When It Comes To Antivirus, This Is Why I Only Recommend Windows Defender Now – For The Most Part
Over the years, I have tried free and paid versions of many antivirus programs. Around 2008, I became a huge fan of ESET Internet Security (formerly Smart Security). Lightweight and very functional, ESET simply works well. Over the years, I have recommended and installed it on many client computers. You may ask yourself, "That sounds great, so what changed?”
Recently, they've become overzealous, including introducing features that cause frustration, particularly regarding the firewall. I talk more about this in my Patreon post on the topic of antivirus.
A modern, properly updated computer running stable operating systems like Windows 10 and 11, which have a built-in firewall and antivirus protection, referred to as Virus and Threat Protection, are often all the average user needs.
Thus, I no longer recommend ESET or any other third-party antivirus or security software unless there are specific reasons to do so.
Signs Your Antivirus May Be Overzealous
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When you surf the web, don’t you love bright, constantly visible borders? Go ahead and enlarge the above screenshot by double-clicking it to see what I mean. That apparently indicates that ESET has activated certain features related to "banking protection". Who wants to surf the web with that visible? No one. Is it even necessary? Not at all.
To make matters worse, it's on by default in recent versions of ESET Internet Security. Overall, it is an excellent program, but this kind of behavior is annoying and NOT okay.
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You can dive into the settings to disable it, but who wants that trouble? Of course, ESET isn’t the only troublesome antivirus out there. If you have used third-party antivirus software, you may be familiar with some of these issues.
These kind of issues/experiences/challenges are absolute deal-breakers for me, and I'm sure even more so for generally non-tech-savvy people.
So, in short, use Windows Defender (Virus and Threat Protection) unless you need to use advanced software like ESET or any other third-party solution. Windows Defender is the way to go if you are visiting reputable websites, not doing potentially risky things online, and don't have a clear need for additional protection.
I hope this helps many of you save a few dollars and frustrations and potentially avoid unnecessary third-party antivirus programs if you don’t have specific reasons to use one.
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