Defender

I've read somewhere that Windows Defender provides adequate anti-virus and firewall protection. My Bullguard subscription is about to run out and I'm wondering if my laptop will be safe if I don't renew it. Advice based on experience most welcome.

I have been using Defender for a couple of year's and its fine.
You should use the free version of Malwarebytes with it.

Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware Detection & Removal Software

I have been using Defender for a couple of year's and its fine.
You should use the free version of Malwarebytes with it.

Malwarebytes | Free Anti-Malware Detection & Removal Software

I agree.. with Malwarebytes it's more than adequate.

I don't agree. Just look at these antivirus test results. Avast, AVG, and Panda (all free) are leagues ahead of Defender (of course, these are results for Windows 8, but Windows 10 is not that far off). Test antivirus software for Windows 8 - June 2015 | AV-TESTAnd only Malwarebytes Premium - a yearly subscription now - offers realtime protection. Without realtime protection, you have to scan manually. You could scan every file you download before running them, but if a program already on your computer downloads malware, it won't block it. So if Defender fails to block an obscure ransomware, then it will not end well if you don't scan the file first or if a legitimate program downloads it without your knowledge. (a good example is Orbit Downloader - it was a legitimate program but began downloading trojans onto people's computers which turned them into botnets)

Don't forget about Bitdefender Free.

I've been using Windows Defender with Windows 8.1 and now Windows 10 (and MSE before that with Vista) for years and have never had a problem. Windows Defender is light, free, ad free, non-annoying, built into the OS and with it the computer runs fast and smooth. I do have Malwarebytes on the side to do occasional on-demand scans to make sure all is ok but it's never found anything.

I also use the add-on "Ublock Origin" in Firefox and "Adblock Plus" in Internet Explorer to block ads, tracking and malware domains. This makes web browsing a little safer and protects against in the wild "malvertising".

Most importantly though, I'm careful what I click on in emails and websites.

I've tried out many of the highly rated free AVs and I have found almost all of them slow my computer significantly and/or create other problems or conflicts. Many of them also show ads or annoying upsell messages. Some give a lot of false positives or take very long on quick scans. Another thing that has me wary is that there have been instances where these AVs have released a problematic update with troublesome results. See here for one example. Others may sell tracking info to advertisers. Finally, I've read that many AVs are tuned to do well on tests.

That said, I do know people who get malware and viruses no matter what AV is on their computer so the most important factor is still the user. Being careful what you click on and what sites you visit using common sense in addition to the above will go a long way to keeping your computer safe imo.

Thank you very much for answering my concerns about Windows Defender being adequate protection. Your replies are reassuring and very considerate and friendly and I'm grateful for the trouble you've taken.

I'd also take a look at Spybot Search & Destroy. I mainly use it for the 'passive' protection, via their immunization option. See HERE.

Spybot– Search & Destroy offersthe Immunization– a feature to allow you to immunizeyour computer against certain spyware. It also allows you to use native browser settings to block cookies, malware installations, bad websites and other threats via ActiveX.

**EDIT**

After I posted this recommendation I later discovered that my Windows Defender was not activated, and I was unable to enable it. I was getting some pop ups telling me to click the pop-up to re-activate it, but that never worked. I read that other installed anitvirus software can cause this, as Win-10 only allows one AV at a time.

I did not consider Spybot as an antivirus program per se, but apparently MS does. Once I uninstalled it, Windows Defender automatically enabled itself.

So, Spybot will not work with Windows Defender, at least not on my machine.

Thank you for your advice. I'll give that a try.

Windows defender is the baseline for all antivirus tests app.
It's not reliable. It's not even considered as a security app.

You can check around the list Test antivirus software for Windows 8 - June 2015 | AV-TEST
Even though it's for 8 Defender will never make it up the list any way, so you can go with other options.
Check out avast! free av using it since 6 years now without any issues, it's light on resources, smaller update sizes and good protection scores as well.