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Antivirus and whatnot for Windows 11 laptop

Si_Clist
Si_Clist Posts: 1,557 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
in Techie Stuff
My wife has a new Windows 11 laptop which only she will be using, and that mainly for watching films on Prime, messing about with her photos, and web-surfing.  She never goes near any dodgy sites, and is very switched-on about never downloading anything she's not sure of.

Given that the laptop has Windows Defender, does it really need antivirus and/or Malwarebytes as well?  And if it does, what's currently best without having to pay for a subscription?
We're all doomed

Comments

  • Neil_Jones
    Neil_Jones Posts: 9,652 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Don't need anything else.
  • Peter999_2
    Peter999_2 Posts: 1,400 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I agree with Neil, you don't need anything else.
  • SiliconChip
    SiliconChip Posts: 1,887 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 27 July 2024 at 8:57PM
    The OP implies that the laptop doesn't currently have Malwarebytes, I'd suggest that would be a worthwhile addition to complement Defender, the free version should be good enough (as long as your wife remembers to run scans reasonably often).
  • BlueonBlue
    BlueonBlue Posts: 319 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Antivirus and Malwarebytes is scaremongering imo 

  • Vitor
    Vitor Posts: 923 Forumite
    500 Posts First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 28 July 2024 at 9:42AM
    The days of needing bloatware like Norton are long gone. 

    A well configured Windows Defender and the 'Strict' settings in Privacy, search, and services for Edge Browser is OK for home users.

    Use a filtering DNS like OpenDNS (Home Free by OpenDNS) instead of the default provided by your ISP.
  • Si_Clist
    Si_Clist Posts: 1,557 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thank you folks.  We're happy with that  :)
    We're all doomed
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