The issue then was that some antivirus vendors used undocumented code hooks - rather than hooking into the Windows firewall - to perform antivirus scans. To help prevent these stop errors, Microsoft is currently only offering the January and February 2018 Windows security updates to devices that are running antivirus software that is from antivirus software vendors who have confirmed that their antivirus software is compatible by setting a required registry key.” These calls may cause stop errors (also known as blue screen errors) that make the device unable to boot.

Just think of the number of times historically that Microsoft has used installation blocks due to interaction with antivirus products.Īs Microsoft explained one case in 2018: “The compatibility issue arises when antivirus applications make unsupported calls into Windows kernel memory. (Even with Windows 10, it’s important to ensure users are running a supported version of antivirus.) Some users also saw side effects with browsers and had to uninstall or reinstall their antivirus software to get their browser working properly. Early in the Windows 7 release cycle, I regularly advised users to uninstall antivirus software before applying security updates or service packs to avoid problems. I’ve tracked patch installations on Windows platforms for years and have often seen bad interactions between antivirus software and Windows updates.

I have often thought that no antivirus software is better than the various options available.

Windows 10 do i need antivirus