Windows Built In Antivirus

If you use a Windows 10 system then you're an attractive target for hackers simply because Windows is the world's most popular PC operating system. The security situation on Windows has improved dramatically over the last few years, but the sheer number of users mean it is still under threat, even as 2020 approaches fast - that's where getting a Windows 10 antivirus comes in.

• Windows 8.1 Built In Antivirus
• Is Windows 10 Built In Antivirus Good Enough
• Windows Built In Antivirus Reviews

Windows 8.1 Built In Antivirus

Yep, we're afraid that the reality remains that you still need a regularly updated antivirus package to keep you safe from the latest threats. That's because the bad guys are constantly looking for new ways to access your data and control your system.

Although it's not possible to uninstall the Windows Defender Antivirus on Windows 10, you can still permanently disable it using a few workarounds, and in this guide, we show you how to do it. Much like Windows 8, Windows 10 will include 'Windows Defender', which is virtually identical to the 'Microsoft Security Essentials' package available for Windows 7. This anti-virus software should protect against most viruses. This anti-virus software will come included with Windows 10 and no further installation should be required.

From ransomware to fileless attacks and blended malware, there are plenty of threats out there - some you'll know the names of, other's you'll never even heard of - and there's the danger is great on Windows 10, no matter how careful you are online.

So which are the best virus protecting products for Windows 10 you can get right now, and is Windows Defender sufficient to keep you safe these days? Find out with TechRadar's guide to the best Windows 10 antivirus.

• Want your company or services to be added to this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line.

Is Windows 10 Built In Antivirus Good Enough

Here are the best Windows 10 antivirus in 2019

1. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2020
2. Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security
3. Kaspersky Antivirus
4. Panda Antivirus
5. Windows Defender

1. Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2020

Comprehensive, fast and feature-packed

Note:For our Bitdefender Antivirus Plus review, we tested the 2019 version. This was updated and renamed to 2020 in July 2019.

Monitor the testing lab reports on most antivirus products and you'll normally find results varying over time: one generation works well, the next edition has some problems initially, the company goes to work and performance improves.

Bitdefender is far more consistent. AV-Test, for example, has been running its in-depth antivirus tests since 2010, and Bitdefender has achieved a 100% protection rating in 17 out of the 20 reports produced to date (the last 'fail' was in December 2014).

That's important as it suggests Bitdefender's products aren't just accurate right now, but they're likely to be just as good next month, next year, and on after that. That makes it a fantastic pick for our best Windows 10 antivirus countdown

Bitdefender Antivirus Plus combines its excellent core antivirus engine with an array of smart technologies to keep you safe from harm. Accurate web monitoring detects and blocks malicious links, and a vulnerability scanner alerts you to missing security patches or poorly chosen system settings which could compromise your PC.

A secure browser prevents malware from snooping on your banking and online shopping transactions, and specialist ransomware protection ensures that even if something does penetrate your defenses, sensitive documents will still be safe.

Bitdefender's starter price is pretty competitive too, considering the power of the security tools you get with it. For one device for one year you're looking at around $25/£25, with extra for more PCs and mobiles and a reduction if you crank up the term.

Get Bitdefender Antivirus Plus with up to 60% off
Great news! You can currently score up to 60% off our #1 rated antivirus. It's a special software treat for TechRadar readers. It means that fantastic virus protection for your PC is now even more affordable - check out the exact pricing in your locale below, or head to Bitdefender's US site if your country isn't listed:

• Australia: Get Bitdefender for AU$69.99 AU$28 a year
  

• Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019 for $23.99 per year

2. Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security

Trend Micro may not have the profile of some of the big-name antivirus competition, but don't let that put you off - its products have a lot to offer.

The baseline Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security has all the essential features you need - antivirus, ransomware protection, email checks and web filtering - but isn't weighed down by unnecessary extras you'll never use.

Independent testing reports that Trend Micro delivers excellent results. As we write, the last five AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Tests - September, October and November 2018, along with February and March 2017 - all show Trend Micro protecting against 100% of test threats.

Pricing is fair and transparent. The headline prices aren't only available if you pay for two or three years up-front, and they don't suddenly jump up after the first year: they're just good value, full stop.

