What do you use as antivirus?

Im using Windows Defender as full antivirus and Malwarebytes (Free version)

So far. I've never had viruses malware on my computers. I started doing this 2016-2017.

Are paid antivirus products not worth it now?

Back then i used to use Bitdefender and it was pretty good. It had a pretty good GUI and many other protection features.

Same here. Haven't used McAfee or Norton's since the 90's, just always kept MS Security Suite/Windows Defender & Firewall on. Had regular scans, defragment schedule, scanned questionable files prior to downloading, etc. Windows10 feels the most stable and secure to me <knock on wood>. This OS runs like the day I installed it. No unnecessary startup services, programs, processes, etc.

I use Windows Security/Defender and I have a lifetime license for Malwarebytes Premium. I set exclusions for both and changed the setting on MBAM to never register it in the Windows Action Center, never had any problems with conflicts from either one. This setup with a good dose of common sense works fine. I had problems before with third party free AV. They cause a lot more problems than they ever solve.

And one other thing i like using is MRT. Do you use it? Its a tool microsoft provides. Is that something like an antimalware scanner? All i know is that it stands for Malicious Removal Tool.

The question of whether paid AV products are worth it is highly subjective. Clearly there are many people who believe they are because the companies selling them remain in business. They do provide more features and configuration options and for some people that is an important consideration. Personally I believe paid products provide better protection. The question is whether this is worth the cost. For me the answer is no. You will have to make your own decision.

I believe the MRT is part of Windows, I have never used it though. Every so often I will scan with the free ESET virus scanner just to be sure nothing is wrong. I can get Norton for free from my ISP and tried it put when I first got my laptop a couple of years ago. It was really hard to understand how Norton works and it caused some problems that I had to reset Windows to fix. Plus the third party AVs can cause problems with WIndows updates too. I just use the Windows Security, MBAM and common sense.

gMemo92 said:

Im using Windows Defender as full antivirus and Malwarebytes (Free version)

So far. I've never had viruses malware on my computers. I started doing this 2016-2017.

How do you know you've never had viruses or malware on your computers?