Windows 10 security?

A buddy of mine just picked up a laptop running Windows 10 with "Norton" pre-installed
And man, from what I can tell, that Norton thing is constantly scanning everything, which is seriously dragging the whole computer down.
It won't even let him run basically any portable apps he tries to use.
One colleague told me he should just rip Norton out completely since Windows 10 comes with its own "Windows Defender" built right in anyway.
Is that actually enough protection? I mean, my friend mostly just uses the machine for typing stuff up in Microsoft Word and scrolling through news sites.

I’ve been using Norton for ages now—honestly, I can't even remember when I started—and I couldn't be happier with it. I recently found myself upgrading to Windows 10 Home after messing around with some settings on my old Windows 7 setup, and while the transition left my computer feeling a bit stripped down, I’m not sure if Windows Defender is what's causing that. Regardless, Norton doesn't bother me at all; in fact, if I'm trying to run a specific installer and it gives me any trouble, I just disable it for about ten minutes and everything works perfectly fine. When I run a cleanup, it catches everything, even flagging outdated files. I actually have Norton installed on my phone and my tablet as well...

As far as your computer's speed goes, I really don't think Norton is the culprit; it’s much more likely that the hardware is just getting older or perhaps you have too many processes running in the background at once...

Now, if you were strictly using your machine for typing things up in Microsoft Word, I might suggest moving away from it, but since you're browsing the web, I wouldn't dream of recommending you go without protection. It’s always better to have an extra layer of security than nothing at all (assuming that Windows Defender is even active)

Anyway, that’s just my personal take based on my own experience with Norton...

Megan Moore27 said:When it comes to why a computer is running slow, it usually isn't because of Norton—it’s more likely just an older machine or maybe too many programs running at once...

But since you're browsing the web, I wouldn't suggest getting rid of protection altogether... honestly, it's better to have a solid antivirus than none at all (assuming that Windows Defender thing actually works)

Actually, it does have something to do with Norton, especially if you checked every single extra little "feature" they offer during installation—that kind of bloat will definitely drag your system down. And as for what was said about having multiple antiviruses? That's like trying to cram ten cats and a dog into a tiny two-foot closet 😁 because those programs end up fighting each other, which just creates total chaos on your PC. You could even pay for a premium antivirus $3333 but if you're clicking on every suspicious link you see, no software is going to protect you 100% of the time.

Bryan Fowler7 Feel free to uninstall Norton, and Windows Defender should kick in automatically through Windows itself—that'll be plenty for you.

So, we finally ripped out Norton, and honestly? It’s kind of wild how much faster everything is running now.
From what I can see, that Windows Defender real-time protection
just kicked in automatically. A buddy of mine told me he went through the exact same thing about a year ago—with Norton installed, everything was just painfully sluggish, but the second he nuked it, his PC felt like it had been reborn.
He ended up just putting on "Microsoft Security Essentials" instead, and everything's been smooth sailing since.

Windows Defender is essentially built right into the OS. Personally, I don't think it's any less capable than those expensive commercial suites you see everywhere.

Bryan Fowler7 said:So, we finally went ahead and uninstalled Norton—and honestly? It’s kind of unbelievable how much faster everything is running now.
It looks like that feature just kicked itself on automatically—has anyone else noticed that happening? So, I’ve been thinking about Windows Defender lately—you know, that built-in security layer we all just sort of take for granted? It’s one of those things that stays in the background while you're busy working in Microsoft Word or just browsing the web, but it really does a lot of the heavy lifting. I was chatting with a colleague the other day about whether it's actually enough to rely on, or if you really need to go out and grab something like Norton to feel totally safe. It's a fair question, isn't it? For most people just running Windows 10 Home, the standard protection is surprisingly solid. It's integrated right into the system, so it doesn't feel nearly as intrusive as some of those older third-party suites used to be. That said, there's always that nagging feeling in the back of your mind—is it catching everything? Especially if you're someone who tends to click on every interesting link that pops up—though, let's be honest, most of us have done that at least once. It’s a bit of a balancing act between keeping things simple and making sure your data is locked down tight. Does anyone else feel like they're constantly weighing that choice, or am I just being overly cautious? Is anyone else noticing how much of a difference real-time protection actually makes? I was thinking about it earlier—it’s one of those things you don't really think twice about until you realize how much heavy lifting it's doing in the background. It's kind of like having a silent security guard constantly patrolling the perimeter while you're just trying to get through your workday, isn't it?
A friend of mine mentioned having a similar headache about a year ago—he was using Norton, and man, everything was just crawling. It felt like opening any simple program took forever. As soon as he finally uninstalled it, it was like his computer finally found its breath again. Have you ever experienced that kind of sudden relief?
Instead of using that, he just installed Microsoft Security Essentials—and honestly, everything is running perfectly now.

It’s pretty much exactly what I mentioned—I used to run Norton Free, but during the installation, I made sure to uncheck every single extra bit of bloatware except for the actual antivirus protection. At the end of the day, the main thing is that my computer feels faster now, and honestly, that's all that really matters.

I’m running Norton Premium, and honestly, I haven't noticed any kind of slowdown at all—nothing like what people claim.