A simple one PC, one-year licence is cheap at only £19.95 ($28). Extend the term and add support for more PCs and the costs fall even further, so for example a three computer, three-year licence costs only £53.27 ($74.60), or £5.92 ($8.29) per year per PC.

Moving up to the top-of-the-range Trend Micro Maximum Security gets you protection for Android, iOS and Mac, as well as Windows, and adds features including parental controls, password management, social media monitoring, device optimization and more. Prices start at £24.95 ($38) to cover any mix of five devices for one year.

• Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security for $29.95 per year

3. Kaspersky Free Antivirus

Kaspersky has been one of the top antivirus companies for a very long time, and its products regularly appear at or near the top of the scoreboard for most of the main testing labs.

Kaspersky Free Antivirus gives you the company's top-rated antivirus engine and intelligent blocking of malicious links for absolutely nothing. You don't even have to put up with ads - just leave the app running in your system tray and you'll barely know it's there.

Kaspersky's commercial antivirus and security suite products add features including online banking protection, parental controls, password management, file backup, and coverage for your Windows, Mac and mobile devices. They're priced from £22.49 ($30) for a one computer, one-year licence.

You might have seen Kaspersky making the headlines for less welcome reasons, recently, with both the US and UK governments restricting the use of Kaspersky products by some government agencies to avoid possible security risks.

While this is a concern, as we've seen no evidence to support the restrictions, we're not going to allow them to influence our current thinking. We suspect you're far more likely to be targeted by hackers and malware than Kremlin surveillance, and overall Kaspersky does an excellent job of keeping you safe.

Panda Security has been developing quality antivirus software for many years, and its latest Windows detection engine is one of the best around. Cnc lathe software.

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For evidence, just point your browser at the results for AV-Comparatives Real Word Protection tests. These are a tough check of antivirus ability, but the last summary report (July - November 2017) ranked Panda Free Antivirus in first place as the only product to receive a consistent 100% protection score.

If you're on a budget, then, Panda Free Antivirus may be your best option, but the company also produces more powerful commercial tools which could be interesting.

Panda Dome Essential takes the core antivirus features and adds a personal firewall, Wi-Fi protection and a secure browsing environment to protect online shopping and banking activities. It's priced at £26.24 ($36.75) a year for a one device, one-year licence, rising to £35.24 ($48.99) in year two.

Moving to a higher plan could get you specialist ransomware protection, parental controls, app locking, a call blocker, anti-theft, device optimization, remote device management, unlimited VPN use and more.

Dome can be licenced for 1, 3, 5, 10 and even an unlimited number of devices, and these can be any mix of Windows, Mac and Android systems.

For us, Panda Free Antivirus is the star product here, but if you're looking for more of a security suite, the Dome range may also be interesting. Take the free month trial for a spin if you'd like to find out more.

5. Windows Defender

Windows Defender has been trying to protect PCs from viruses since the days of Vista, but originally with little success. Independent testing regularly placed Defender at the bottom of the protection rankings, with detection rates as low as 60-70 per cent.

Today's product is very, very different. Check out AV-Comparatives' Real-World Protection Tests and the last summary report (July - November 2017) gave Microsoft a 99.1 per cent protection rating. That translates to 13th place out of 21, so plainly isn't ideal, but still outperformed several big-name commercial engines: ESET, McAfee, Emsisoft, Fortinet, Adaware and more.

There are plenty of other reasons to like Windows Defender. It arrives with your PC and is enabled by default, so there's nothing to learn or configure. It's lightweight, grabs very few system resources and is most unlikely to conflict with anything else. All you need to do is get on with using your PC, and Defender handles everything else in the background.

Windows Defender still has its issues. Test results can be inconsistent over time and between labs, and most reports suggest it raises more false positives than average. But even with these problems, it's clear that Defender now offers genuinely useful protection at a similar level to many commercial products. If your needs are simple, or you're familiar with and like the package, it could be a sensible choice.

Should I get free or premium antivirus?

If you're simply looking to protect your PC from viruses, trojans, and worms, then free antivirus from any reputable provider such as above, will keep you protected against these.

The difference with paid-for versions is that they add additional features that aim to protect tighter security, better privacy protections, and even tune up your PC.

For example, extra security features might include ransomware protection and the ability to ensure certain files or folders are locked down against any changes by third-party programs.

