Comodo Internet Security & Windows Defender - Can they run together?

Comodo Internet Security - CIS AntiVirus Help - CIS
#1

Hi,

My dad bought a new PC and I replaced the trial Mcafee AV with Comodo (free). I was wondering, do I leave Windows Defender on?

I’m not even sure what Windows Defender does? It’s not an AV program like Microsoft Security Essentials. Do I still need to leave WD on if I installed Comodo Internet Security?

Thanks!

#2

If installed correctly, both the Firewall and Anti-virus should show as Comodo as in the attached from Control Panel, Security and Maintenance. That should also show the same in Windows Defender

Don’t try and disable Defender as it covers more than just Anti-virus and Firewall functions. You shouldn’t have to disable or stop anything

#3

Hi,

Allright thanks.

I will check my dad’s computer, meanwhile, I was looking at my own security review at the control panel, looks like I’ve got both Windows Firewall on and Comodo Firewall. It says it may conflict.

Which one should I use? I’m running Windows 8.1 myself, also using Comodo internet security.

Thanks.

#4

You should turn off Windows Firewall on both Private and Public Networks - NOT the Service, which is needed by Windows for other functions

#5

Allright thanks, I turned the Windows Firewall off for both public and private networks.

Is the Comodo firewall better than the Windows one? I also noticed I don’t have Windows Defender running on my own PC (running Windows 8.1). I searched for it as I couldn’t find it in the control panel, when I clicked on the search result, it said it was disabled, even though I didn’t ever touch it.

I noticed WD is also disabled on my dad’s computer, not sure why.

But I’m a bit confused though, I hear all the time you shouldn’t have two AV programs running at the same time right, as they may conflict.

And Windows Defender also has a firewall?

Thanks.

#6

If CIS is correctly installed, Windows Defender (WD) will be automatically disabled. The Windows Firewall may also turn off and be replaced by the firewall component in CIS, but it does not always happen automatically so you may want to disable Windows firewall yourself.

CIS can be a very powerful security suite, if it’s set up correctly and if users don’t over-ride its security warnings. However, a PC can also be badly affected or even disabled by getting the configuration wrong or by incorrectly dealing with CIS security warnings. There are some good guides on this forum that explain what to do.

For your father, if he generally practices safe computing habits, i.e. not going on the drak web, P2P, ■■■■■, etc, then he may not need to power of CIS but may be entirely OK with Windows Defender plus Windows firewall., and as long as he does not open unexpected attachements to emails.

Windows Defender has very good detection ratings these days. To keep him extra safe whilst keeping things simple, you might just want to download and install Comodo Secure Shopping (CSS) instead of the whole of CIS. CSS protects online banking and shopping from being spied on or interfered with, so if WD didn’t catch something then at least he shouldn’t find that his bank account has been hacked due to Zeus or whatever malware.

With any of these scenarios that you might choose, just consider uninstalling McAfee, it should not be running at the same time as CIS or WD.
Good luck.