How good is Windows Defender?

R

RebateMonkey

After I ran a full scan with Windows Defender on a Vista, it says that "No unwanted or harmful software detected. - Your computer is running normally."

Does it really mean my pc is clean?

I'm having problem with the internet connectivity, it drops about once an hour, this happened after I visited a site where a pop up come up with a loading bar that said virus was detected in my pc.

I called the internet provider, they say my internet is fine, I change cables and wires around, the connection problem still persists. Is my pc being infected by virus? Or Can I trust the scanning result of Windows Defender?


Thank you.
 
I've often had spy garbage that even very good spyware could not detect.

If something doesn't seem right, it is likely there is something you don't want.

When you are ready for the big guns, try combofix. But be very careful to use it;
go to bullguard forums and have someone hold your hand if you are not too familiar with following instructions exactly (I've run it quite a few times, but often hear horror stories from those who did not seem to follow exact instructions).

Before that, I would also suggest malaware bytes full scan.

P.S. I once had a problem that nothing could detect, but yet every night the computer would shut off automatically in the middle of the night for no reason.
I turned out there was some rogue junk hidden in an obscure folder that I had to track down and eliminate. I found a few others that had the same problem.
 
you should always work on your pc as a user with no admin rights. this way if you do hit a site with a virus it cannot access important parts of your system under your admin security context. windows defender is good and will catch anything being installed under the usual windows installer. it wont catch anything that has been installed outside that which is why you shouldn't run as administrator. your problem sounds like it could be your modem\adsl box related. try with another pc to confirm or look at your router logs to confirm. to be honest you dont really get viruses that do this type of action. have you installed anything major since it has happened.
 
Hello,

Many thanks for everyone's reply.

Yestoday, the internet drop for over an hour, I decide to call the internet provider again. They said they were fixing some issues that the network is having in my region. Since the internet was back last night, it hasn't gone down till now. I will wait couple days to see whether things get stable before doing anything serious with this pc.
 
Quote from RebateMonkey:

Hello,

Many thanks for everyone's reply.

Yestoday, the internet drop for over an hour, I decide to call the internet provider agai....
More...

Many ISPs offer free commercial anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

Another excellent (and free) one is "Spybot search and destroy"
 
Quote from DataCruncher:
how is the virus detection rate for Microsoft Security Essentials?
More...
Don't know. This is their latest product though. It's also free.
 
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