New Desktop PC - Do I need an antivirus?

Lestratcaster

Last week I acquired a new desktop, very nippy and efficient! It has Windows Defender already installed on it and it doesn’t really slow down the system much.

On my old machine I used Norton but found startup slow and just general running really sluggish. Opening apps took over 5 minutes sometimes and even changing windows took a while.

Is Windows Defender enough to protect my computer? Some say it’s not worth getting a 3rd party antivirus such as McAfee and Norton. Others say they will do more than the built in one as they’re harder for hackers to work out, Windows Defender is preinstalled as standard on each machine.

Whats everyone using (assuming you’re a Windows 10 desktop user).

skunkwerx

I got an hp pavilion laptop a few years back with windows 10, which came with a years mcaffee antivirus (the 80 quid type) which worked perfect for the first year. 

When renewing over a year ago I opted for the cheaper £20 mcaffee which just didnt play ball at all. Constantly not working and not letting other things work properly. 

In the end I lost my rag, uninstalled mcaffee and have used windows defender ever since. 

It seems to be absolutely fine for me.

Lestratcaster

I’ve heard negative reviews about McAfee so much I’ve uninstalled it from the machine!

Snags

OK, opinions are like arseholes, although some are better informed, but ...

Personally, I would say yes, you do need a half-decent third party solution.  I would also say that rules out McAfee and Norton. And AVG.

All of the business-class stuff tends to be prohibitively expensive for home use, but Sophos do now offer a "Home" version which is free (subject to registration) for the basic product, or low cost for the 'Premium' option.

Avast! also offer a free one subject to registration and renewal each year. At renewal it will try to get you to pony up, but it's not necessary (although there's an ethical argument at play, too).

Kaspersky is OK, although has some quirks, and it depends on how far you trust Russians

Windows Defender seems to get rave reviews in certain quarters, but IME is still pretty crappy.

Every other IT pro will have a different view, and all the home user will disagree with all of us vehemently. So do whatmakes you feel good

Phil_aka_Pip

Windows is the world's most successful virus. Substituting Linux for it will get rid of a lot of problems for you.

crunchman

We've got three PCs running Windows Defender in our house without any problems.  We aren't scouring the nether reaches of the internet, and my daughters don't yet have email, so can't open any dodgy attachments, or click on any links in them.  They mainly just use Youtube, and play Roblox.

Unless you are going to go for one of the premium options I'd just use Windows Defender.  The free AVG gives you endless popups.  Avast is the other one I used before I ditched it.  That gave all kinds of problems with my wife's laptop - from memory, the machine would completely stop responding.  That was 2 or 3 years ago, so whatever bug caused it has probably been fixed, but I'm happy enough with Windows Defender.

digitalscream

Avast, AVG, MacAfee etc have all had incidents in the past where they've had a false positive on a Windows system file and quarantined it, rendering the machine unbootable. As far as I'm aware, that's never happened with Defender (and you'd expect it not to in the future); that's a massive plus, I think.

fields5069

Snags said:

although there's an ethical argument at play, too).

The argument of whether anti-virus software companies should be creating viruses?

quarky

I would stick with Windows Defender. Microsoft have done a lot of work over the past six months in improving its success rate. We have been running it at work on our Windows 8 devices for years, and while our Windows 7 devices use McAfee (spit), we are looking to throw McAfee to the wolves and just go Windows Defender for all Windows 10 devices.

In the enterprise, Windows Defender is used on more Windows10 devices than all other AV products combined.

scrumhalf

I used to use AVG but it decided that the sole function of my PC was to run AVG, so it had to go.

I've been using the free version of Avast for a few years on a couple of machines and it seems to be fine.

randella

scrumhalf said:

I used to use AVG but it decided that the sole function of my PC was to run AVG, so it had to go.

Which has always been my beef with antivirus software.  Slowdown, popups, it's like having a bloody virus only you're paying for it.

menamestom

I've had Malware and Virus in the past, none were quite as bad as anti virus software for my system.

Sence I've just used defender I've not had anything, but I only really go to places on the web that are safe (Netflix, youtube, BBC etc)

Freebird

My main computer is always offline, and is optiomised for performance. I use other computers for online stuff and regularly reinstall them from a disk image.

fandango

+1 for Sophos.

Fretwired

McAfee business since year one. Never had a problem. Not sure where £80 comes from. I pat around £50 for three machines. My mum has a new laptop that has home version of the product that is easy to use and understand for a 90 year old and cost her £30 for a five year licence. It's lightweight.

Defender gets poor reviews and detection rates ... https://www.techradar.com/reviews/windows-defender

And remember McAfee is owned by Intel and was the Intel Security Group so the product has been rewritten. I run it on my music system with no performance hit whatsoever.

duotone

The IT guy at my last place used to recommend https://www.malwarebytes.com

I've been using the free version for the last year now & so far, so good.

Lestratcaster

Fretwired said:

McAfee business since year one. Never had a problem. Not sure where £80 comes from. I pat around £50 for three machines. My mum has a new laptop that has home version of the product that is easy to use and understand for a 90 year old and cost her £30 for a five year licence. It's lightweight.

Defender gets poor reviews and detection rates ... https://www.techradar.com/reviews/windows-defender

And remember McAfee is owned by Intel and was the Intel Security Group so the product has been rewritten. I run it on my music system with no performance hit whatsoever.

The renewal for Norton subscription in July is £64.99. But yeah I think I attribute that to the various start up problems and slowing down of the system.

Lestratcaster

duotone said:

The IT guy at my last place used to recommend https://www.malwarebytes.com

I've been using the free version for the last year now & so far, so good.

I've seen this and used the free version previously on my old machine.

Grumpyrocker

If you aren't going to dodgy places then the built in protection of Windows 10 is fine. 

You can install the free version of Malwarebytes and run the occasional scan. 

I wouldn't go near Norton, Mcafee or Kaspersky, they are paid malware, such an utter pain and an eater of performance. 

Lestratcaster

Grumpyrocker said:

If you aren't going to dodgy places then the built in protection of Windows 10 is fine. 

You can install the free version of Malwarebytes and run the occasional scan. 

I wouldn't go near Norton, Mcafee or Kaspersky, they are paid malware, such an utter pain and an eater of performance. 

Usual sites for me Fb, YouTube, gmail etc. Use a bit of open office documents and music scoring software (Sibelius, Neck Diagrams) and Spotify. I'm not a gamer or anything like that.

meltedbuzzbox

I like webroot