With or Without Windows Defender?

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Nestor
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With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

Can we actually remove Windows Defender and forget about it, if we use, like me, ESET Smart Security? Mmmmm, don't know...
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Bud Weiser
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Bud Weiser »

Nestor wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 6:19 pm Can we actually remove Windows Defender and forget about it, if we use, like me, ESET Smart Security? Mmmmm, don't know...
In Win10, don´t remove/ uninstall any apps,- just only de-activate unwanted applications w/ WinPrivacy,- WHEN using a 3rd party antivirus, firewall, other apps replacing Windows apps etc..
When you uninstall, you won´t get back everything later,- even some come back w/ Windows updates anyway.

:)

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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by valis »

I still use ESET nod32, the only thing I ever have to remember to do upon install is double check that the usb media is set to ignore boot sector until fully scanned, though I forget the specific name for that setting in the UI. Afaik it disabled defender, but I don't pay any attention any longer for Win10/11. Single/dual core era with slow system bus and hard drive access, these things were a big deal. In this era such things are good at staying out of the way, or as others have said are easily disabled via simple tools.

A larger concern for me is the desktop sync and telemetry,

There's so much telemetry recording everything in the background, this seems far more resource intensive than defender or other resident software that runs when the machine has idle resources. This is really where Win10Privay and o&o shutup10 (works on win11 and fully supports disabling things there) shine, as they can turn all of this off as well as the other things mentioned.

As for OneDrive sync, I don't want my desktop & user folders replicated across many machines with different roles when using a shared login (microsoft account based login). On some machines my Downloads folder is basically its public share, and the document folders and such will be populated based on what that machine's role is and what software it has installed.

So I make SURE to go into the OneDrive UI (or 'backup' settings under Win11's system panel, which will expose the same things) and first desync all shared folders and resources. I keep my OneDrive cloud account clean except for a profile image and some wallpaper that is nice to have across machines, so this is all that syncs upon a new install. Once the shared folders are disabled, I then use the OneDrive interface to log out and completely remove shared data, which effectively disables the sync completely. I then run the above tools to disable privacy concerns and telemetry, and completely disable the OneDrive process from running at all.

When I do this, my remote/cloud folder(s) stay(s) clean, and the local machine has a fast initial install. I have a few tiny machines here, such as a 2"x2" machine sitting atop my mixer running some Analyzer software into a monitor mounted over it. Having my 3D machine's user folder content sync with its tiny slow 256GB internal ssd is a pain, as the 3D monster has multiple 2TB NVMe drives which are fast and full of user data. Etc.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by garyb »

remove onedrive, leave defender. you shouldn't need more antivirus for normal use(no risky sites). connect to the internet. allow Windows to update before working. there should be no problems.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Bud Weiser »

I aquired another Lenovo laptop w/ PCIexpresscard slot and 2.8GHz Intel i7 quad, USB-C/TB-2 port, 2 USB2 and 2 USB3 ports, 16GB of RAM and 2SSDs (250GB Samsung and 500GB Crucial MX500) ...

It seems 1st owner allowed automatic upgrade from Win10 to Win11 Pro,- which was not what I wanted because I have NO experience w/ Win11 at all.
Now I see interupted update downloads and crap.
Any experience and customization advice for Win11 and audio/MIDI ?
I already performed the necessary UEFI/BIOS tasks,- disabled all energy savers, EIST, C-State and so on as also set the machine to constant speed/best performance etc..

Is Win11 o.k.?
Or do I better roll back to Win10 Pro x64?
Win 11 Pro is more or less pre installed a.t.m., but not activated,- as yet ...
Is it possible activating Win 11 Pro w/o using a Microsoft account at all ?

Up to now, I was able to pass Microsoft account for Win7 and Win10 Pro activations.

All advice appreciated !

thx

:)

Bud
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by garyb »

you don't need a m$ account. just sign in via local account. you don't need a password.
afaik, win10 and win11 are very, very much the same. i haven't heard of any real problems with win11 vs. win10.

m$ does nnot want you using win10 or 11 without an account, but they are not required.

you do need to allow the regular updates, as win10 and 11 are not products, they are a service.

i suppose that for the ultimate performance, you can get serious about stripping out components, but most of those components do not create a significant hp loss. removing some things may make the os buggy. i would make the pc reasonably secure re: privacy, remove onedrive and go. why spend endless hours playing around when you can use the machine either way?

repeat after me- "computers suck". now that that is over, you can get on with using what is good about them. :lol:
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

Thank you so much guys for your answers.

Bud, I have no idea about 11, not even 10 yet... :P Perhaps one day I will give you some advice on it... :)

Yes, this is what I thought too, to leave Defender alone. I don't get into dangerous sites at all, so it should be fine for me.

Telemetry, Cortana and OneDrive probably, are the ones I would like to kill 100% out of the system.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

Gary:
why spend endless hours playing around when you can use the machine either way?
I am leaned toward this idea too, I don't want to fight anymore, I want to make music only.

Yes, after all this years, we can say in justice "computers suck"

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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

When I upgraded Scope I did it from 5 to 7 if I remember well..., so, the v7 software that I am downloading right now from Sonic Core servers is all have need to install my Pulsar I?
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by dante »

Bud Weiser wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:17 am
Is Win11 o.k.?

