Those running no AV might well want to run one and/or a program such as Malwarebytes.  You'll likely be surprised by how many PUP's, and malware programs not affecting you as a virus, are in fact phoning home daily with your information.

What exactly can the effect be on FSX with various anti-virus programs.  Years ago, I discovered that Norton AV was affecting my FSX performance.  NOW, I use ESET NOD 32 as my program.   I heard that with the new Windows 10, the Windows Defender program is "sufficient" for all possible virus types.  I don't know if I really believe that.

 

During many flights, FSX encounters a problem and has to shut down (that's the message).  Could this be attributable to an AV program doing its thing behind the scenes  i.e. updating the virus database?  Finally, would a simple program like Windows Essentials be all that is necessary, and perhaps be less intrusive in the background? 

 

I'm curious about this and would like to hear what other forum members feel about AV programs and possible FSX performance violations.

 

Stan

Stan I run eset nod 32 as well for several years. It has a gaming mode that you can use while flying just disable then when finished flying enable.

If you want to see how well Microsoft's own antivirus software protects your system, take a look at the AV Comparatives website (highly respected) - specifically http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avc_prot_2015b_en.pdf. It's OK but not great. To see how much it affects system performance look at http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/avc_per_201510_en.pdf. It has a bigger system hit than many commercial solutions. It's all a compromise and is about finding the best protection versus system load. The best solutions seem to be Bitdefender and Kaspersky Labs.

If you want to see how well Microsoft's own antivirus software protects your system, take a look at the AV Comparatives website (highly respected) - specifically http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/avc_prot_2015b_en.pdf. It's OK but not great. To see how much it affects system performance look at http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/avc_per_201510_en.pdf. It has a bigger system hit than many commercial solutions. It's all a compromise and is about finding the best protection versus system load. The best solutions seem to be Bitdefender and Kaspersky Labs.

Many thanks for this information.

AVIRA didn't do too badly, did it?

 

Stan

AVIRA didn't do too badly, did it?

 

Stan

Just got rid of a bloatware Avast Free and switched to Avira after reading those scores. No more pop-ups selling me products, etc.as Avast did.

A couple decades back (late 1990s I think) I was too cheap to buy an anti virus program.  I was browsing some game site for some in-game cheats for Leisure Suite Larry.  I picked up a virus, "red screen of death", totally destroyed my operating system.

 

Hired a computer guy to come into my home an fix the issue, which he did.  Then he told me something I live by to this day....."its a war out there, you can never have enough defense and you need to have an offense to protect yourself."

 

I use Norton 360, I apply only those exceptions as needed like FSX.  All downloads get scanned.  If I run into a false positive I fix it.  I also run malware protection.  Both are required.

 

Its a war I will win.

 

 

Just got rid of a bloatware Avast Free and switched to Avira after reading those scores. No more pop-ups selling me products, etc.as Avast did.

 

Actually in the non-free Avast you can block pop-ups, including pop-ups selling Avast other products.

Actually in the non-free Avast you can block pop-ups, including pop-ups selling Avast other products.

Yes, I knew that. Thanks.

I've had better luck with a web filter like Blue Coat K9 or OpenDNS, both free.  Seems logical to me that blocking access to malicious sites makes more sense than trying to defeat an attack or clean up afterwards.  Also, like Jim says always keep the firewall active. 

 

John

I've been using Kaspersky for 4 years now and never had any issues with loss of performance in games. Didn't set any exclusions rules either.

I also have ESET Nod 32. I did a scan on Malwarebytes and found ' Pup DREGOL OPITIONAL' something I couldn't get rid of. Long story short, my computer won't start at all. Tomorrow I take it to get fixed. I always watch my e-mails , but would go to a porn site. No more porn on my FSX computer,big mistake. Lol

I have had no problems running Eset and plan to keep doing so. I do not trust Microsoft to completely protect my computer. Many years of experience has taught me not to.

 

 

Bill W

 

Hi. Just remember that Microsoft and Eset will not protect you from Ransomware, since Ransomware is not a virus. A backup is a preventive measure. That's what I installed http://soft2secure.com/knowledgebase/aesir-file-virus

I have four PC's: one for FSX, one for FS add-ons, two for personal and business. All are hard-wired (Ethernet) to the router. I'm using Windows Defender for two w/ Windows 10. The other two - Win 7 and Vista use MS Essential. I did have Malwarebytes, but not at present.

 

 My question is: doesn't the hard-wire Ethernet connection offer another level of protection?

 

Thanks / Les Parson

 

 

My question is: doesn't the hard-wire Ethernet connection offer another level of protection?

 

It wouldn't, unless you have an open wireless network.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke