Anti-virus for Windows 10

[Taz]

I was wondering if there's a good free anti-virus program for Windows 10 that doesn't slow the machine down too much. Several years ago when I last used Windows I had Microsoft's own Essentials anti-virus installed. Is that still going?

Or would I be better off paying for an anti-virus program for Windows 10? I'm only looking for pure anti-virus protection so I don't need things like parental controls etc.

[Phage]

I'm using Avast - Seems OK

[hb904460]

I use Avira and it has been fine.

[virtuo]

I find the built-in Windows Defender and common sense works very well.

[Ttaskmaster]

I find the built-in Windows Defender and common sense works very well.

Essentials is now a built-in part of this which, through regular scans and running Malwarebytes in conjunction, works very well... and is free... which is good...

[Taz]

After a few hours of research it looks like the Microsoft built-in Windows Defender, whilst fine, seems to slow down the system a bit more than some of the others mentioned in this thread.

I've also seen that BitDefender do a free version.

It'll all come down to the one that has the least impact on system resources and still defends against attacks well enough.

[Ttaskmaster]

I can't say I've ever noticed the slightest bit of lag from my system...