Windows 7 Windows Defender Question


  1. Posts : 657
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Windows 7 Windows Defender Question


    I have been using a laptop for a while already and using windows 10. I have an old windows 7 destkp bought probably 8 years ago and it uses windows 7 but its an i5 750 processor. Its an xps 8100. It only has 4gb ram and hard drive is 500gb hard drive and no ssd. I haven't touched this computer in over 1.5 years as it is in a closet.


    A while back a long time ago i did a reinstall of it. However im sure i did this incorrectly because it shows 424gb free of 465gb. Thus when i did the reinstall, old files were still on the computer.


    So do i need to first clean reinstall it again or is it fine using it the way it is?


    The other thing is this. I have avast free antivirus, malwarebytes and also super antispyware on this computer. Thus i only need 1 and remove all of them? Or keep avast and malwarebytes? They are free version.


    The thing is in my windows 10 laptop, i use windows defender only for virus protection. I checked on my windows 7 desktop and there is windows defender there. But when i click on it, i get a message that says


    the program is turned off


    if you would like to use this program, click here to turn it on



    when i click turn it on


    the program is blocked by group policy. error code 0x800704ec



    I dont recall ever using windows defender on this old desktop though. So is the reason why i have this because of a virus since i didnt clean reinstall correctly due to old files still there? Or is it due to me having avast, malwarebytes and superantispyware free edition on computer? I assume delete superantispyware. But also delete avast but keep malwarebtyes?


    I want to use this computer but also make sure it doesn't have any type of virus already etc.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 657
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #2

    So should windows defender be my primary virus scanner? Should i have any other ones like malwarebytes? Also windows defender is basically the same as microsoft essentials right?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,784
    Linux Mint 18.2 xfce 64-bit (VMWare host) / Windows 8.1 Pro 32-bit (VMWare guest)
       #3

    465GB of total space sounds reasonable for a 500GB hard drive. I don't know how to explain it, but this is normal.

    Also, 41GB of Windows files after a reinstall sounds reasonable, because if you did a clean install, there will only be Windows files on the computer.

    Does the computer work fine? If so, then in my opinion you are good to go.

    Install one of the A/V programs as the active program, running in the background. You can install the others, if you make sure that they don't run in the background, and then use them as needed as manual scanners.

    Windows Defender may be blocked by some other A/V program. Have you installed another A/V program?

    If it was me, I would use Malwarebytes as my primary virus scanner.

    Create an AVG Rescue CD, boot with it, and scan your computer. Once you have done that, you are good to go. Go here to make this disk:
    https://www.avg.com/en-us/rescue-cd-business-edition
      My Computer


 

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