Windows Defender Is Becoming the Powerful Antivirus That Windows 10 Needs

Extremely comfortable. But augmented with Configure Defender, Simple Windows Hardening and Firewall Hardening. Wouldn't use anything else, very strong protection with zero bloat and no useless popups.

 

Thanks. I am using Configure Defender set to high I forgot to mention that. How can I setup Simple Windows Hardening and Firewall Hardening? Are these made by Andy as well?

 

I've been running Defender since around 2016 when Windows 10 was coming into its own. It's always been supplemented by some 3rd party helper/s and would not think of any other config without them (rotating Sandboxie, OSArmor along with H_C FirewallHardening). Tiny creatures with no system impacts.

The worst thing I've had to contend with is tracking cookies. Yuck. Edit: yes, both are Andy Ful's projects. FirewallHardening is a module within H_C and is an absolute must for me. No issues ever. It's the purple button on the right side of the H_C UI. I load the LOLBins, Trooper.

 

Ditto. I have learned my lesson and am no longer curious about third party AV's. None of them are perfect, they all have their problems and not a one of them will catch everything. That being said, WD with Configuredefender has really strong protection with the least amount of problems of all. There is no scareware warnings about bloat features and no popups either. Keeping my system updated, using WD, common sense and good online hygiene are the best ways to avoid the bad stuff online.

Jimmy

 

I'm in agreement with @digmor crusher - WD, along with Hardening tools, is quite sufficient to protect devices.

 

Download, install and exit when prompted. It will use "Recommended settings" which you may tweak further if desired. Very simple, easy GUI. Read all the "Help" files for this, FWH or any of Andy's apps.

 

I've been using WD since moving to Windows 10, currently enhanced with Configure Defender (HIGH) and Hard Configurator (Recommended Firewall settings + Basic Recommended Profile, which is similar to SWH). I feel very comfortable with this setup for home and home business use. Andy's excellent configuration tools don't install any drivers and have no overhead.

 

You can download and run Firewall Hardening separate of Hard Configurator as well.

 

I will check that out first I think. Thanks!

EDIT: Not seeing anything for the firewall. https://github.com/AndyFul

 

It's in H_C master file IIRC. Download that and run FWH separately.
https://hard-configurator.com/

 

Got it thanks. I just installed the Hard Configurator and accepted all defaults. Will run like this for now to see how it goes. Cheers!

 

Direct link separate programs.

https://github.com/AndyFul/ConfigureDefender/raw/master/H_C_HardeningTools.zip

 

If you put

Code:

[PLAIN]

before the link and

Code:

[/PLAIN]

after the link you can post the URL without the link being live.

Eg: https://github.com/AndyFul/ConfigureDefender/raw/master/H_C_HardeningTools.zip

 

Thanks guys. I ended up downloading and installing the Hard Configurator.

 

I am happy with Configure Defender, but how do I use Hard Configure and if I do not like it how do I set it back to default? I see no setting like CD has.

 

Press the "Tools" button, then the " Uninstall Hard Configurator" button, this reverts back to Windows default settings.

 

Couldn't agree more. Ever since I've been using WD I feel more relaxed about security in the sense of set it and forget it, as a matter of fact I use it with default settings. No antivirus is 100% safe but having a top program to image my system gives me a great peace of mind.

 

I installed Hard Configure and now I can't get Windows Defender to scan, I try to open it and it says not available IT has limited access to this feature.

 

Which version of Windows are you using? If it's Pro, make sure you don't have Group Policy settings enforced, as they will override and conflict with those of H_C's.

 

A little late to the party but, from a security standpoint I feel WD is good enough for home use. That said I would use a malware blocking DNS service and an ad blocker in all browsers. All of these are free so why not? That said it's not what I use but if someone wanted me to recommend something free that would be it.

 

Microsoft adds AI-driven ransomware protection to Defender
November 16, 2021
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...-ai-driven-ransomware-protection-to-defender/

Microsoft: AI-driven adaptive protection against human-operated ransomware

 

Thanks Jack. Yeah for the first time in years, non of the third party av suites are playing nice with my home PC. I do use WD with ConfigureDefender set to high, uBO, with NextDNS. I should be good.

 

Windows 11 Home.

 

Open ConfigureDefender, scroll to the bottom and change "Admin Hide Security Center" > Visible.

Note: When choosing Max protection there is a splash screen user warning about this setting.

Spoiler

[ /SPOILER]

 

Seems disabling default deny protection brought it back. Odd.