Is Windows Defender Good Enough to Protect My PC? Check the Best Answer

Windows Defender is included in Windows 11 and 10 as a basic level of protection against viruses and malware, but is Windows Defender enough for most users? In this blog post, we will take a look at whether or not you need to install additional antivirus software if you have Windows Defender enabled on your PC.

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Updated by Daisy on Feb 22, 2023
Written by Jean

Q: Is Windows Defender Enough for Windows 10 in 2021? (Reddit)

"Thinking of sticking to Windows Defender because it is free. I do mild gaming and video editing but I use my rig also for work, mostly spreadsheets. Should I buy an antivirus?"

Q: Is Windows Security as Good as Antivirus?

"I can't find Windows Defender that I was reading about on my computer, but I do have Windows Security. Are these the same thing? Also, do I need third-party antivirus software or is Windows Security enough?"

is windows defender good enough

When it comes to computer security, there are a lot of options out there. You can spend extra money on the best antivirus software, or you can use a free program like Windows Defender. From what we investigated, Windows Defender is generally far better than many free antivirus programs on the market, so it is a good option for home users who don't consider paid software. However, if you're looking for more comprehensive protection with fast scanning speed, advanced malware scanners and customer support, Windows Defender is honestly not good enough at this point.

Next, we will guide you with a full analysis of Windows Defender's features and abilities in virus protection, to help you make a decision with a clear mind. At last, no matter how many security programs you have on your PC, you must do regular backups to ensure that your data is safe in case of any disaster.

EaseUS Todo Backup is widely known as a top-rated backup and recovery software for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP and Vista. It used to provide a password encryption method to be able to increase the security level of backup images on a physical drive, Network, or NAS. Now we got you a new Security Zone to preserve backup files, which can completely hide from viruses, malware, and trojan software damage. 

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About Windows Defender: Features, Pros & Cons

Note: Windows Defender is also known as Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Windows Security.

windows defender security at a glance

Windows Defender is a program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by malware, spyware and other unwanted software. It runs in the background and monitors your activities to make sure no malicious software is installed on your system. If it detects something suspicious, it will notify you and give you the option to remove the offending software.

Here are some of the key features of Windows Defender:

  • Free yet powerful: As a free anti-malware solution, it's so far the best among all third-party free antivirus software on the market.
  • Real-time protection: This means that Defender will scan your computer for malware constantly and block anything it finds.
  • Automatic updates: Microsoft releases new virus definitions regularly, and Defender will download and install them automatically.
  • Behavioral monitoring: This feature watches how programs behave and can detect malicious activity even if the program itself is not yet known to be malware.

As Microsoft's built-in antivirus program, Windows Defender has gotten better in recent years. The highlighted improvements we can benefit from the Windows Defender are mainly as follows:

  • Reduced false positives with improved heuristics and machine learning models
  • Enhanced detection of attacks that use PowerShell and exploit mitigations
  • New capabilities to detect ransomware at the earliest stages of an attack
  • Cloud-based protection that helps to guard against the latest threats

Does Windows Defender fall short in certain areas? let's find out some:

  • Only runs on Windows. So, if you have Macs or Linux machines in your organization, you'll need to use a different solution for those devices.
  • Doesn't protect against all types of threats. In particular, it's not very good at protecting against zero-day exploits and targeted attacks.
  • Can be resource-intensive, which can slow down older computers.
  • There have been some reports of false positives with Defender. E.g. Windows Defender-Security Warning.

Direct Answer to Windows Defender Good Enough or Not

Now that we've looked at an overall introduction of Windows Defender, let's answer the question: is Windows Defender good enough for basic security? The short answer is yes. Windows Defender offers a decent level of protection against most threats. And it's always improving, with new features and updates being released regularly.

But there are a few things to keep in mind. First, Windows Defender is not perfect. It can miss some threats, especially new and sophisticated ones. So it's important to supplement it with other security measures. Basically, third-party reliable antivirus software. The renowned ones are Avast, McAfee, Norton, Bitdefender and Avira.

Second, even if Windows Defender does its job well, it won't be able to protect you from everything. So it's important to be aware of the risks and take steps to protect yourself, such as using strong passwords and being careful about what you click on, especially the email attachments and some tech support scamming phone numbers.

