Is an antivirus necessary these days?

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ultimate99

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• Apr 10, 2026

• #1

I've always used ESET Internet Security until Win10. Now, with Win11, is it necessary to have one running or just waste of resources?

Or Windows Security would just be fine?

 

Last edited: Apr 10, 2026

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  ...do i need one?...

Try3

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• Apr 10, 2026

• #2

ultimate99 said:

is it necessary to have one running

Click to expand...

Yes.
In a test only a couple of years ago, a UK consumers' association set up a 'home network' then sat back & monitored it.
There was an attempted intrusion every minute.

Like many other people, I just let Windows built-in security handle my protection.
Its level of protection is as good as anything else's.
www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/


Denis

 

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TairikuOkami

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• Apr 10, 2026

• #3

Defender will do, 3rd party AV offers a more granular control and maybe a better protection overall, but if you combine AV with DNS like Quad9 or Cloudflare, it can replace a paid web protection. AV helps to prevent mistakes caused by a common sense, like:

Breach has "been fixed" says CPUID, after CPU-Z and HWMonitor flagged as malware in apparent hack

Download links for benchmark & diagnostic software CPU-Z and HWMonitor were recently compromised for around six hours.

www.pcguide.com

 

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FreeBooter

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• Apr 10, 2026

• #4

If you are careful on what you download or run you will do okay with Microsoft Defender that is all i'm using had no problems.

 

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Try3

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• Apr 10, 2026

• #5

You've altered your question since I replied.

 

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