Opion of Windows Defender ??

[mike12]

Well, Windows 8 has been out for a while now, and its default AV, Windows Defender. I upgraded to Windows 8 a few months ago, and have had no problems with Windows Defender. It updates daily, and does a quick scan when the computer is first turned on, so that is good. I run a full weekly scan with Windows Defender, and it finds nothing. I then run CCleaner and it does find many cookies, that are probably harmless, and then I do a scan with Malwarebytes, and it finds nothing. The problem is I see no testing of Windows Defender by any of the testing labs etc. to compare it to other AV's etc. I have a feeling I have just been lucky so far. I also have another paid subscription to Bitdefender Total Security 2013 that I can load on this computer. Most of the testings I read about has Bitdefender either number 1 or 2. so I am wondering if I should ditch Windows Defender and load Bitdefender. Opions, suggestions, please. Thanks, Mike

[glc]

Windows Defender in Windows 8 is actually MSE. It's okay, but if you have a spare Bitdefender license it may be better.

[David M]

I have the subscription version of Bitdefender now. I was running MSE. Bitdefender found tracking cookies that MSE either missed or intentionally ignores. Perhaps Microsoft does not consider spyware type of malware to be a threat?...I don't know. I feel I am getting something that is more proactive and thorough with Bitdefender than I was with MSE.

One other thing that Bitdefender does that MSE does not do is that in search results it will check the sites that come up in your search results for malware and then let you know if it is a safe site to visit or not. That is called being proactive.

[jdeb]

David, are you still running MSE along side of BitDefender?

As a side note, MSE has been very good for my customers. Since dropping AVG Free a couple years ago, phones have been pretty quiet. The customers who have bad surf habits probably would be better off with BitDefender or better yet, Linux installed.

[David M]

Originally Posted by jdeb David, are you still running MSE along side of BitDefender?

No, didn't want to risk a potential conflict between two anti-malware packages. Why?

[jdeb]

I read you can do it and I was wondering how it was working.

[mike12]

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestion. It looks like Windows Defender is going to be history. I will install Bitdefender 2012 Total Security,
with a free upgrade to 2013 Total Security. Thanks again, Mike

[David M]

Originally Posted by jdeb I read you can do it and I was wondering how it was working.

I'm pretty happy with it. I never had any problems with MSE though. There have been some reviews about MSE over the past few months which do not rate it very high which is a little concerning. I go to a lot of different websites, many of which I have never been to before. The time it takes to eradicate malware and the damage it can do is probably worth throwing some money at. I know none of it is 100%, the best you can hope for is to get as close to 100% as you can. I feel better protected with Bitdefender and will probably renew the licenses for my computers when it comes up for renewal.