Finally, remember that no security measure is 100% effective. There's always a chance that something could slip through the cracks. So it's important to have a backup plan in case something does happen. You must know that harmful virus generally corrupts your computer by encrypting your valuable files/folders with random codes, and no one can decrypt the infected files unless you pay the ransom.

Overall, Windows Defender is a good security program that offers a decent level of protection. But it's not perfect, and it's important to supplement it with other measures. And don't forget that no security measure is 100% effective. So always be prepared for the worst.

For Everyone: Build Your PC up with Virus-proof Backups

Windows Defender is a good security program and it is free. So it's not necessary to purchase any third-party antivirus software if you've already had Windows Defender turned on for real-time protection. However, you should never rely on only one form of protection, especially when it comes to your valuable computer data!

If you want to be as safe as possible, it's important to use multiple forms of protection, including a backup program. Here are some reasons why we focus on running backup software together with Windows Defender!

For one, even the best security programs can't protect against everything. There are always new threats being created that can slip past even the most up-to-date defenses.

Additionally, relying on only one form of protection leaves you vulnerable in the event of a software or hardware failure. If your only form of protection is a security program and it fails, then you have no other defense against losing all your data.

Backups provide an additional layer of protection by creating copies of your data that can be restored in the event that something goes wrong. This way, even if your primary form of protection fails, you still have a fallback that can help you recover your lost data.

Why you should choose EaseUS Todo Backup over other recommendations?

windows defender and eaesus todo backup

Now we noticed the power of combining different forms of computer protection measures together, it's time to pick up the best Windows backup software for personal and business users. Anyone who once downloaded EaseUS Todo Backup is impressed with its intuitive UI, all-around backup options, smart backup scheduling, and the fast recovery speed on the same PC as well as another PC with dissimilar hardware.

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EaseUS Todo Backup is widely known as a top-rated backup and recovery software for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP and Vista. It used to provide a password encryption method to be able to increase the security level of backup images on a physical drive, Network, or NAS. Now we got you a new Security Zone to preserve backup files, which can completely hide from viruses, malware, and trojan software damage.

Follow the guide to see how the EaseUS security zone helps protect your backups from virus infection:

Step 1. Select Backup Contents

On the main window, click the big question mark button to select backup contents. You can choose to back up individual files, entire disk or partition, operating system and mails. 

select backup contents

Step 2. Select Security Zone as Backup Destination

While selecting backup destination, you can see the Security Zone option. Click Security Zone and use it as a backup destination.

select security zone as backup location

However, if you're first to use the Security Zone function, EaseUS Todo Backup will guide you to create one. Click "Create Security Zone".

click create security zone

Choose a partition with enough free space for your backups and then click "Continue".

choose a partition to create security zone

You can adjust the partition size for the security zone. Click "Create" to get it done. 

adjust partition size to create security zone

Step 3. Execute the backup task

Click "Backup Now" to start the backup process. Your backups of OS, files, drives and mails in the security zone will be fully protected from being seen or destroyed by virus, ransomeware and trojan. 

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Updated by Daisy

Daisy is the Senior editor of the writing team for EaseUS. She has been working in EaseUS for over ten years, starting from a technical writer to a team leader of the content group. As a professional author for over 10 years, she writes a lot to help people overcome their tech troubles.

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Written by Jean

Since graduating from university, Jean has been writing tech articles and has been a valuable member of the EaseUS team for over 5 years. Her areas of expertise include data recovery, disk partitioning, data backup, and multimedia world.

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Product Reviews

TrustScore 4.7 | 47 reviews
  • Taking everything into consideration, we can say that EaseUS Todo Backup Home can offer you a little extra sense of security with a set of advanced tools. The interface provides quick adaptation, every process guiding you all the way through so you don't get stuck or further damage your system rather than keeping it safe.

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  • EaseUS Todo Backup Free lets you create backups of your important files or your entire computer through its streamlined interface. Just choose the backup type you'd like to get started, and let the program do the reset.

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  • EaseUS includes all the features I expect from backup software like versioning, incremental backups, and scheduling. For more advanced users, EaseUS allows you to install a pre-boot environment onto your hard drive so you can use it to restore files without burning a CD or putting it on an external USB drive.

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