Is windows defender all i need

I was advised by Microsoft tech support, that he was concerned with a recent problem that I had, which I solved myself. that he was concerned that I was using defender as my only antivirus

There were 2 threads covering this topic a while ago, comments both for and against, suggest you read them:
http://www.eightforums.com/system-security/29529-windows-defender-windows-8-enough.html

And
http://www.eightforums.com/system-security/43053-windows-defender-okay.html

I feel safer with Avast or AVG

vrosa said:

I feel safer with Avast or AVG

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+1 on that. Also worth having programs such as CCleaner, MalwareBytes, Hitman Pro, spybot search and destroy, installed, their all pretty decent at fighting virus's etc

I run with Defender and never had a problem. You just have to be careful on what you click. Plus I run a lot of my internet work from a virtual Linux system. That is pretty safe.

Yeah, totally agree with your post I am safer with Avast or AVG

There's a saying in my country which roughly translated is something like that: "If the monkey behind the keyboard is a moron, no antivirus will save them".
I for one don't need an antivirus because I don't use game hacks (which are always full of... stuff) and I don't visit sites that may infect my computer. The only security software I have and which is more than enough for me is a free firewall (working together with Windows Firewall) and it's called TinyWall. It works exactly the way Windows Firewall should work but MS never made it work that way.

That answer depends on who you talk to, everyone has a different answer. The layered approach works the best, as in running malware scanners in addition to your AV, such as Malwarebytes or AdwCleaner. Run these on a regular basis.

Over on Seven Forums there is a post you can look at that weighs the pros/cons of different AV's. One thing is certain, no one program gets everything 100%. In the end, you'll have to choose whatever you feel comfortable with.

What's the Best Anti-virus? - Windows 7 Help Forums

Considering my internet habits I would never even considering relying on Defender as my sole source of protection nor would I recommend to anyone that they should. Microsoft, yes "Microsoft" recommends that Defender be supplemented with a third party anti-virus product. Why would anyone not heed that recommendation? In most instances, but not all, the user is the final gatekeeper but often enough even due diligence is not enough and it is for those times I will always hedge my bet with additional protection.

Generally, most have a significant investment in PC hardware not to mention the user/owner time investment in setting up, maintaining and troubleshooting their device so why would anyone pass on additional protection? There are a number of good applications available for free and many more where the annual subscription may amount to a couple of bucks a month. My monetary and time investment are worth more than that.

And finally, no anti-virus/anti-malware is 100% foolproof and never will be but they do provide another layer of protection which is why a back-up strategy needs to be in place to recover from unforeseen events. Regular Restore Point creation is a must, Custom Refresh Images is another option and the ultimate solution is creating backup system images to an external device.

the ultimate solution is creating backup system images to an external device.

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This is the secret to a safe Windows. Frequent (at least once per week) imaging gives you the guarantee that you can always backpaddle. I would not rely on restore points because they are very volatile. And if you don't want to use an imaging program, use this command from an elevated command prompt:

Wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:X: -include:C: -AllCritical -quiet

Where X is the device (external disk or large flash drive) to which you want to write the image.

For recovery, you need a recovery USB flash drive or DVD. To create one, you go to the Recovery Media Creator - type recovery on the start screen and "Create a Recovery Drive" will show up. Just follow the wizard.

The day you want to recover, you boot from your recovery media and you drill down this chain:

• Language setting
• Troubleshoot
• Advanced Options
• System Image Recovery

Make sure the device on which you have stored the image(s) is attached at this point. Then the system will find the image(s) automatically.