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Windows Defender

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Honestly, I never noticed any significant drop in performance on my laptop, tablet, or my main rig.
 

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you have like 2 one install of norton is enough to bring a decent pc to its knees
it must be REALLY slow
Surely this is a thing of the past. No longer are we bound by single core Netburst processors, RAM sizes (hopefully) equal to that of a modern budget cell phone, or mechanical hard drives with transfer rates slower than a $10 usb stick at walmart.
 

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you have like 2 one install of norton is enough to bring a decent pc to its knees
it must be REALLY slow
IDK, I haven’t seen AV slow down PC’s in at least ten years.
 
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Unlike some, I'm not a fan of Windows Defender and like a few others completely remove it from my personal builds of Windows 10.

Comodo Internet Security is, IMHO, the best single security suite available. Comodo's Antivirus/AntiMalware is very competent and the Firewall side is second to none in terms of level of protection and ease of use. When properly configured, NOTHING gets through it.
Care to point out the link to Windows 10 iso without Defender?
 
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Used Windows Defender when i first installed win 10, but got fed-up with it and changed to Malwarebytes which i love....
 
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Used Windows Defender when i first installed win 10, but got fed-up with it and changed to Malwarebytes which i love....
Why not use both? Unlike many other security programs, Microsoft Defender (formally Windows Defender) and Malwarebytes play and coexist very well together, without causing conflicts, interfering with each other, or hogging resources. Either is very good on their own. But together they make an extremely formidable security solution.

I personally think Defender has been good since W10 came out 6 years ago (actually starting with W8). But Microsoft has made lots of improvements to it since, making it even better. If it was some time ago when you last tried it, I recommend you try it again. Just open up Malwarebytes, click the settings gear icon in the upper right and go to the Security tab. Scroll down to Windows Security Center and move the slider for "Always register Malwarebytes in the Windows Security Center" to Off (left).

There really is nothing you have to do with Defender again. It just works in the back ground. I just forget it is there so nothing to get fed up with.
 
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I think, within the past few years when Microsoft joined the various test organizations, you know, that signaled a willingness on its part to improve Defender to where it can (in theory, at least) compete with the top tier brands (Kaspersky, ESET, BitDefender, etc).

I use it but I also bolster it with two tiny helper programs that don't have any system impact (Hard_Configurator Firewall Hardening and OSArmor). It's because I can make a potentially lethal mistake, too easily, at any time and the Home version of Windows doesn't have Group Policy. Honestly, though, I spend more time refining my block-lists and user rules in uBlock Origin (and that's just minutes). That extension is a miracle! :)
 
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Unless you're actively putting your system in vulnerable situations, Defender is good enough for a vast majority of people. Utilize adblock plugins on your browsers and keep an eye out for your passwords being compromised. You're much more likely to have some type of breach at a third party than on your own PC.
 
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Unless you're actively putting your system in vulnerable situations
Frankly, that comment applies to every anti-malware solution, not just defender. No anti-malware solution is 100% perfect 100% of the time. Period! This is especially true if the user "actively" partakes in risky behavior. That is, if the user regularly visits illegal pornography or gambling sites, as examples, or they neglect to keep their OS or security programs current, or they purposefully are "click-happy" on every unsolicited link, attachment, download and pop-up they see, no security solution can ensure the system will not be compromised.

And if a determined and experienced bad guy is out to get you specifically and is targeting you personally because they know you personally and know you have something of value they want, then again, no security solution can ensure your system will not be compromised.

Therefore, to suggest one is "good enough" in this scenario but perhaps not good enough in another scenario is misleading at best.

99.9% of the bad guys out there are just lazy opportunists looking for an easy score from easy pickings. Essentially any resistance will cause them to declare the grapes are sour and they will move on. Therefore essentially any of the popular anti-malware solutions are "good enough" for the vast majority of users out here - as long as we keep our systems current and we are not "click-happy" on everything we see.

Now the other .1% of the bad guys are the professional hit men, often state sponsored, targeting us. And if that is happening to you, then you have bigger issues to deal with than choosing an anti-malware solution.
 
