Is Windows Defender Good Enough ?

Last updated Jul 14, 2021

The bundled Microsoft Defender Antivirus is good at many things. Still, there are many questions that come into mind such as Is Defender a viable solution to protect your system? And it is how much better than another free antivirus software? Do you still need third-party antivirus software? Is Windows Defender good enough? Let’s explore and find the answers.

Defender includes sandboxing and malware detection, boosting overall protection and allowing threat detection faster. Microsoft’s antivirus, Windows Defender is integrated with Windows. It has come a long way in terms of cybersecurity capabilities. Microsoft has integrated Defender into Windows architecture as a pretty decent antivirus.

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Windows Defender – At a glance

Microsoft’s Defender is good at detecting malware files, blocking exploits and network-based attacks, and flagging phishing sites. It includes simple PC performance and health reports. It also includes parental controls with content filtering, usage limitations, and location tracking. Because Windows Defender now includes all these useful features, you may wonder whether you can rely on Defender alone to protect your computers or need to use a third-party antivirus.

Microsoft Defender is now a much stronger contender in the free antivirus world than it was in the past. SE Labs in its home anti-malware protection report for Q4 2020 found that Defender had a total accuracy rating of 99%.

Yet another major benefit of Microsoft Defender is that it’s fully integrated with Windows 10. For non-technical folks who aren’t even sure what antivirus does, having baseline protection within the operating system is a good thing.

Defender protects you in many ways which include a basic firewall, some anti-exploit measures, and a system of parental.

Windows Defender – Capabilities

Malware detection rates are lower than many third-party competitors.
Parental controls are limited to the Microsoft Edge browser.
PC system health report is basic (no performance-boosting or system cleanup).
There’s no cross-platform support except for enterprise users.
Lacks some tools which third-party antiviruses have, like a VPN, password manager, dark web monitoring, or identity theft protection.

Is Microsoft Defender Antivirus Good Enough?

Defender is enough to some extent. It is enough to provide some basic protection. Even though Microsoft Defender is almost competitive with third-party internet security suites… but it’s still not good enough.

However, if you can easily get somewhat better protection from a free third-party antivirus, then you can get full protection.

Some free antivirus software offers more in the way of extras includes a password manager, secure file shredder, and some more.

Alternatives to Microsoft Defender

There is free antivirus software out there that offers better levels of protection, with more features. it’s worth trying out with that software to avail the benefits.

Here’s a quick summary of the best alternatives to Microsoft’s Windows Defender:

1.? Norton — Best antivirus alternative to Windows Defender.
2.? McAfee — Better web protections (including a customizable firewall & Wi-Fi scanner).
3.? Kaspersky — Easier to use with better malware detection rates (and excellent PC tune-up).
4. ESET — Best free alternative with a more effective anti-malware scanner.
5. AVG — Better anti-malware engine with a lot of additional features.

How to turn off windows defender or how to disable windows defender?

It’s advisable to have Microsoft Defender Firewall on, even if you already have another firewall on. It gives you an extra layer of protection.

Select the Start button > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security and then Firewall & network protection. Open Windows Security settings.
Select a network profile.
Under Microsoft Defender Firewall, switch the setting to On. …
To turn it off, switch the setting to Off Or To turn it On, switch the setting to On.

Note: If you get errors, or if the setting won’t turn on, you can use the troubleshooter and then try again.

Windows Defender – Bottom Line

There are many free antivirus software that provides more scalable protection than Windows Defender. Defender does not include all features that free antivirus software provides.

If you value the security of your PC, you need to invest in better-quality internet security software. We are rapidly approaching a future where security and privacy are luxuries that are given to people to can afford to pay extra

Free security products exist which are of higher quality. It’s a good way to keep you and your computer safe. It is, however, not the best. For that, we recommend Bitdefender Antivirus Plus and Kaspersky AntiVirus, among others. These options will provide better protection If you can afford them.

Recommended software:
Norton Utilities: Automatically optimizes your PCs processing power, memory and hard drive. Learn more
AVG TuneUp: Speed up, clean up and fix your PC with our advanced PC performance optimizer. Learn more

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