Windows Defender

[yodap]

I'm looking for opinions and thoughts about this program. I missed the Vista years so I don't have experience with it.

Should I chuck it?

 

[Mychael]

I had it and it was ok, however MSE once installed disables it, at least it did with me.

 

[yodap]

A few months ago, I borked my MSE installation because I did something stupid. I wasn't able to re install it right away so I went with Avira Antiver free instead. After several registry cleanings since then I may be able to reinstall it, but I haven't tried. Now i get bugged every day, sometimes twice a day to update definitions for WD. I know if set Windows Update to auto I wouldn't get bugged, but I like to read about and choose my regular windows updates.

Can WD be disabled without to much trouble?

 

[Mychael]

Sorry Yodap, been a while now since I had it so cant exactly recall. Maybe not disable but I seem to recall you can change settings to stop automatic updates.

 

[yodap]

Thanks Mychael, I'll take a look.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Type "Windows Defender" in the search box if you want to check the status.

 

[davehc]

Go to services.msc, and disable windows defender.

 

[yodap]

Yep, I found that, thanks Dave and Cliff.

Any other pros and cons for this?

I'll keep the thread opened for a little while longer.

 

[davehc]

Well, there are a few threads on the site, regarding antivirus programs. MSE is gaining favour. Very light on resources and does a good job. Definition updates are fast. As Mychael said, if you install it, it supercedes Defender and automatically disables it.

 

[catilley1092]

On an evaluation version of Windows 7 (Home Basic 32bit) on my notebook, Windows Defender is working OK. Instead of using MSE, as I normally do, Time Warner gave me a free security suite, CA Internet Security. It installed really easily, even the firewall, everything was automatic. It's the first time ever that I haven't used the Windows Firewall. It's also the first time that a firewall had the intelligence to install itself, w/o my input.

So far, so good. I'm able to use Defender, it updates and runs at 2AM. I haven't used it since my XP days, so I'm now getting to know it better. It's certainly a good app to have in your toolbox.

As for CA Internet Security Suite, it's done well so far. I'm scanning behind it with Malwarebytes & Windows Defender, no problems as of yet.

Cat