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one install of norton is enough to bring a decent pc to its knees
Unless we're talking pre-Core systems, this is simply not true. And even then it would be a gross overstatement. While AV software does introduce a miniscule amount of overhead (mostly in file operations), it is not perceptible in everyday use. And even in benchmarks, there is no palpable difference most of the time. In my testing, the majority showed zero change between AV enabled and disabled. In sporadic cases the deviation was within the margin of error, say 1-2%, with the most extreme scenario being less than 3%.

I've run multiple tests with CPU-Z, AIDA, Cinebench, 7-zip, HD Tune, Passmark, file copying and some game benchmarks. I tested the current version of Norton with underclocked RAM at DDR3-800 and a purposely gimped FX, using just one 2-threaded module at 2.9 GHz. This is not even a full dual core, and slower than the Core 2 Duo. Unless you transfer millions of small files (and time the process), there should be literally zero impact of using properly tuned AV software, even on an older PC.
 
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Unless we're talking pre-Core systems, this is simply not true. And even then it would be a gross overstatement. While AV software does introduce a miniscule amount of overhead (mostly in file operations), it is not perceptible in everyday use. And even in benchmarks, there is no palpable difference most of the time.
No doubt Norton (and McAfee and a couple others) have come a long way in recent years when it comes to being resource hogs.

Today's versions may be comparable in terms of RAM and CPU utilization and their "noticeable" impact on performance. That said, I contend that is more a testament to the improved abilities of modern operating systems to manage resources, along with the improved capabilities of today's hardware than to these programs themselves.

They are still hogs, at least in others ways - if not system resources. They typically contain several features most users don't ever need, or want hogging up disk space. Then there's the issue of trying to totally uninstall them should we decide to use something else - always a challenge, almost always leaving remnants behind. Their tactics of providing us a free-trial period by being pre-installed on factory made systems are often misleading. That is, they use intimidating tactics to scare inexperienced users into buying their product before the trial period ends. And of course, these are not one-time purchases but a subscription service that requires recurring renewal fees - "hogging" our money year after year.

Now I am NOT saying they are poor security solutions. They are definitely good. But so are several totally free solutions - including the one already in Windows.
 
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I have been using Malwarebytes
Why not use both? Unlike many other security programs, Microsoft Defender (formally Windows Defender) and Malwarebytes play and coexist very well together, without causing conflicts, interfering with each other, or hogging resources. Either is very good on their own. But together they make an extremely formidable security solution.

I personally think Defender has been good since W10 came out 6 years ago (actually starting with W8). But Microsoft has made lots of improvements to it since, making it even better. If it was some time ago when you last tried it, I recommend you try it again. Just open up Malwarebytes, click the settings gear icon in the upper right and go to the Security tab. Scroll down to Windows Security Center and move the slider for "Always register Malwarebytes in the Windows Security Center" to Off (left).

There really is nothing you have to do with Defender again. It just works in the back ground. I just forget it is there so nothing to get fed up with.
Thanks Bill, i'll do just that...! ;-)
 
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Just found this April 2021 report from AV Comparatives. It largely confirms my own observations, though it's clear that the performance impact varies between different software. Interestingly, Microsoft's own solution isn't the fastest:

AV.jpg
 
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Unless we're talking pre-Core systems, this is simply not true. And even then it would be a gross overstatement. While AV software does introduce a miniscule amount of overhead (mostly in file operations), it is not perceptible in everyday use. And even in benchmarks, there is no palpable difference most of the time. In my testing, the majority showed zero change between AV enabled and disabled. In sporadic cases the deviation was within the margin of error, say 1-2%, with the most extreme scenario being less than 3%.