For privacy protection, there might be the inclusion of a VPN which allows for more anonymous web browsing. There might also be features in paid software to kill tracking cookies and other privacy protections.

Some paid-for anti-virus even include features such as tuning up your PC, by getting rid of junk files from temporary or cache folders, as well as fix any registry issues that might also be slowing down your PC.

So, overall, if all you want is the most essential virus protection, then free software will do its job. However, if you want a wider range of malware protection, extra privacy controls, and even additional tools to help your PC run more smoothly, then paid-for anti-virus can often offer some or all of these, and more.

Windows Built In Antivirus Reviews

• Check out the best VPN

Is Windows Defender good enough to secure Windows 10?

It used to be the case that Windows suffered badly from security vulnerabilities that only third-party anti-virus software could protect against. However, over the years Microsoft have made a concerted effort to improve the security of Windows, not least with the inclusion of Windows Defender by default in Windows 10.

This is real progress, as Windows Defender - as mentioned above - really does the job it needs to in terms of providing the same basic protections that would be expected of any good free anti-virus software. As with the point about free software above, if that's all you want, that's all you need.

However, like having a second lock or bolt on an external door in your home, sometimes it's good to have more than one piece of security in place. This is especially as there is always the possibility that Windows Defender might not catch a piece of malware that another third-party anti-virus program might catch.

Additionally, as also mentioned above, the additional security and privacy features that other anti-virus software provide can make them very attractive choices in their own right.

Your system is secure with Windows Defender, but if you want added piece of mind, it might be worth investing in an additional safeguard that Bitdefender Plus and the other best Windows 10 antivirus packages afford.

• This is our best antivirus software buying guide
• Also take a look at the best internet security suites

Windows 10 won’t hassle you to install an antivirus like Windows 7 did. Since Windows 8, Windows now includes a built-in free antivirus called Windows Defender. But is it really the best for protecting your PC–or even just good enough?

Windows Defender was originally known as Microsoft Security Essentials back in the Windows 7 days when it was offered as a separate download, but now it’s built right into Windows and it’s enabled by default. Many people have been trained to believe that you should always install a third-party antivirus, but that isn’t the best solution for today’s security problems, like ransomware.

So What’s the Best Antivirus? Please Don’t Make Me Read All This

We definitely recommend you read the entire article so you fully understand why we recommend a combination of Windows Defender andMalwarebytes, but since we know that tons of people will just scroll down and skim, here is our TL;DR recommendation for how to keep your system secure:

• Use the Built-in Windows Defender for traditional antivirus – the criminals have moved on from regular viruses to focus on Ransomware, zero-day attacks, and even worse malware that traditional antivirus just can’t handle. Windows Defender is built right in, blazing fast, doesn’t annoy you, and does its job cleaning old-school viruses.
• Use Malwarebytes for Anti-Malware and Anti-Exploit – all of the huge malware outbreaks these days are using zero-day flaws in your browser to install ransomware to take over your PC, and only Malwarebytes provides really excellent protection against this with their unique anti-exploit system. There’s no bloatware and it won’t slow you down.

Editor’s Note: This doesn’t even mention the fact that Malwarebytes, the company, is staffed by some really great people that we really respect. Every time we talk to them, they are excited about the mission of cleaning up the internet. It’s not often that we give an official How-To Geek recommendation, but this is our favorite product by far, and something we use ourselves.

A One-Two Punch: Antivirus and Anti-Malware

You need antivirus software on your computer, no matter how “carefully” you browse. Being smart isn’t enough to protect you from threats, and security software can help act as another line of defense.

However, antivirus itself is no longer adequate security on its own. We recommend you use a good antivirus program and a good anti-malware program. Together, they will protect you from most of the biggest threats on the internet today: viruses, spyware, ransomware, and even potentially unwanted programs (PUPs)—among many others.

So which ones should you use, and do you need to pay money for them? Let’s start with the first part of that combo: antivirus.

Is Windows Defender Good Enough?

When you install Windows 10, you’ll have an antivirus program already running. Windows Defender comes built-in to Windows 10, and automatically scans programs you open, downloads new definitions from Windows Update, and provides an interface you can use for in-depth scans. Best of all, it doesn’t slow down your system, and mostly stays out of your way—which we can’t say about most other antivirus programs.

