Windows antivirus how to#

YouвЂ™ll occasionally see a notification popup to letВ you know when a scan has been performed, and you can usually see the details of the last scan by opening the Action Center in Windows 10. It wonвЂ™t even ask you what you want to do with the malicious software it finds-it just cleans things up and quarantinesВ the filesВ automatically. It will only pop up to inform you when it finds malware.

You donвЂ™t really have to think about Windows Defender at all. RELATED: Why Does Antivirus Software Quarantine Viruses Instead of Deleting Them? Like other antivirus apps, Windows Defender automatically runs in the background, scanning filesВ when theyвЂ™re downloaded, transferred from external drives, and before you open them. Take Advantage of Automatic Scans and Updates WeВ do, however, recommend running an anti-malware app like MalwarebytesВ in addition to whatever antivirus app you choose. What you use is up to you, but Windows Defender is not a bad choice (and has overcome most of its problems from a few years back).

Windows antivirus how to#

RELATED: How to Run Malwarebytes Alongside Another Antivirus Windows Defender also plays nicer with web browsers and other apps-respecting their security and privacy settings more than most other antivirus apps.

ItвЂ™s by far the most non-invasive app, handling things in the background whenever it can and not nagging you all the time. ItвЂ™s true that other antivirus apps-like BitDefenderВ and Kaspersky-protect against more viruses in benchmarks.Д«ut Windows Defender boasts some advantages, too. And itвЂ™s pretty good, if something of a mixed bag. With Windows 8, the product was tidied up a bit,В bundledВ withВ Windows, and renamed Windows Defender. Microsoft offered a standalone antivirus app named Microsoft Security Essentials in the days of Windows XP, Vista, and 7.