[SOLVED] Is Windows Security enough?

[box o rocks]

I'm a home user running updated W10. Is Windows Security enough to prevent unwanted access to my machine, or do I need a 3rd party app like Malwarebytes?

 

[punkncat]

Windows Defender/Security is an excellent product of it's own. As you are aware any AV is only as good as what the user allows to happen and where/what you surf and download.

 

[m7mod]

Hello,
Yes in my own opinion windows security is pretty good on its own, so long that you're cautious of what you click on, open, or download you wouldn't need any form of security.
I personally have windows security off with no 3rd party antivirus and I've been good for the past 3 years.
Hope this helped.

 

[box o rocks]

Windows Defender/Security is an excellent product of it's own. As you are aware any AV is only as good as what the user allows to happen and where/what you surf and download.

Well, I'm not infallible when it comes to where I click and what I download. We all err sometimes. That's why I'm asking if I need something smarter than me.

 

[box o rocks]

... I've been using the 2 week free trial of Malwarebytes and it has found what it calls malware several times. Windows Security is turned off by default and therefore I don't know if it would have caught it or not. Most likely not.

 

[punkncat]

^Malwarebytes will react to even the littlest thing as if it just kept robbers out of Ft Knox. I found it to be a bit irritating as it makes people tend to freak out over what was nothing in the first place.

I utilize a Symantec solution for a group of work computers. I think it works really well, but have had to clean virus from one particular users computer multiple times. I opted to move over to the Windows solution and turned up UAC such that it pops up a window for almost everything they are doing.
If you pay attention to UAC, check what it's asking you permission for, it can be helpful (and also quite irritating as well).
I say all that to try to convey that if you aren't careful about what you allow the system to download, and click "yes" it isn't really the AV fault beyond that.

For the above user I imaged the system after a fresh install and if/when this issue occurs now I just refresh from the initial image.

 

[box o rocks]

Thank you. Maybe I'll just stay with Windows Security and run MB's scan on a daily basis.
Another question... I'm using Firefox for my browser. In the "Settings" section, there's options for enhanced tracking protection. I've always had it set at the default (Standard). Should I bump it up to Strict and put up with some site failures?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Thank you. Maybe I'll just stay with Windows Security and run MB's scan on a daily basis.
Another question... I'm using Firefox for my browser. In the "Settings" section, there's options for enhanced tracking protection. I've always had it set at the default (Standard). Should I bump it up to Strict and put up with some site failures?

Standard is perfectly fine , no need to change it.