Does Windows Defender actually do anything

Corrine · 05 Jul 2010

Hi, Kodi.

You are correct. It generally is not advisable to run two AV's at the same time since it can cause conflicts. As Brink explained with regard to Avast & MSE:

They worked together to make sure that they do not conflict with each other, and I never had a issue with them running together yet.

mitchell64 · 05 Jul 2010

kodi said:

Just wondering has anyone ever had windows defender actually do something?
All mine seems to do is ask for updates every couple of days and that is about it.no popups telling you what it has caught or blocked in fact I wonder if it is actually working.

I did have it spring into action once with Vista, saying my Hosts file had been changed.

When i had a look it had been changed (by me with Admin rights) and i did this edit about 9 weeks before Defender gave me the alert.

I stopped using Defenders Real Time protection a long time ago and just used it for on demand scans. The last time i did a clean install i disabled Defender completely

Jacee · 05 Jul 2010

Hate to say it, but I've always disabled Windows Defender.

Sometimes it causes more problems then necessary.

I use SpywareBlaster by Javacool Javacool Software , along with Avira Premium Security Suite on all three of my computers.

I also have SuperAntiSpyware (a paid for subscription) and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (set to "manual" in Services), to scan when I want to.

I whole heartedly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials if you need a free anti-virus program.

Borg 386 · 06 Jul 2010

I whole heartedly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials if you need a free anti-virus program.

Agree Jacee, MSE has caught several things that McAfee missed (McAfee came with the PC, what can I say)

I have noticed more licensed AV programs tend to be discounted now ever since MSE was released. I guess Microsoft really cut into their profit margin by releasing a quality product that works, has an intuitive interface and is all-in-one.

It was really interesting that when MSE was being beta tested, most software reviewers were giving it excellent marks.

Then a report came out, a "independent test" which claimed MSE missed a whole bunch of stuff and was inferior.

About two months later, someone uncovered that the "independent test" was actually financed by McAfee and Norton. Maybe they were a bit worried?

JonM33 · 06 Jul 2010

Borg 386 said:

It was really interesting that when MSE was being beta tested, most software reviewers were giving it excellent marks.

Then a report came out, a "independent test" which claimed MSE missed a whole bunch of stuff and was inferior.

About two months later, someone uncovered that the "independent test" was actually financed by McAfee and Norton. Maybe they were a bit worried?

I don't recall any negative reviews of MSE but I do remember other AV vendors shrugging MSE off as if they weren't worried about the competition.

SIW2 · 06 Jul 2010

I wasn't keen on mse when I tried it - Avast seems to be quicker and uses less resources, updates more often , too.

Each to their own.

JonM33 · 06 Jul 2010

SIW2 said:

I wasn't keen on mse when I tried it - Avast seems to be quicker and uses less resources, updates more often , too.

Each to their own.

I used to use Avast. It served me well until it let some malware through. The major thing I didn't like about it was the two separate interfaces. It had one interface for the realtime protection and another interface for manual scanning, which looked like some car CD player (see attached). Even though it was free I didn't like having to register.

kodi · 06 Jul 2010

JonM33 said:

SIW2 said:

I wasn't keen on mse when I tried it - Avast seems to be quicker and uses less resources, updates more often , too.

Each to their own.

I used to use Avast. It served me well until it let some malware through. The major thing I didn't like about it was the two separate interfaces. It had one interface for the realtime protection and another interface for manual scanning, which looked like some car CD player (see attached). Even though it was free I didn't like having to register.

ALL programs let some through, that is the old version you should try the new Avast 5

JonM33 · 06 Jul 2010

kodi said:

ALL programs let some through, that is the old version you should try the new Avast 5

Already moved on, using Microsoft Security Essentials now.

Greg S · 06 Jul 2010

JonM33 said:

SIW2 said:

I wasn't keen on mse when I tried it - Avast seems to be quicker and uses less resources, updates more often , too.

Each to their own.

I used to use Avast. It served me well until it let some malware through. The major thing I didn't like about it was the two separate interfaces. It had one interface for the realtime protection and another interface for manual scanning, which looked like some car CD player (see attached). Even though it was free I didn't like having to register.

Hi jon, it's all in one window now. It has different pages but only one window. I agree about the version in your pic, I hated that setup. In my opinion that was the worst.