Is Windows defender enough

Question

Do I really need a separate antivirus or is Windows defender enough? I’ve noticed that third-party antivirus programs can slow my laptop down quite a bit. Is Windows Defender good enough, or should I still get extra protection?

Answer 1

Hello,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Microsoft Defender Antivirus is built into Windows 10, Windows 11, and versions of Windows Server. It provides comprehensive protection through machine learning, big-data analysis, in-depth threat resistance research, and the Microsoft cloud infrastructure. It can block almost all malware at first sight, in milliseconds, and works in both online and offline scenarios. Additionally, it can stop threats based on their behaviors and process trees, even when the threat has started execution, such as fileless malware.

If you are using a non-Microsoft antivirus/antimalware product, you might be able to run Microsoft Defender Antivirus in passive mode alongside the non-Microsoft antivirus solution, depending on the operating system and whether your device is onboarded to Defender for Endpoint.

Given its capabilities, Microsoft Defender Antivirus is generally sufficient for most users, and using it can help avoid the performance issues sometimes caused by third-party antivirus programs.

For more details, please refer to the documents.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/defender-endpoint/microsoft-defender-antivirus-windows

I hope the information above is helpful.

Best regards

Zunhui

============================================

If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Answer 2

Thanks for your reply! That’s great to hear because third-party antivirus programs really affect performance and slow things down a lot.