Best program(s) for protection on Windows 10?

Hey guys,

What program(s) do you recommend for the best possible protection on Windows 10 (I know this is opinionated, but I would like some opinions with some fact behind it)?

I have used Bitdefender and Malwarebytes and Spybot before. I know that a lot of people said that Windows Defender was pretty worthless a few years ago, but not sure if that holds true. Obviously I want the best protection without having to install too many programs and hogging resources.

As of now I am just using Windows Defender.

Thanks!

Anyone?

Windows Defender, Free Malwarebytes & Yourself.
In addition, Good backup image.

360 Total Security | Download Free Antivirus for PC - uses 5 AV engines, including Avira and Bitdefender.
It installs Firewall Software by GlassWire if you want it to. 360 has very polished and nice GUI, worth a try.

Download Panda Free Antivirus 15.1.0 - FileHippo.com - if you want something lighter.

Great I will use Windows Defender and Malwarebytes (free) then. I made a good backup image with Macrium Reflect.

Is Malwarebytes even necessary if you use Defender?

Is Malwarebytes even necessary if you use Defender?

Malwarebytes free is a on demand scanner that only scans when you manually perform a scan.

Defender is a real time protection program that runs active scans in the background & tries to prevent anything malicious from installing.

There is no harm in running both since Malwarebytes plays well with other AV's. It's an added layer of protection. Not one program catches everything 100% of the time. The more layers of protection you have, the better. Running regular scans with Malwarebytes helps in that it may catch something Defender missed.

You can also opt to buy Malwarebytes Pro version, which features active scanning.

I probably wouldn't use Windows Defender as my main antivirus. Here is an overview of most of the antiviruses available, including Defender which is on the bottom, figuratively and literally. Test antivirus software for Windows 8 - June 2015 | AV-TEST

I am using the free version of Comodo Internet Security. has some pretty advanced features for free software and all works well so far. Doesnt seem ti be too intrusive.

if you want something lighter.

You've just listed the most bloated software. You should not even have to see an AV GUI!

Install Avira free, its better in every way! Here's a quick "set it and forget it" setup guide for it: Avira free antivirus setup guide - Album on Imgur

Extra hint: use Autoruns to disable Avira system tray applicationfrom running at startup - virtually invisible!

Avira Free is the worst AV I have ever tried, it took 30 min to install and then the whole system was running like it was 386, 5 years ago it was the same, so not much have changed since then.