I'm late to the Win10 party... a few questions pls

[FlightSimDimm 16]

Hello All -

I finally upgraded my old Alienware R3 from Win7Pro 64 bit to Windows 10. I am running Prepar3d 4.4 and have a few questions and seeking some advise.

1. Windows 10 Build 18762 or upgrade to the new build 1903 ?

2. Use Windows Defender or reinstall Norton Antivirus? Which is better for gaming and performance?

3. Win 10 Game Mode or Process Lasso or both?

 

Thanks in advance!

Daniel

Edited June 14, 2019 by FlightSimDimm

[ckyliu 1,749]

Re 2. Eww Norton, creates more problems than it solves! And Windows Defender is not too clever. Anything based around ESET/NOD32 is nice and light. Avira and Avast are both free and proven effectiveness. I generally disable my antivirus before gaming as they impact loading times a lot, I also tend to add exclusions for my flight sim installation location.

[gaab 111]

51 minutes ago, FlightSimDimm said:

. Win 10 Game Mode

No game mode - general consensus.

Search for "Process lasso" - it is widely debated else where 😉

Gérard

 

[FlightSimDimm 16]

3 hours ago, gaab said:

No game mode - general consensus.

Search for "Process lasso" - it is widely debated else where 😉

Gérard

 

Thanks - I was previously using Process Lasso with good results. I was not sure if "Game Mode" made it obsolete.

Edited June 14, 2019 by FlightSimDimm

[FlightSimDimm 16]

4 hours ago, ckyliu said:

Re 2. Eww Norton, creates more problems than it solves! And Windows Defender is not too clever. Anything based around ESET/NOD32 is nice and light. Avira and Avast are both free and proven effectiveness. I generally disable my antivirus before gaming as they impact loading times a lot, I also tend to add exclusions for my flight sim installation location.

Thanks - I will look into Avira and Avast. I have never been a big fan of Windows Defender and was previously using Norton becasue it had a "game mode" to shut down automatically while running the SIM.

[stans 702]

Windows Defender is "ok", but Avast! is far better.  You can also set up Avast! to exclude directories, which prevents it from scanning things like your FSX folder and you can set updates to manual.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I always supplement my virus protection, which I disable when I am flying a simulator, Xplane11 or P3D, with Malwarebytes and Hijackthis.  I like the latter the most because I can "snapshot" my system and run it to spot and eradicate malware, and even ransomware if one has paper and pencil, and can boot into DOS mode.  Google IT staff knows me from many years ago, I alerted them to a massive attack on Google and how to get rid of it, it literally shut down Google so I called them directly.  I was a business systems trainer and geek follower of Cliff Stoll, the cyberattack God, who taught us virgin IT trainers and WAN managers in the 80's how to secure our networks during the early growth of the world wide web. 

His book, "the Cuckoo's Egg", is the pain of death to cyberattackers and also to the big Antivirus companies, because a well managed WAN needs minimal antivirus and anti malware software, there are easier ways and more resourceful ways to deal with cyberattacks, including what I call MAD "Mutual Assured Destruction--from the Cold war era" retaliatory tactics.

Circling back, because I do not want to hijack this thread, my point is you have received good advice here from the first responders.  I have been so well pleased with Windows 10 which I feel is the best OS so far.  My desktop is set up in the old style, "Classic" mode of the Windows NT and 98 era, old dogs like me are hard to get taught new tricks, except by my housecat Rosie, she tricks me into leaving P3D or Xplane to feed her.  Imagine that!

John (aka Lieutenant Commander Data, trying to learn human emotion, lol)

[G-RFRY 1,708]

Everybody will end up on 1903 you can delay it but only for so long, I don't have a problem with it runs ok. 

I use Norton's which shuts down all background programs that are not req`d , they are bringing Norton`s 360 back which included a reg cleaner and a system recovery image. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by rjfry

[stans 702]

My only Windows 10 machine is for business use only, but 1903 has presented no problems for that computer.

[vortex681 806]

On 6/14/2019 at 2:04 PM, FlightSimDimm said:

1. Windows 10 Build 18762 or upgrade to the new build 1903 ?

2. Use Windows Defender or reinstall Norton Antivirus? Which is better for gaming and performance?

I've had no problems at all with 1903. However, the best advice I can give is that if you currently don't have the latest version, wait until it's offered to you by Windows Update rather than clicking "Check for updates" on the Update & Security screen. It's only offered to you when MS is happy that it will run on your system with your installed software. If you click "Check for updates", you'll get it whether it's fully compatible or not.

With regards to antivirus, Defender can cause some performance issues. I use Bitdefender which I leave running all of the time when gaming and see no noticeable drop in performance. It has a "Game Profile" settings option which automatically prevents any interruptions when gaming but I haven't found that I need it. Highly recommended. See: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-february-may-2019/

Edited June 19, 2019 by vortex681

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I wanted to add I installed the most recent Windows 10 update at my last reboot yesterday.  Running P3DV4.5 (and Xplane11) I saw no issues, and usually whatever these updates do are seamless to me.

John

[FlightSimDimm 16]

On 6/19/2019 at 6:22 AM, vortex681 said:

I've had no problems at all with 1903. However, the best advice I can give is that if you currently don't have the latest version, wait until it's offered to you by Windows Update rather than clicking "Check for updates" on the Update & Security screen. It's only offered to you when MS is happy that it will run on your system with your installed software. If you click "Check for updates", you'll get it whether it's fully compatible or not.

With regards to antivirus, Defender can cause some performance issues. I use Bitdefender which I leave running all of the time when gaming and see no noticeable drop in performance. It has a "Game Profile" settings option which automatically prevents any interruptions when gaming but I haven't found that I need it. Highly recommended. See: https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-february-may-2019/

Thanks, are you using the free version?

It does look like it is very highly rated with no impact on gaming (or flight-siming).

 

[vortex681 806]

41 minutes ago, FlightSimDimm said:

Thanks, are you using the free version?

It does look like it is very highly rated with no impact on gaming (or flight-siming).

No, the paid version. Although it seems fairly expensive from the Bitdefender site, there are usually plenty of good deals around - I got a new 2 yr license for the Internet Security 2019 version from the Computer Active (a UK computer magazine) Software Store: https://store.computeractive.co.uk/?act=search&brand=1684