I've run multiple tests with CPU-Z, AIDA, Cinebench, 7-zip, HD Tune, Passmark, file copying and some game benchmarks. I tested the current version of Norton with underclocked RAM at DDR3-800 and a purposely gimped FX, using just one 2-threaded module at 2.9 GHz. This is not even a full dual core, and slower than the Core 2 Duo. Unless you transfer millions of small files (and time the process), there should be literally zero impact of using properly tuned AV software, even on an older PC.
Um my 3200g can Start struggling if I install Norton as well a core 2 quad q6700 and a I5-430m and a i3-8th gen
 
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Just found this April 2021 report from AV Comparatives. It largely confirms my own observations, though it's clear that the performance impact varies between different software. Interestingly, Microsoft's own solution isn't the fastest:

View attachment 200140
I generally take results from that site with a BIG grain of salt. The reasoning is simple, they exclude a number of established and well known packages from their testing runs. And yet include a few unknowns? GData, K7 and Total Defense? Really? Not very objective.
 
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Interestingly, Microsoft's own solution isn't the fastest:
This only makes perfect sense. Microsoft Defender is designed to work way in the background on purpose so it doesn't impact performance - especially when the user is using it. It is important to remember, like essentially all real-time antimalware solutions, everything is scanned as it comes into the computer. So there rarely ever is a need to run manual scans. And because Defender does not need speed for marketing fodder (Defender is already in there), they really done care about speed. I mean, what is more important? Speed or safety.
I generally take results from that site with a BIG grain of salt. The reasoning is simple, they exclude a number of established and well known packages from their testing runs. And yet include a few unknowns? GData, K7 and Total Defense? Really? Not very objective.
Once again, I agree with lex here. But not just that testing site - all testing sites. No matter their claims that they represent the "real world", those tests are synthetic.

Another point to remember is every antimalware maker, other than Microsoft, develops their security program to make them money. Either directly through ads or from tracking (spying?) on what you are doing, or by incentives (coercion?) to "encourage" you to buy their "premium/pro" version. That is NOT a criticism - just an observation of the facts.

So how do those programs get us consumers to use their software? By programing and coding their programs to score well on those "synthetic" tests so they can use those scores as good marketing fodder. I am not saying it is like the Volkswagen scandal but... .

Also, what incentive do Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, Avira, Avast, Bit Defender, et al have to rid the world of malware? None! Zilch! Nada! Why? Because if they actually worked together and blocked all malware at the source BEFORE it got onto the Internet backbone, making malware useless to the bad guys, those security companies would go out of business.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has the true incentive to rid the world of malware, if for no other reasons than to stop the Microsoft haters from blaming Microsoft for the actions of the bad guys, and the failure of those 3rd party solutions from preventing infection.

For this reason (the desire to avoid bad publicity), Microsoft actually shares what they learn about the latest malware with all those other security program makers. Is that sharing for the greater good reciprocal? IDK. I bet not. :(

Anyway, to lex's claim, and to my point previously, Microsoft does NOT program Microsoft Defender to score well on those tests. Defender is already in there, after all. And Microsoft is not trying to entice users into buying a "premium" version of Defender. But they do code Defender to block today's threats. And if tomorrow, the threats change, MS will push out a new update to address them and skip those that are no longer threats. It is this skipping malware that is no longer a threat that often cause Defender to get a lower score on those "synthetic" tests. I agree with MS on this. Why defend against a thread that is no longer a thread in the "real world"?

FTR, I like, use and recommend Microsoft Defender. And I advise against anyone paying for a security solution - especially if it requires regular renewal fees. But frankly, I don't care which security solution you use - just use one and keep it and Windows current and avoid being "click-happy" on unsolicited links. That is much more important than which solution you use!
 
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Hi,
Windows pretender really just software to upload your files as "samples" of possible corruption lol
Turn off any pretender settings and it turns into pestware nagging you to change back.
Slowest scanner ever developed and even if it found something odds are it couldn't remove it lol

my mom regularly got infected using windows pretender and now is on bitdefender and all is well.
 
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Hi,
Windows pretender really just software to upload your files as "samples" of possible corruption lol
Turn off any pretender settings and it turns into pestware nagging you to change back.
Slowest scanner ever developed and even if it found something odds are it couldn't remove it lol

my mom regularly got infected using windows pretender and now is on bitdefender and all is well.
what do you mean
 
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