When it comes to antivirus software, Windows Defender seems to be an interesting choice. If you’re running one of the more modern iterations of the Windows operating system, Windows Defender comes with the package set up and ready to go. This creates an interesting premise for people who use Windows: does this free, default antivirus do a good job at keeping your computer safe from threats online?
The Hard Facts
To begin, let’s take a look at an element that can be proven using solid facts: its effectiveness. There are several websites out there dedicated to testing and reporting the efficiency of antivirus solutions currently on the market. What do these websites have to say about the effectiveness of Windows Defender?
AV Test
AV Test helps users make educated decisions about what antivirus they should use. They rank each antivirus on three factors using a scale from 0 to 6, where 6 is the best. The three elements they test for are Protection, Performance, and Usability. So, how did Windows Defender fare?
At the time of writing, AV Test reported their results for Windows Defender v4.8 on Windows 8/8.1. It scored 4.5/6.0 for Protection, 4.5/6.0 for Performance, and a full 6.0/6.0 for Usability. Its main problems seems to be that it falls slightly under the industry standard for catching 0-day attacks and malware discovered in the last four weeks, and that it slowed down the computer when loading popular websites, launching software, and copying files.
The Windows 10 version suffers worse against the tests, with 3.0/6.0 for Protection, 4.5/6.0 for Performance, and 5.5/6.0 for Usability. It fell a considerable amount below the industry standard for catching 0-day attacks, shared the same slowdowns as its 8.1 brother, and also flagged legitimate software as viruses more often than other solutions.
It’s worth noting that AV Test’s scoring system isn’t incredibly harsh. While it’s somewhat rare for an antivirus to score straight 6s, it’s not uncommon for them to score 5.5 or above on all fields. Seeing scores below 5.5, or even 5, may mean that an antivirus is lagging behind the industry standards and its own competition.
AV Comparatives
Another website, AV Comparatives, also compares antiviruses together and rates them in accordance to how they perform. How did Windows Defender fare on their tests?
At the time of writing, if we take a look at their chart for Real-World Protection Tests, we can see that AV Comparatives gave Windows Defender a Standard award. This seems pretty decent, as it’s on par with other antiviruses such as McAfee. However, if we look at other popular antiviruses on this chart, we can see they often scored higher than Windows Defender. Avast, AVG, AVIRA, and Bitdefender all took the top award for an Advanced+ level antivirus.
The Personal Side
So now you know how Windows Defender fares against the competition. How does it perform as a general piece of software?
As far as actually using Windows Defender, it’s not difficult to navigate. It comes as both an antivirus and a spyware remover, and updates both at the same time. It scans and maintains your system in the background without being too obtrusive about it. Also, given how it comes with Windows, you can use it free of charge without it begging you to purchase additional products, which free antiviruses have to do to keep their business afloat.
That said, Windows Defender has a few issues which people have had to work around, such as randomly locking downloaded files for seemingly no reason and taking up 100% of the disk. You may find a few gripes with Windows Defender if you decide to use it as your main antivirus solution.
Is Windows Defender Good Enough?
Is Windows Defender good enough to keep your computer protected? The general feel for it in its current state is that it’s an average-level antivirus. It’s not snake oil by any means, but it’s definitely not the best protection you can get for your PC.
If you only use the Internet to watch YouTube videos and chat on Facebook, you may find Windows Defender is an adequate solution for your specific use case. The minute you start performing more dangerous actions, such as downloading files, you’ll want something more durable to help keep your computer safe. You may even change antivirus purely for the fact that other solutions will have less of an impact on your system performance than Windows Defender.
Even if you believe Windows Defender does the job for you, it’s a good idea to explore the free antivirus solutions on offer. A while ago, you may have “got what you paid for” if you opted for a free antivirus. These days, free antiviruses can detect threats as efficiently as, if not better than, paid antiviruses currently on sale. You can check tools such as AV Test to pick out the best free antiviruses, then give one a shot and see if it suits you. At best, you’ll find a more robust and effective antivirus to protect you from viruses and spyware. At worst, you can simply uninstall it again with zero cost to you, so it’s definitely worth a shot.
An Average Defense
In conclusion, Windows Defender is an average-level antivirus which might keep people who perform basic Internet browsing safe from harm. However, the moment a user finds themselves in a situation where they’re likely to obtain a virus, there are plenty of paid and free solutions out there that can do the job a lot better.
Are you an avid Windows Defender user? Or did you dump it for a different solution? Do you want to pitch your own opinions for or against Windows Defender? Let us know in the comments.
I took a quick peek at the first link – av-test.org – and noted that out of 21 tested AV apps, Defender placed an abysmal 20th in protection. Couple that with the fact that Microsoft has created a surveillance, spyware and data-gathering operating system in Windows 10. I wouldn’t touch ‘Defender’ even if it was developed by a reputable 3rd-party.
