antivirus programs and stutters

[kmanning 12]

>The FSAutostart program does a VERY good job of identifying>services and processes and stopping them. I've found that it>manages to completely stop all the norton background>services.>Hi all,Talking about Norton's antivirus, I do have to say one good thing about the Norton's. It removed two of my trojan viruses, which was keeping my adware from being removed, even after running the Sypware/Adware program. One was called Virtumondo.C and the other was VirtuMonde. The Spyware/Adware program would not remove them. I had to download and run the Virtumondo.C and VirtuMonde Removal Tools from Symantec. I had AVG virus scan that detected the viruses but I could not find anything on their website to remove the trojans. I had Norton's AntiVirus and Norton's Internet Security on my computer and worked fine. But recently, I started having more problems with my Nortons. When I try to scan my computer for viruses, it would constantly start and stop, start and stop in rapid succesions. It was not a smooth continuous scan. I had to uninstall it because it servered no use and it also effected my flight simulator. I reinstalled the Norton's, which is Norton's 2003 antivirus and update the virus definitions. It said that my subscription was good until July 2006 but I don't know if this was correct since I had an older version of Norton's. It would work fine for a while but after a month or two, it would start giving me problems, such as starting and stopping continuously during a scan. When this problem occurs, it also slows down FS2004 big time, slowing my fram rate from about 30 to 40 fps down to about 2, 3, or maybe 5 fps. As long as Norton's is operating properly, it doesn't effect my frame rate at all. But when it starts acting up, I takes forever to scan my computer and that's when it effects flight simulator. It still effects the flight simulator even after I disable or close it. I have to uninstall it. Does anyone know what is causing this problem? Is it because I have an older version? I keep thinking that when the automatic update runs and downloads the definitions, it must be downloading a file that's not compatible with Norton's 2003. That's just a guess. Ken.

[Guest Pepe1]

Hey Ken. Are you saying that you have your virus scanner running while trying to fly? If so, it's no wonder where all the processor power has gone! I wish I could help with the other weird things Norton is doing, but I have no idea about that.The point I'm trying to make about Norton, is that it's a known resaource hog! Yes FSAuto Start works well, but if you kill all your Norton app's for flying, you'll need to be off line and that way, you can't fly using real time weather. With Norton running in the background and running FS9 and Complex Gmax Aircraft and addon scenery and high detail, autogen setting, the FR's go in the tank!I'm running a new high end machine and with all those things I just listed, with Norton running, my FR's were taking a beating at complex airports and high end planes. Since I dumped Norton for AVG, I can run everything at max or 95% with excellent FR's. FR's locked @ 30.Hope this helps?Cheers,Pierre.

[WebMaximus 372]

I changed from using NIS (Norton Internet Security) to Avast! and the built-in firewall in Win XP and I'm very pleased with the result - my PC is much more responsive now both in FS and in general.

[Guest CS-THV]

I use AntirVir XP! It is the best and it has no impact on performance whatsoever.

[macpac22 0]

i switched yesterday from Norton to Avast and have seen a good improvment in my overal system performance! thanks for recommending it!

[kmanning 12]

>Hey Ken. Are you saying that you have your virus scanner running while trying to fly?Hi Pierre,No, I usually turn it off. Sometimes I do forget to turn it off but when it's operating properly, it doesn't effect my frame rate in flight simulator. I've tried it with Norton's turned on and turned off and I did not see much difference if any in the frame rate. I do have a fairly high end computer. The only time it would bog down my frame rate is when it started acting up. You are correct that it has known issues. I've read about a lot of them on their website. I think it does use more resorces than some of the other antivirus programs.Ken.

[Guest Pepe1]

>>Hey Ken. Are you saying that you have your virus scanner>running while trying to fly?>>Hi Pierre,>No, I usually turn it off. Sometimes I do forget to turn it>off but when it's operating properly, it doesn't effect my>frame rate in flight simulator. I've tried it with Norton's>turned on and turned off and I did not see much difference if>any in the frame rate. I do have a fairly high end computer.>The only time it would bog down my frame rate is when it>started acting up. You are correct that it has known issues.>I've read about a lot of them on their website. I think it>does use more resorces than some of the other antivirus>programs.>>Ken. At this point Ken, what do you have to loose by giving another AV program a try? I gave up 8 more months on my Norton subscription, when I removed it. SO what, what I got in return far out weighed the loss, if you can even call it a loss!! Go WWW.Grisoft.com and download the free version exe.After that, get off line, remove all of Norton, than install AVG, run the updates and go for a fly. See where that brings your FR's?Cheers,Pierre.

