Do I really need anti virus.
 

I have the latest free AVG A/V....for some reason it slows down my WIN10 PC a lot which is around 6 years old....WIN DEFENDER is off.

4GB Ram 500GB operating memorably.

Only use the PC for using a few forums...ebay and facebook and emails.

How much am I really at risk if I run without anti virus.

Or if I am really in danger...what suggestion to fix my slow PC....is 4GB RAM sufficient for instance....

I did a bit of research several years ago and opinions seemed to be that Windows Defender is perfectly adequate as an antivirus tool so ditched Avast.

Mate has a 10 year old laptop which hadn't been working properly in several years so he brought it to the pub last weekend for me to have a look; Win 10 with AVG and Defender both switched on. We decided that AVG should be disabled which I found difficult to do so I uninstalled it (what are you doing Treadders?); it did seem to be quite system hungry and I don't suppose there is much memory installed. I recommended that he look for a replacement when he has a bit of spare cash but at least it is working now (or I hope it still is!) and he is receiving emails, etc!

For what it’s worth, I agree with this. I’m running Windows Defender only since a year or two ago and so far, no problems. Good luck.

Same.

Antivirus: yes
MS integrated: sufficient.

​​​​​Most Commerical AV solutions these days are 25% AV (Real good ones) but 75% upsell delivery platforms.

Ok guys.....AVG now uninstalled and Win Defender back up and running.

Seems much better.....so many thanks for the advice.

My machine has 4GB of RAM....is it likely to improve the PC further if it upped the Ram to 8GB?

The PC is only used for web surfing and emails.

I use Google Chrome as my browser service provided by Virgin.

Chrome is quite memory hungry, you can search online reviews for alternatives with similar functionality but which are less resource hungry.

You need 64 bit version of Win to adress the space above 4 GB.

WIN+R and type winver(.exe)

Browsing modern websites, especially multiple open tabs, eats a lot of resource. Chrome is notorious for this.

If you decide to open / upgrade then
+ SSD and fresh Win 10 64 bit
+ 4 GB RAM
​​​​​​
Keep the old disk as a physical backup, also to copy your old personal files.

Since MS' proprietary Edge browses also runs on the Chrome engine, suggest you leap back and just work with it. Less browsers, happier life.

The UX of Edge is actually better.
​​​​

Hi FD.....used to use Firefox..wonder how that compares to Chrome.....nothing to loose I will down load and try it.

I am not upto speed on all the latest Browsers....so its suck it and see.

AVG was definitely slowing things down....much much better now....even with Chrome.

Saw my mate again today - he is delighted and says his laptop is running way better now. StilI think he needs a new one as it is a decade old!

Bullseye, don't go anywhere.

Another couple of browser suggestions are opera and / or brave.

As noted by earlier posters chrome can be very hungry with your RAM and the more tabs you
use the higher the usage.

Personally I wouldn’t like to have less than 8GB of RAM as an absolute minimum as things will be far more zippy and RAM can be found for peanuts.

As I understand it; Windows Defender is written and monitored by the Windows people, who know the operating system and code, and it is in their interests that machines running Windows do not fall foul of viruses.

So Defender is regularly updated and available to update Windows registered machines as part of the automatic Windows update, as each new attack is detected and neutralised. I would imagine that Windows have many more programmers than an aftermarket product?

I was told that Defender is much better than aftermarket virus software, but apparently they are not allowed to advertise the fact owing to competition laws?

PS, if aftermarket software is free, then what's in it for the producers of that software - what do they get out of having their free software on your machine?

Is that not rhetorical?

Free version is a delivery platform for the paid version.
Paid version is a delivery platform for solutions to problems you never knew existed before.
Premium Extended version is overpriced (1 licence), so that family package (5x licences 3 devices each) can be sold at 2x the price and look reasonable.
Once all householders have their installation done, you'll never change the product due to the effort and coordination required.
The degraded performance is to a large extent due to the need to be seen doing something.

OTOH, I do believe the core AV from Avast, Eset, AVG, Kaspersky, NOD32 et al are good, useful and more amazingly elaborate tools. Just that for a home user the embedded protection is sufficient.

The dirty trick, for completeness, is paying a lifetime super-premium package. 2 years down the road either the product is not performing or the SW gets renamed and discontinued.

These days I rely on Windows Defender. I used to have Avast on one of the older machines here, but it got slower and slower, so I un-installed Avast and gave Defender full reign. A faster machine again, and so far - all OK. My thoughts run parallel with what Uplinker mentions above. It's certainly in MS's best interests to do everything to maintain the integrity and safety of their products.