AV, Windows, streaming...

[diego]

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/01/antivirus-is-bad/?comments=1******=160

So, I recently came across this article that argues against using AV software beyond ms defender, just using os and browser updates as the main line of defense and I wanted to get some opinions, especially from fellow fans who probably use streaming sites plus the occasional rentals as Baseline calls them and so on.

Me personally, I've mostly used kaspersky for the past decade plus, but in the last year I got hit by a mbr virus that wiped me out pretty good. I'm still on win 7 because I abhor the idea of Ms making money off my personal info (and I live in a rural area with shitty bandwidth capped Internet); up until I recently upgraded my graphics card I had zero reasons to even consider w10. But between dx 12 and security reasons, is w10 worth considering? How does it play with rentals and streaming sites etc? Has anyone tried using an enterprise license to disable the telemetry / update stuff, and does that even make sense if its going to weaken security?

And if sticking with 7, what are your preferred defenses from viruses?

[DJR210]

You have to weigh the pros and cons of Windows 10, and what you plan on doing primarily on that PC. As for your question about AV software, some are lighter than others, some have better reviews regarding security, etc.. From experience, I prefer using AV, and I found that Avast and AVG were the two that were lightest on resources and caused me no noticeable issues during games and digital audio apps..

Pros of W10 IMO

+It's the most current, so support is there
+the look and features
+game mode (next update)

Cons

-privacy concerns
-annoying update processes
-has so much shit background processes and tasks running I cannot get low latency on audio applications.. Have to adjust the USB buffer to eliminate popping and drops, whereas Windows 7 was BEAUTIFUL and light (hoping game mode helps)

[ElNono]

Personally, I've migrated everything to Win10.
You can disable most of the telemetry stuff and Cortana, even on recent builds, there's some guides out there on the Interwebs.
You can also turn off a bunch of background tasks (Settings->Privacy->Background apps)

You're going to hate the forced updates and the auto-restarts if the machine is unattended, but I guess that's the price to pay for being up to date.

Other than that, it's a solid OS. I don't personally use an AV anymore, but I have backups of everything (and you should too, an external drive to backup is cheap as hell).

[DJR210]

Looking forward to seeing some real world gaming performance gains with Game Mode.. So far it's pretty meager with like 5 FPS increases, but hopefully it gets better.

[baseline bum]

Looking forward to seeing some real world gaming performance gains with Game Mode.. So far it's pretty meager with like 5 FPS increases, but hopefully it gets better.

You're getting 5 fps more with game mode? I thought that shit was only for real scrub ass systems that are low on RAM.

[diego]

Personally, I've migrated everything to Win10.
You can disable most of the telemetry stuff and Cortana, even on recent builds, there's some guides out there on the Interwebs.
You can also turn off a bunch of background tasks (Settings->Privacy->Background apps)

You're going to hate the forced updates and the auto-restarts if the machine is unattended, but I guess that's the price to pay for being up to date.

Other than that, it's a solid OS. I don't personally use an AV anymore, but I have backups of everything (and you should too, an external drive to backup is cheap as hell).

yeah, backup drive is the obvious solution for most virus problems, though there are certain viruses that can create problems beyond the local pc. so you use say rojadirecta to watch live sports (using an adblocker obviously) and dont come out covered in malware? you rent a game to try and dont get notices from MS about incompatible software or whatever? i take it that when you talk about adjusting those privacy settings, you are still sending info and still getting updates, has anyone tried those enterprise editions that can be fully cut off from MS?

sorry for all the questions but searching for this stuff pulls up a lot of crap to sift through!

[ElNono]

yeah, backup drive is the obvious solution for most virus problems, though there are certain viruses that can create problems beyond the local pc. so you use say rojadirecta to watch live sports (using an adblocker obviously) and dont come out covered in malware? you rent a game to try and dont get notices from MS about incompatible software or whatever? i take it that when you talk about adjusting those privacy settings, you are still sending info and still getting updates, has anyone tried those enterprise editions that can be fully cut off from MS?

sorry for all the questions but searching for this stuff pulls up a lot of crap to sift through!

I run Firefox with uBlock and no Flash installed. If I need to see anything with Flash, I run Chrome (also with uBlock), which by default comes with a sandboxed version of Flash.

I'm also running the Pro version of Windows 10, which lets you disable Cortana through group policy (I don't think you can do that with the Home version, but there are other workarounds). I also disabled the Telemetry services manually (there are docs online). I'm not sure it's 100% cutoff from Microsoft, but a good amount is.

As far as Game demos/rentals, it's all about where you get your stuff. I really can't help you with that, other than telling you to stick to sources you know are good.

I should also add I'm not your average PC user, tbh. I run a very lean Windows, only third party apps are Brackets, Firefox, Chrome, Remotix, a VPN client and Thunderbird. All my email, etc is offsite. So my situation might not work for the common user.

[Wild Cobra]

Personally, I've migrated everything to Win10.
You can disable most of the telemetry stuff and Cortana, even on recent builds, there's some guides out there on the Interwebs.
You can also turn off a bunch of background tasks (Settings->Privacy->Background apps)

You're going to hate the forced updates and the auto-restarts if the machine is unattended, but I guess that's the price to pay for being up to date.

Other than that, it's a solid OS. I don't personally use an AV anymore, but I have backups of everything (and you should too, an external drive to backup is cheap as hell).

What do you think of Spybot Anti Beacon?

[ElNono]

What do you think of Spybot Anti Beacon?

I have not used it, but it might be a good suggestion for diego :tu

[resistanze]

You could probably get away with no antivirus and Windows Defender on 10. Personally I have Symantec Endpoint because I still have the need for visiting hoodrat sites, so the extra level of protection is welcome.

[DJR210]

You're getting 5 fps more with game mode? I thought that shit was only for real scrub ass systems that are low on RAM.

No, I haven't tried it.. Going off some article.. It's supposed to give a boost to the FPS, but more importantly eliminate random FPS drops

[baseline bum]

No, I haven't tried it.. Going off some article.. It's supposed to give a boost to the FPS, but more importantly eliminate random FPS drops

Everything I have read and heard said it only matters for really low end PCs. I doubt your i5 and 1060 will see shit from it. That kind of stuff turning off services and such didn't even matter in the Windows XP days if you had a decent rig.

[DJR210]

Everything I have read and heard said it only matters for really low end PCs. I doubt your i5 and 1060 will see shit from it. That kind of stuff turning off services and such didn't even matter in the Windows XP days if you had a decent rig.

Have read nothing that says it is focused for low end PC's

[diego]

I run Firefox with uBlock and no Flash installed. If I need to see anything with Flash, I run Chrome (also with uBlock), which by default comes with a sandboxed version of Flash.

I'm also running the Pro version of Windows 10, which lets you disable Cortana through group policy (I don't think you can do that with the Home version, but there are other workarounds). I also disabled the Telemetry services manually (there are docs online). I'm not sure it's 100% cutoff from Microsoft, but a good amount is.

As far as Game demos/rentals, it's all about where you get your stuff. I really can't help you with that, other than telling you to stick to sources you know are good.

I should also add I'm not your average PC user, tbh. I run a very lean Windows, only third party apps are Brackets, Firefox, Chrome, Remotix, a VPN client and Thunderbird. All my email, etc is offsite. So my situation might not work for the common user.

Thanks nono. I think I'll try an enterprise build with an extra hdd I have lying around and see how it goes. I'll post an update eventually