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Few people know, but the Windows 10 e Windows 11 already have a factory installed antivirus system: the Windows Defender. And even fewer people realize that this is not just any antivirus, but one that rivals the best on the market — completely free, and lets you not have to worry about purchasing or installing third-party antivirus software. 6e135v
Of course, this was not always the case: for years, the Windows Defender it was a very basic system, with numerous flaws, which served as an extremely simple protection and required s to install another antivirus to ensure they were protected. But Microsoft has worked so hard to improve the system that, since 2019, the Defender not only is it safe enough to protect your computer on its own, but in many ways it performs better than even some paid options like Norton Antivirus, McAfee and Kaspersky.
How secure is Windows Defender? 3i5w4z
Of course, not always Windows Defender it was a safe option for computer defense — in fact, for most of its existence it just didn't work as it should. So much so that for years antivirus software quality comparison agencies such as AV-test.org used Defender as the lowest level of protection in their comparisons, where it was considered pretty much the same as not having an antivirus on your computer. .
But that reputation can be left in the past. With an increasing concern for security, Microsoft began to pay more attention to the Windows Defender in its updates, and at least since the second half of 2019 Microsoft's antivirus has already sured even some paid programs.
Currently, two independent antivirus testing agencies (AV-comparatives and AV-test) place the Windows Defender among the best antivirus solutions on the market, being superior not only to other free programs (such as Avast and AVG) but even to some paid solutions (such as Norton and McAfee).
In tests carried out by AV-test As of June 2019, Windows Defender earned a top score of (6) in all tested categories, managing to identify all types of malware that were tested, including those that take advantage of known vulnerabilities to try to break into your computer undetected. This kind of success makes it clear that Defender is ready to protect any computer in a real-world environment.
The same kind of success was achieved by testing the AV-comparatives, where Microsoft's antivirus was one of four programs that managed to block all types of malware used in the test (16 programs were tested in total). This performance was better than some well-known paid solutions, such as McAfee and Norton, which failed to detect 100% of threats.
Of course, Defender is not yet a perfect antivirus, and it does have some minor problems. The two testing companies have noticed that he has a high propensity to indicate false positives (i.e., considering a file that is completely safe as malware), and three “-dependent” cases were found, in which the program asks for permission to lock a file (which is not ideal, since there is the possibility of the to prevent the lock and the computer from being infected). In addition, it was also noticed that, on older computers, Microsoft's antivirus can help to make it even slower.
Despite all these however, the Windows Defender it's still by far the best free antivirus option out there, and it doesn't lose out on virtually anything in of protection to all the paid alternatives. So if you don't have a few hundred bucks to buy a license to use a Kaspersky or Norton for life, trusting Windows Defender for your protection is not only your easiest option, but also your safest.
How to configure Windows Defender 3e402x
configure the Windows Defender it's very easy because, in general, you don't have to do anything at all. When installing Windows, it comes all configured, and it will perform security checks and update its virus definition database by itself, ensuring that even s who do not have any computer knowledge are protected.
But, if you want to change your antivirus settings or do a more detailed search on your computer, you can access Windows Defender from the application Windows Security, which you can access from the Start menu itself, where it is listed along with the other programs installed on your computer.
You will then be taken to a menu with several options related to Windows security, such as firewall settings and application control. The first option on this menu will be “Virus and threat protection”, and this is where you need to click to access Windows Defender.
You will then be taken to the main screen of Defender, which right away will show you some machine statistics, such as the last time the computer was scanned for viruses, how long the scan took, how many files were scanned and how many threats were found in the process.
Right below this information you will see three clickable options: “Scan Options”, “Allowed threats” (which shows a list of files that the antivirus detected as possible threats but that the gave permission for them to continue being used normally) and “ Protection history” (a report of all recent actions the antivirus has taken to protect the computer). Since our goal here is to do a manual scan, let's click on the “Scan Options” button.
You will be taken to a menu with four options: “Quick Scan” (takes around five minutes, checks only the most likely places for a virus to hide), “Full Scan” (takes around an hour, scans all PC files), “Custom Scan” (allows the to choose the locations to scan, perfect for when you want to check if a USB flash drive or external hard drive you borrowed from someone is infected with a virus) and “Windows Defender Offline Scan ” (removes some hard-to-find threats, but prevents you from using your computer for about fifteen minutes).
Once you've chosen the type of verification you want to do, just click on “ now” and that's it! O Windows Defender will scan your computer and if it finds any threat, it will neutralize it to ensure you can use your computer safely.
See the video 81n20
Source: PC World, AV-comparatives, AV-test