RELATED:Do I Really Need Antivirus If I Browse Carefully and Use Common Sense?

For a short while, Microsoft’s antivirus fell behind the others when it came to comparative antivirus software tests—way behind. It was bad enough that we recommended something else, but it’s since bounced back, and now provides very good protection.

So in short, yes: Windows Defender is good enough (as long as you couple it with a good anti-malware program, as we mentioned above—more on that in a minute).

But Is Windows Defender the Best Antivirus? What About Other Programs?

If you look at that antivirus comparison we linked to above, you’ll notice that Windows Defender, while good, does not get the highest ranks in terms of raw protection scores. So why not use something else?

First, let’s look at those scores. AV-TEST found that it still caught 99.9% of the “widespread and prevalent malware” in April 2017, along with 98.8% percent of the zero-day attacks. Avira, one of AV-TEST’s top rated antivirus programs, has the exact same scores for April—but slightly higher scores in past months, so its overall rating is (for some reason) much higher. But Windows Defender isn’t nearly as crippled as AV-TEST’s 4.5-out-of-6 rating would have you believe.

RELATED:Beware: Free Antivirus Isn’t Really Free Anymore

Furthermore, security is about more than raw protection scores. Other antivirus programs may occasionally do a bit better in monthly tests, but they also come with a lot of bloat, like browser extensions that actually make you less safe, registry cleaners that are terrible and unnecesary, loads of unsafe junkware, and even the ability to track your browsing habits so they can make money. Furthermore, the way they hook themselves into your browser and operating system often causes more problems than it solves. Something that protects you against viruses but opens you up to other vectors of attack is not good security.

Windows Defender does not do any of these things—it does one thing well, for free, and without getting in your way. Plus, Windows 10 already includes the various other protections introduced in Windows 8, like the SmartScreen filter that should prevent you from downloading and running malware, whatever antivirus you use. Chrome and Firefox, similarly, include Google’s Safe Browsing, which blocks many malware downloads.

If you hate Windows Defender for some reason and want to use another antivirus, you can use Avira. It has a free version that works fairly well, a pro version with a few extra features, and it provides great protection scores and only has the occasional popup ad (but it does have popup ads, which are annoying). The biggest problem is that you need to be sure to uninstall the browser extension it tries to force on you, which makes it hard to recommend to non-technical people.

Antivirus Isn’t Enough: Use Malwarebytes, Too

Antivirus is important, but these days, it’s more important that you use a good anti-exploit program to protect your web browser and plug-ins, which are the most targeted by attackers. Malwarebytes is the program we recommend here.

Unlike traditional antivirus programs, Malwarebytes is good at finding “potentially unwanted programs” (PUPs) and other junkware. As of version 3.0, it also contains an anti-exploit feature, which aims to block common exploits in programs, even if they are zero-day attacks that have never seen before—like those nasty Flash zero-day attacks. It also contains anti-ransomware, to block extortion attacks like CryptoLocker. The latest version of Malwarebytes combines these three tools into one easy-to-use package for $40 per year.

Malwarebytes claims to be able to replace your traditional antivirus entirely, but we disagree with this. It uses completely different strategies for protecting you: antivirus will block or quarantine harmful programs that find their way to your computer, while Malwarebytes attempts to stop harmful software from ever reaching your computer in the first place. Since it doesn’t interfere with traditional antivirus programs, we recommend you run both programs for the best protection.

Note that you can get some of Malwarebytes’ features for free, but with caveats. For example, the free version of Malwarebytes program will only scan for malware and PUPs on-demand—it won’t scan in the background like the premium version does. In addition, it doesn’t contain the anti-exploit or anti-ransomware features of the premium version.

You can only get all three features in the full $40 version of Malwarebytes, which we recommend. But if you’re willing to forego anti-ransomware and always-on malware scanning, the free versions of Malwarebytes and Anti-Exploit are better than nothing, and you should definitely use them.

There you have it: with a combination of a good antivirus program, Malwarebytes, and some common sense, you’ll be pretty well protected. Just remember that antivirus is only one of the standard computer security practices you should be following. Good digital hygiene isn’t a replacement for antivirus, but it is essential to making sure your antivirus can do its job.

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