Don’t Pay For ANTI-VIRUS

Not so long ago, uninstalling your antivirus software was considered a reckless and foolish decision – especially if you had decided to rely solely on the protection offered by Windows. Every time you went online, you’d risk your PC being infected with malware and hackers stealing your data, just for the sake of saving a bit of money.

Thankfully, those days are behind us and should you disable your antivirus today, it will automatically be replaced by a program that provides equivalent – and often superior – protection against the latest threats. We’re talking, of course, about Microsoft Defender Antivirus, the much-improved security tool that’s built into Windows 10 and 11 and does a sterling job of detecting, blocking and removing malware.

Here, we explain why you can now stop paying for antivirus software and let Defender protect your PC for free. We also examine why you may still prefer to pay for protection, by comparing Defender with the latest security suites to see what extra benefits they provide (along with any flaws they suffer). We’ve excluded Kaspersky, though. We’re no longer selling it after our owners, Future PLC, ceased trading with Russian companies in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Additionally, we reveal how to tweak Defender’s settings to maximise its level of protection.

The links for Norton, Bitdefender and McAfee take you to our Software Store, where you can buy the programs at a special reader discount.

WHY YOU CAN STOP PAYING FOR ANTIVIRUS

I’ve always paid for antivirus. Why should I stop now?

Because you don’t need to – unless you want to – and could save a lot of money. It used to be the case that the first thing you needed to do when setting up a new PC was install antivirus software, preferably a paid-for suite from a reputable name in cybersecurity. But Windows (10 and 11) now comes with Windows Security built in, which automatically protects your computer against malware and other threats, so you don’t have to worry about installing and paying for third-party security software.

But isn’t Microsoft security software rubbish?

It certainly used to be, but not any more. The original Windows Defender (initially called Microsoft AntiSpyware when it launched in 2005) did little more than scan your system for spyware, so you still needed a separate antivirus program, while the firewall in Windows XP only blocked incoming traffic, so malware on your PC was able to