“I recently bought a new laptop running Windows 10 and I want to keep it safe from online threats. It comes pre-installed with Defender but I’m also thinking about installing a free antivirus. Will they both run together without causing conflict?”
As most of you may know Windows 10 comes preinstalled with the free antivirus Windows Defender and it’s pretty decent if you don’t do anything too crazy like downloading files from untrustworthy websites. It offers good base level protection for most Windows 10 users.
In the video below we’ll see if Windows 10 Defender and a third-party anti-virus can coexist in the same universe.
Yes, in Windows 10 you can run Defender along with a third party Anti-virus/Internet security program. Defender runs in the background using ‘periodic scanning’. Real time scanning is automatically switched off in Defender when you install or switch on a third party AV program. However, you can run Defender in ‘periodic scanning mode’ which as the mode suggests will periodically scan your PC for threats while your third party program is switched on.
Make sure periodic scanning is switched on. You can switch it on by selecting Start > Settings > Update and Security > Windows Defender.
Then, under the heading ‘Limited Periodic Scanning’ move the selector switch to ‘on’.
Thus, when you open Windows defender it will tell you:
“Windows Defender is periodically scanning your PC for threats. Windows Defender real-time protection is off because you are using another AV program. Uninstall your existing AV to turn Windows Defender on.”
You can still manually update Defender at any time – although if you are using periodic scanning it (should) update itself.