[Guest speight]

I found a switch in the panda interface "close auto protection". I tried it and my 3 test flights have been awesomely smooth, even with heavy ai traffic, online with vatsim, and using top addon scenery/aircraft.I am also using "end it all", which closes or kills background stuff.I am following each test with a full av scan and so far not a single virus found. I think "close auto protection" just stops the local resident scanning, but leaves the firewall and email protection running, tho' I need some clarification from panda on this.

[kmanning 12]

Hi Pierre,I have it already. I did uninstall my Norton's and installed the free version of AVG antivirus. I can say one thing, I can tell my computer boots a little faster than it did with Norton's. You said that after I have downloaded the AVG to go off line and remove all of Norton's. What would be the purpose for going off line to uninstall the Norton's? If I should, I did not do that. I'm using broadband so I'm always connected. The only way to go off line is to disconnect the cable modem or remove the plug. Anyway, I would like to know if it was necessary to disconnect from the internet and what would be the reason for doing that when I uninstalled the Norton's.Ken.

[Guest Pepe1]

Ken,I was assumming that you still had Norton installed. If that was the case and you tried installing AVG, Windows won't let you do that.! I just meant, get the AVG exe, than unplug from your modem so you aren't open to attack while on line with no AV running.Uninstall all of Norton, reboot still off-line, than install AVG, when completed, plug modem back in, establish net connection and run the AVG updates to get current virus defenitions onborard, Now you should be done. Check your processes tree to see if you have any left over Norton exe's running in the background. I always go into the program files folder and delete the leftover Norton or Symantec folders left behind after the uninstall.Let me know how many processes you have running in the background after boot, if you wouldn't mind, thanxs.Cheers,Pierre.

[Guest BAW843]

Hi Speight,Where are these settings you mention "close auto protection" in the panda interface? I too have Panda AV 2006 and have noticed a drop in frame rates and smoothness.I also turn off under Security protection settings : unknown threats, Truprevent blocking of unknown threats as this stops certain .dll's from working in flight sim (i.e. cloud9 amsterdam).ThanksPHIL

[kmanning 12]

Hi Pierre,Thanks. I checked my Windows Explorer Program Folder and there are two folders that were left over. One is Symantec and the other folder is Live Update. Both of these folders had some library .dll files in them and I didn't know if it was safe to remove them, since .dll files are shared files. Should I go ahead and delete these folders? When you said check my processes tree to see if I have any left over Norton exe's running in the background, do you mean the pane and the tree in Windows Explorer? I've never heard it said like that before. But again, you may be referring to something I'm not fimiliar with. If so, how to I check my processes? You also asked me to let you know hom many processes I have running in the background. Again, how do I do that? The only thing I know that are running in the background are the icons in the system tray.Ken.

[Guest Pepe1]

hey Ken, as long as you removed your norton software via the add-remove programs in the control panel, those leftover folders will be safe to delete. However keep them in the recycle bin for a few days, seeing if anything strange starts to happen . If that were to happen, you can just restore those folders to where they were within the recycle bin.Soory for not being more clear. To how many app's you have running, open your task manager with CTL + Alt+ Del keys. A window will open up with several tabs along the top, one of those being processes. Click that tab and now you will see all the app's currently running on your system. Look down at the bottom left to see the exact number. This is where applications can be terminated and free up system resources. However there are many that cannot be stopped. I f you want to list them all here for me, Ican tell you which ones would be ok to stop.Cheers,Pierre.

[kmanning 12]

Hi Pierre,My PC has been running most of the day but it said I have 38 processes running. CPU usage is 2%. It'll take me some time to list them. Is it safe to close all of these by pressing the End Process button? That is, other than the porgram I have running. Ken.

[kmanning 12]

Hi Pierre,I went to Windows Explorer to delete the Symantec folders. When I selected the folder and click to delete it, I got a message and it says: Renaming, moving or deleting 'Symantec' could make some programs not work. Are you sure you want to do this?Of course, it doesn't say what programs. I think this was the reason why I didn't delete it the first time. I'm probably getting this message because of those shared .dll files.Ken.