ASC does all of what you mentioned and yes it is definitely overkill, and will do nothing but confuse your PC. But besides ASC I do keep Malwarebytes and an antivirus such as Avast or AVG Free version of course. Malwarebytyes is mainly for maleware, good for scanning and getting rid of ransomware, my anti virus scans incoming e-mail and is on watch constantly. ASC I like the many other scans it does such as registry errors and fix of such. I never had an issue with these conflicting with each other on any of my 4 PC's all running W10.

If you were using the right product, you'd only need one and it would work without your intervention.

PCMAG is a respected source and has been for decades. Here are its 2017 ratings of free and not free antivirus/security products. In general, the not free ones have more features and broader protection coverage. The not free ones are not particularly expensive compared to other household "services" people regularly pay for.

Many people don't know that a number of internet service providers offer free downloads of top rated antivirus program for customers. I use Comcast and it provides Norton, the system I was paying to use before I switched to Comcast service. Check first to see if yours does, that's the quickest and easiest approach.

Free Antivirus programs

Not free Antivirus programs

After years of paying for various kinds of antivirus software, and never being completely satisfied, I decided to switch over to the free version of Avast which I've used for the last 3-4 years. I spend a lot of time every day on the Internet going to a lot of different web sites, and I have never gotten an infection while using Avast (although I've gotten a number of alerts from Avast when it has intervened to stop one). I see that it fares rather well in the rankings provided in the free antivirus link above from Elmer Fudd. The program is user friendly, and it doesn't seem to hurt my computer performance, a problem I've had in the past, particularly with McAfee.

AVG and Avast share the top spot in the ratings, noted as being Editor's Choices. Funny enough, a good number of years ago, a family member had problems and failures using each of these. I think they're both much better now. And McAfee and Norton, both of which took knocks as affecting performance a good number of years ago (like maybe 10), both seem to have cleaned up their acts and behave properly.

I've been a Norton user for a good 8 years and it works very silently and unobtrusively. It only does scans when the PC is not being used and it stops if use begins.

Windows 10 comes with anti-virus built in to it OS! You don't need to buy a third party software! Is this a joke for some naive user?

I have made myself satisfied with free avast! I can live with an interface which is somewhat clunky and a few ads I don't particularly like because the protection has been great. As with all things...Your Mileage May Vary.

harry-

Some people prefer antivirus software other than what Microsoft provides....

Windows Defender here works fine for me.

Just like ice cream - pick any flavor you prefer.

Are you suggesting you know more about the effectiveness of antivirus and security programs than do the experts whose testing PCMAG bases its ratings on?

They don't think they're all the same, neither should anyone else.

I haven't been on PC Magazine site in years. How about a link to their Antivirus recommendations page, being that you are familiar with their site ?

Links are shown in my first post above.

PC Magazine stopped the print version several years ago but continues online with the same ownership and some of the same contributors. The security reviews are overseen by Neil Rubenking, a very respected guy in the industry and a name that has been involved with PC Mag for a long time.

Read the pc mag recent 2017 article quickly. Mr Rubenking says Windows Defender is the base line most of the other Antivirus programs strive for - so it sort of stands to reason others would strive for a higher standard.

He mentions but vaguely though the newest version of win10 & Edge browser which are so much more secure currently that the other AV programs are not always up to snuff with it combined with windows defender.

Microsoft doesn't seem to talk much about win10's current state of security with newer SLAT & hyperviser, Rubenking barely mentions it sadly - it would be nice to hear his opinion in detail with some of his type or style of AV testing.