What is Reddit's opinion of Microsoft Defender?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

try running anti-malware software too, just in case (Windows Defender is free and should be running), if not red flag. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

BTW W10 comes with anti-virus software, it's called Defender. There is no need to install anything additional. Make sure Defender is running and make sure your Windows Firewall is enabled.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

>Is the built in virus protection sufficient? Is there no real need for 3rd party virus protection?

Yes, correct. Times have changed. Microsoft introduced and develops Defender because third-party virus protection is generally terrible and bad for system performance as well. More info: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

>On a Mac I use the built in Time Machine program to create backups that save just the most recent files and updates not complete images. Is there anything like this built into Windows?

Windows has a feature called 'File History' which is very similar to Time Machine - Utilizes an external disk to create versioned backups of files within specific directories. More info: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2974385/windows/how-to-use-windows-10s-file-history-backup-feature.html

I personally find File History to be overkill for my needs. I have OneDrive setup to automatically sync everything from my Documents folder to OneDrive. The advantages of this approach is I have all of my files with me anywhere I go, on any device. The thing you give up is the 'versioned' approach, but if you're versioning the files themselves, such as tracking changes in Office files, then you can fill that gap.

What you'll generally find about the Microsoft ecosystem is that there is usually more than one way to get something done, and it's up to you to determine which approach is best for your needs. I'm all-in on Cloud and I value the simplicity of first-party over third-party, so that tends to drive how I like to build out my environments.

Try disabling it and see if it goes away.

These days you really don't need anything but Microsoft Defender which is a part of Windows.

You might want to check these blogs from Microsoft.

Top scoring in industry tests - Microsoft 365 Defender - Microsoft 365 security | Microsoft Docs

Windows Security: Microsoft Defender Antivirus & More | Microsoft

Evolution of malware prevention - Microsoft

You can go to the Microsoft site and it can check if windows defender is up to date. It may be missing an update. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

It is baked into Windows by default and is actually really good. I wouldn’t keep and run multiple AV vendors but you can enable a lot of default Windows threat protection .

It is baked into Windows by default and is actually really good. I wouldn’t keep and run multiple AV vendors but you can enable a lot of default Windows threat protection .

Is your VM running Windows 10? Windows 10 Defender/Security Center has built-in anti-virus.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

Or am I not understanding your question?

Yes. Built in to Windows 10. Nothing to install.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

I'd also recommend using Windows Hello so you can login to your device with a scan from the IR camera on your Pro and don't have to remember passwords anymore. It's magical.

Windows 10 actually comes with a pretty decent antivirus built-in that works very well with Malwarebytes.

It should work with Norton antivirus but at a heavier cost of system resources

​

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

​

> Does windows defender run 'live' protection while you browse?

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

If you are concerned about picking up malware from clicking. think about using uBlockOrigin, AdBlockPlus, flash block. You can also block java script.

We use Windows Defender, works great. Thing is too we have Reboot Restore Rx on the student machines and Rollback Rx on Teacher PC's. So they're regularly wiped. With those in place though, we've been 100% issue free since we implemented.