender, formerly known as Microsoft AntiSpyware, is a software product that helps combat malware. Windows Defender was initially an antispyware program; it is included with Windows Vista and Windows 7 and is available as a free download for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In Windows 8, however, it is upgraded to an antivirus program."

 

[chipcreep]

Thanks. I might try something else on top of Windows Defender just in case. What do you guys think about Malware Bytes?

 

[Alexffiala]

The built in Windows AV in Win8 is an updated scanning engine of MSE. I've used MSE on my other computers and they've been fine, and I haven't had anything but Defender on my Win8 laptop and I've been fine.

Also, Norton sucks. AVG is on the downslope; haven't done much with Avast personally.

Thanks. I might try something else on top of Windows Defender just in case. What do you guys think about Malware Bytes?

Very useful program. It's not really supposed to be used as an anti-virus program, though.

It's more of an identifier of malicious or errant software already on the machine.

 

[Yevrag35]

Very useful program. It's not really supposed to be used as an anti-virus program, though.

It's more of an identifier of malicious or errant software already on the machine.

Yes, even the paid version is not actually anti-virus.

Think of it like this...

Defender is the border security preventing people from entering.
Malwarebytes is the ICE agency that locates and gets rid of people that shouldn't be there.

Once a virus gets past Defender and is on your computer, Malwarebytes takes over and cleans up what got past Defender. They're great at working in conjunction with one another, not so when they're working alone though.