XPS 15 Security Questions

That would have my vote, yes.  When you uninstall McAfee, Windows Defender should automatically enable itself and then update itself with the latest heuristics.

It's pretty invasive, intrusive and resource-intensive for what it does.

Microsoft Defender (comes with Windows) has been shown to be just as good as the commercial "security" suites -- and is far less resource intensive.

Ok awesome! So Windows Defender should work and is pre-installed on my laptop? Should I uninstall McAfee then since Window Defender works fine?

@Ryans_Dell 

I concur with the advice given to you by @ejn63 .  McAfee can be difficult to remove entirely.  Please see this link for how to uninstall McAfee.  First use, the Control Panel method, or Revo Uninstaller Pro, if you have it.  You can get a 30-day free trial.  I would then subsequently run the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool (Method 2) after rebooting, to get rid of as much of McAfee as is possible.

I have two newer Dell computers, and I always remove McAfee from my computers.  The Windows 10 Defender program is well regarded, unlike the old Windows "Security Essentials".

You might also want to consider purchasing Malwarebytes Premium or Free.  If you do install Malwarebytes, make sure that you select, in options, to unregister Malwarebytes from the Security Centre so that Windows Defender can run normally.  Malwarebytes is not a true anti-virus program, but it is very effective against Potentially Unwanted Programs/Applications, adware, etc.

I hope this helps.  Have a great day.

Regards,
-Phil

@Ryans_Dell :

I concur with the advice given to you by @ejn63 .  The Windows 10 Defender is very well regarded as a security program, unlike the old Windows "Security Essentials".

McAfee can be difficult to remove.  Please see this link on how to remove it.  I would first use the Control Panel method (1), unless you have Revo Uninstaller Pro, which is very good at removing all remnants of installed programs.  I would then reboot, and run the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool (Method 2), and again reboot when it has completed.  I have two newer Dell computers, an XPS 8930 SE and an XPS 15 7590 and the first thing I did was to get rid of McAfee.

You might also want to consider an anti-malware program, like Malwarebytes Premium or Free.  If you do install Malwarebytes, ensure that you go to options and unregister it from the Windows Security Center, so that Windows Defender can run normally.  Malwarebytes is not a true anti-virus program, so I would advise against allowing it to disable Windows Defender.  Both programs will work well together as long as Malwarebytes is not registered as the anti-virus program in the Windows Security Center.

I hope this helps.  Have a great day, and stay safe out there in cyberspace.  And, oh yes, implement a regular and robust backup plan, just in case you are a victim of a "zero day" malware infection.  I image both of Dell computers weekly and store the images on external hard drives that are only plugged in long enough to create the images, thus keeping them away from a possible ransomware or other serious malware attack.

Regards,
-Phil