is windows defender any good

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ARTHUR
ARTHUR Posts: 210 Forumite
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in Techie Stuff
I was recently a victim of a malware/virus attack called "windows xp antivirus 2010" I managed to defeat this by using super antispyware, malware bytes, spybot search & destroy
as I have had quite a few virus/trojan, backdoor and explot attacks in the last few weeks I have now backed up all my important files (after scanning them with avira and all the above mentioned antispyware programs first) and wiped my computer clean as I think one of the earlier attacks must have left a port or something open (I dont normally have any viruses on my computer)
my computer seems to be working fine now but one of my mates mentioned that I should consider downloading something called "windows defender" to give me real time protection from viruses
is it any good, would it slow my computer down and is it easy to uninstall if I dont like it
I am also considering upgrading i.e from version 7 to verson 8
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  • seedyh
    seedyh Posts: 105 Forumite
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    If you want realtime protection from Viruses then you need Antivirus.. Give http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ a try. No need to run Defender with this, MSE will disable it anyway as it's not needed.
  • coolagarry
    coolagarry Posts: 1,261 Forumite
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    I find Microsoft Security Essentials to be very effective and simple to set up. This is a fairly comprehensive review from PC Advisor
    http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=117961
    I'm Glad to be here... At my age I'm glad to be anywhere!!
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  • aliEnRIK
    aliEnRIK Posts: 17,741 Forumite
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    My personal opinion is its useless
    :idea:
  • Richie-from-the-Boro
    Richie-from-the-Boro Posts: 6,945 Forumite
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    aliEnRIK wrote: »
    My personal opinion is its useless

    Protectionism !, if the masses use Microsoft Security Essentials and people on these boards do not get infected - you won't have a job and posts to this area of the forum will drop by 50% ! :)

    Redundancy is a frightening prospect, but I'm sure you will find other ways to put your excellent knowledge base and incredibly patient people skills to good use, just think it through :idea:

    My personal opinion is that Microsoft Security Essential is 5 star excellence.
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
  • aliEnRIK
    aliEnRIK Posts: 17,741 Forumite
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    Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »
    Protectionism !, if the masses use Microsoft Security Essentials and people on these boards do not get infected - you won't have a job and posts to this area of the forum will drop by 50% ! :)

    Redundancy is a frightening prospect, but I'm sure you will find other ways to put your excellent knowledge base and incredibly patient people skills to good use, just think it through :idea:

    My personal opinion is that Microsoft Security Essential is 5 star excellence.

    I was talking about defender
    :idea:
  • Richie-from-the-Boro
    Richie-from-the-Boro Posts: 6,945 Forumite
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    aliEnRIK wrote: »
    I was talking about defender

    Thank god we sorted that out, my bad, I assumed [ wrongly ] you were reffering to MSE :j
    Disclaimer : Everything I write on this forum is my opinion. I try to be an even-handed poster and accept that you at times may not agree with these opinions or how I choose to express them, this is not my problem. The Disabled : If years cannot be added to their lives, at least life can be added to their years - Alf Morris - ℜ
  • gaming_guy
    gaming_guy Posts: 6,128 Forumite
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    I use MSE on my (rarely) used Win7 installation and it does the job fine.

    IMO defender is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard and just sits there using resources which could be allocated to other programs
  • ARTHUR
    ARTHUR Posts: 210 Forumite
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    seedyh wrote: »
    If you want realtime protection from Viruses then you need Antivirus.. Give http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ a try. No need to run Defender with this, MSE will disable it anyway as it's not needed.
    I already have Avira antivirus which suits my needs - although it doesn't help with spyware/malaware
  • ARTHUR
    ARTHUR Posts: 210 Forumite
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    I have just re-read my question what I meant to say is that my mate told me that windows defender would give me real time protection from SPYWARE/MALAWARE, .
    sorry everyone I typed my original question very late at night and I was tired
    as I have said I do have an antivirus (avira) but is windows defender any good for blocking spyware/malaware ?
  • spud17
    spud17 Posts: 4,398 Forumite
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    I typed my original question very late at night and I was tired
    as I have said I do have an antivirus (avira) but is windows defender any good for blocking spyware/malaware ?

    I for one totally ignore it, and would never rely on it.
    Move along, nothing to see.
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