7 ANTIVIRUS MYTHS THAT ARE DEAD WRONG

NOT EVERYTHING YOU HEAR ABOUT ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE IS TRUE.

- CHRIS HOFFMAN

Antivirus software is an essential piece of protection on any Windows PC. On an internet where malware is only becoming more and more profitable for organized crime, you don’t want to be without a good antivirus program (fave. co/3CnDHuk).

But there are a lot of myths floating around out there about antivirus software. Let’s bust them.

MYTH: YOU NEED TO INSTALL ANTIVIRUS ON WINDOWS

You don’t have to install antivirus software on Windows because Windows already comes with antivirus software (fave.co/3x2jAFf). In fact, Windows has had built-in antivirus software since Windows 8, and it’s still included in Windows 10 and Windows 11 today. The built-in Microsoft Defender antivirus is part of the Windows Security suite of tools (fave.co/3tXSvPP). It’s as basic as it comes, but it’s completely free and runs automatically in the background, even if you never think about or install antivirus software.

Now, you may prefer another form of antivirus protection—some software has extra tools, protection features, and options, and different ones use different detection engines. But the good news is that every Windows PC has a baseline antivirus package. We’re long past the days of Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP nagging you to install antivirus software when you set up a new PC. 

Microsoft’s antivirus gets out of the way when it needs to, disabling its automatic background scanning features if you choose to install a third-party antivirus. You just don’t have to think about it.