(Of note: The free Windows Defender — built into every copy of Windows 10 — has actually matured into a top-ranked AV tool, on par with the better commercial apps; and objectively better than a number of for-a-fee commercial apps!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So spend your money if you want to \u2014- there indeed are some excellent commercial apps out there to choose from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you probably don\u2019t have to spend a dime, regardless of what your “experts” say. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=3494<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em> Are your “experts” selling antivirus software, perhaps? The fact is: The price of a thing does not necessarily correspond to its overall quality or true value. For antivirus apps (free or paid), check the tests results posted by independent agencies such as AV-Test.org. You\u2019ll see that several free apps are among the top-ranked tools. (Of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-Um","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":857,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/30\/a-reader-asks-does-windows-have-a-feature-that-can-count-my-daily-keystrokes\/","url_meta":{"origin":3494,"position":0},"title":"A reader asks: Does Windows have a feature that can count my daily keystrokes?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-10-30","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: Does Windows have a feature that can count my daily keystrokes? (via Quora) A: Not built-in, but there are many, many add-on apps that can. Here are just a few example apps for counting user-input activity --- number of keystrokes and mouse clicks, distance of mouse travel, etc.: KeyCounter:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5886,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/25\/the-case-of-the-missing-win10-antivirus-scan-results\/","url_meta":{"origin":3494,"position":1},"title":"The case of the missing Win10 antivirus scan results","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2021-10-25","format":false,"excerpt":"Windows 10\u2019s dialogs are sometimes laid out in funky ways and can lack headings and other visual cues to help you quickly locate what you\u2019re looking for. That, coupled with Windows\u2019 inconsistent and variable naming and labeling conventions, can be an annoyance to most of us \u2014 but can actually\u00a0enrage\u00a0some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AskWoody Plus"","block_context":{"text":"AskWoody Plus","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/askwoody-plus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Langa-2021-10-25_Fig2-e1635160709628.jpg?fit=403%2C201&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":660,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/09\/a-reader-asks-is-ad-aware-web-companion-for-windows-10-third-party-software\/","url_meta":{"origin":3494,"position":2},"title":"A reader asks: Is Ad-Aware Web Companion for Windows 10 third-party software?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-10-09","format":false,"excerpt":"Ever wonder who's really behind a certain website or online product? So did this reader --- and you can apply the answer to almost any online site or product: Q: Is 'Ad-Aware Web Companion for Windows 10' third-party software? (via Quora) A:\u00a0Yes. \u2018Ad-Aware Web Companion\u2019 is not a Microsoft product.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4109,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/23\/what-applications-do-windows-laptops-come-with-that-can-be-uninstalled\/","url_meta":{"origin":3494,"position":3},"title":"“What applications do Windows laptops come with that can be uninstalled?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-01-23","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Ryan Nugent) In my experience, all of them. Windows 10's various Reset and Fresh Start options can strip away most or all (your choice) of the preinstalled software on any Windows PC. You'll be left with a PC running as \"pure\" and unmodified a Windows setup as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/reset-dialog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/reset-dialog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/reset-dialog.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/reset-dialog.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5112,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/29\/new-win10-version-2004-first-impressions\/","url_meta":{"origin":3494,"position":4},"title":"New Win10 version (“2004”) first impressions","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-05-29","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week, Microsoft released the semi-annual refresh of Windows 10, this one dubbed \"2004,\" meaning it was finished last month, 2020-04. So far, I've updated four PCs, including my primary-use, personal system. All have gone smoothly, with nary a hiccup. Microsoft's install routines seem to be getting better at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/win102004ID.jpg?fit=500%2C463&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2622,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/16\/repost-a-no-reformat-reinstall-for-windows-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":3494,"position":5},"title":"(Reprint): A \u2018no-reformat reinstall\u2019 for Windows 8","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-16","format":false,"excerpt":"The column reprinted below was originally published in the August 15, 2013, Windows Secrets newsletter. Today, it supplements a new, free column, \u201cWhy am I not able to reset my PC or reinstall Windows?\u201d (all versions), posted here: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=2602. I\u2019m reprinting selected Windows Secrets columns here to help ensure readers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Long Form"","block_context":{"text":"Long Form","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/long-form\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"[seperator]","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/SEPERATOR-short-grey.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3494"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3554,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3494\/revisions\/3554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"[seperator]\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/SEPERATOR-short-grey.png?resize=104%2C6\")
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