I would not have wasted an article on Microsoft’s version for what passes as security for the masses. I would have discussed some of the other solutions that scored extremely well. Kaspersky Labs, for example, had perfect scores in all 3 categories. 11 AV vendors scored 6 out of 6 for protection. Any one of these companies were far more deserving of an editorial nod.
Even suggesting the use of ‘Defender’ in any scenario is what’s “making tech harder” for the rest of us.
“Microsoft has created a surveillance, spyware and data-gathering operating system in Windows 10”
That ‘feature’ of Win 10 will be there whether you use Defender or Kaspersky or any other anti-virus/anti-malware package.
When it comes to AV software, and for that matter any anti-malware software, “good enough” is just not good enough. If you were buying a home security system, would you want just “good enough” to stop most burglars or would you want the one one that stopped all but the most experienced? Granted no security software or system can be 100% effective but it is the number of 9s to the right of the decimal point that make the difference.
I don’t even USE Windows!…LoL! After being “burned” TWICE by XP and getting B.S.O.D.’s two times in a row….and then LOSING about 30% of my data? I was headed in the direction of mac computers, then stumbled upon Linux and never looked back. I have installed and tested almost all of the distros, some of them are truly designed for rocket scientists, others are so easy you wonder why more people don’t use it. Either way? because of its inherent file structure (which recently changed to btrfs and xfs!) The whole OS is a bit more secure than Windows could ever hope to be. Throw in the rootkit hunters, ClamAV….BleachBit an the like…and you can have a secure, stable, solid system that runs faster, and stays running faster than Windows! Windows Defender? is nothing more than a way to make those who aren’t informed feel that their systems are safe and secure.
Lol!!! two BSODs on an Operating System that’s long gone caused you to move to linux? and you lost 30% of data, not Microsoft – if you didn’t have backups, then that’s your fault, not Microsofts, Computers by nature will have problems, doesn’t matter what OS they run, if you’re not backing up , you’re going to get ‘burnt’ every time
Linux is a ‘bit more’ secure than Windows could ever be? How so?
Yes Microsoft does care about the cash more than anything, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad option, Though I agree defender is useless, but this article is designed to help those ‘ill-informed’ people….
Understand this is the era of CD’s…..(DVD’s were on the horizon but weren’t here yet!) and to have to try and save all the data I had on CD’s?….would have net me over at least 20 of them! And while backing up data IS the responsibility of the individual why does that negate the operating system from giving me more than two BSOD’s within a month’s time? So because I didn’t back up my data….then the company that designed the OS is allowed to push out sub-par technology? Hmm……that seems like flawed logic to me.
You don’t know how Linux is more secure than Windows? Have you ever heard of “iptables” show me the equivalent in Windows. ‘Nuff said.
Microsoft is not a bad option: for someone else. For me it is….it always WILL be and that’s the end of it. I’m not here to make fun of others, or belittle their decisions regarding the tech they use, I was just describing the tech I use and why. its all good. And we’re cool…..right? LoL!
I use Windows Defender but I admit to being somewhat uneasy about it. That’s the main reason I came here: to discover if there were better alternatives. Thanks.
yeah can someone offer free alternatives that provide some valuable protection that windows defender does not…
Let’s not forget MS’s foray into AV’s some years ago with MSSE (Security Essentials).
Look where that ended, initially sound but soon left to languish by MS.
Would you really expect any better result with Defender – I don’t think so!
MS is daily sending updates for Windows Defender so this is not a static thing but in development. Mostly AV software comes as free version but when you really want better quality you have to pay. Since these 3rd party AV solutions do not care much about Windows people often complain of very high CPU and RAM usage caused by Kaspersky, Norton and others. In sum this is rather a complex issue and last but not least, question of cost.
Unless you have a PC capable of handling the demands put on the machine by an AV, you’re pretty much going to suffer. I don’t know why the AV’s that exist for Windows eat up so much RAM, but I guess the alternative is to run NO anti-virus and to risk getting hit hard with some form of electronic plague!
A lot of magical thinking in these comments! Windows Defenders paired with the free version of Malwarebytes (Manual Scan) and periodic use of Spyware Blaster will give you protection that is comparable to anything else out there AND it’s FREE… ANDd it doesn’t try to install adware or ceaselessly nag you to upgrade!
Not sure why all the hate for Windows Defender – it does a decent job as an AV (If you really want something else then use Avast (no longer requires registration and the adware is manageable). That being said, just running an antivirus is no longer enough- you need to supplement with programs like Malwarebytes and hardening of your browsers (Spyware Blaster + Chrome or Firefox).
Get off your high horse already!