Bud
No - it screws up the right click context menu and makes Outlook fonts and panels too big.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

It is probably wise to wait for a while before going through 11, after all, it has just been released, too little time to fix everything
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Bud Weiser »

garyb wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:45 am you don't need a m$ account. just sign in via local account. you don't need a password.
afaik, win10 and win11 are very, very much the same. i haven't heard of any real problems with win11 vs. win10.

m$ does nnot want you using win10 or 11 without an account, but they are not required.

you do need to allow the regular updates, as win10 and 11 are not products, they are a service.

i suppose that for the ultimate performance, you can get serious about stripping out components, but most of those components do not create a significant hp loss. removing some things may make the os buggy. i would make the pc reasonably secure re: privacy, remove onedrive and go. why spend endless hours playing around when you can use the machine either way?

repeat after me- "computers suck". now that that is over, you can get on with using what is good about them. :lol:
Thank you, Gary,- good to know about Win11.
I´m familiar w/ Win10 Pro x64 on 2 machines meanwhile but both DAWs are Win7 Pro SP1 x64 and x86 still.

Well, I liked XP because it was just only a OS.

best

:)

Bud
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Bud Weiser »

dante wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 10:56 am
Bud Weiser wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:17 am
Is Win11 o.k.?

Bud
No - it screws up the right click context menu and makes Outlook fonts and panels too big.
I don´t use Outlook at all, but I recognized how big the Win11 taskbar is.
A.t.m. I don´t like the look of Win11,- but that was also the same w/ all the earlier versions when fresh installed and until it was possible making it looking like "classic windows" from the past.
I can imagine Win10Privacy (also working w/ Win11 b.t.w.) alone will change a lot.

We´ll see

:)

Bud
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Bud Weiser »

Nestor wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 11:03 am It is probably wise to wait for a while before going through 11, after all, it has just been released, too little time to fix everything
It has been released in october 2021 already.
Computer mags report it as stable meanwhile.
Let´s see if they are right.

I think I´ll test this "normal" installation on that laptop and roll back to Win10 when it sucks.
Possibly I´ll decide for the Tiny11 later.

It will be a laptop to use w/ RME Babyface and some native stuff.
The other Win10 laptop is for SCOPE/XITE standalone.
It´s all about mobility because I don´t want to schlep my 4HU 19" rackmounts and HP server.

:)

Bud
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

Bud:
Well, I liked XP because it was just only a OS.
Me too, it was so simple.

You know why I decided to go with Win 7 in those days? Because I could not use more ram, and because I could not update drivers in Scope, that's all. If ram would not have been an issue, I would have liked to stay there. We are forced, but it's not fashion for us.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by valis »

For my Xite box, I don’t imagine I will be setting that much, and even for my modern PCI box that I build for the PCI based scope cards, I don’t really mess with speedstep/EIST or anything in the bios anymore. Setting a power profile for high performance and the toggling that before launching scope, seems to be enough nowadays.

So I’m with Gary B, disable one drive, and use a local account if possible (there are reasons why I don’t), and win 11 actually seems to be lighter on resources and utilize hardware even better than windows 10 did. Since my scope machines are built around V6 era Xeons, I’m stuck with windows 10, unless I want to disable security features that require the TPM chip.

I do have 4 windows 11 machines now, though, and they all work great. As always, you get used to the change in user interface I am on 4K screens as well, so that helps with the size of some of the UI elements.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

What I am not getting right, is "disable" vs "remove" OneDrive. Why thinking about "disable" if you can just remove it entirely? Isn't it a better option all round?

Look at this very interesting information:

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/windows-10-debloater/
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by valis »

I disable it from shares first, then from being logged in, before final completely disabling. The reason? It gets re-enabled/installed during certain updates and that stops any and all nonsense.

Also, I've gotten used to the MS account, I already pay them for Office365 and some things related to my children's computers and devices, so it's a moot point. Most of my Win10 boxes still use local accounts, but I'm prepared to move all general purpose computers to MS logins as it will become increasingly necessary. What I balk at is the usage model of a secretary being applied to us all.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Nestor »

valis wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 10:41 pm I disable it from shares first, then from being logged in, before final completely disabling. The reason? It gets re-enabled/installed during certain updates and that stops any and all nonsense.
Bahh, they don't tell you this when they offer you the "final" solution to the bloated stuff, they explain it as if it was a final job you have to do, I see, it makes sense of course.
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Re: With or Without Windows Defender?

Post by Bud Weiser »

Nestor wrote: Wed Mar 01, 2023 8:19 pm What I am not getting right, is "disable" vs "remove" OneDrive.
I think, "disable" means de-activate nd "remove" means uninstall.

Again,- I´m using Win10 Privacy (also for Win11) ...

On my office machine,- which became my 1st Win10 Pro x64 computer,- I removed/uninstalled several apps while others became de-activated (disabled).

On my laptop #1,- Win10 Pro x64 was running already when I bought it used in great condition.
It was not one of these dealer´s pre-installs,- a clean and fresh install performed by a skilled guy instead.
There was nothing removed (uninstalled),- so I leaved it as it is, made a backup, and then de-activated/ disabled unwanted stuff in Win10 Privacy, followed by some minor tweaks of the energy savings and some other settings in BIOS like disable hyperthreading, virtualization etc., etc..

It made no difference when I didn´t REMOVE stuff.
IMO, it´s fine when unwanted stuff doesn´t work in background,- and what´s disabled now can be back to life later when you made a mistake.

The machines I use for music connect to the web for Windows- and audio/MIDI-applications- and plugins-updates only.
Otherwise, antivirus will be disabled completely and internet connection is disconnected/ de-activated by 2 shortcuts I have on my desktop for both the ethernet connections available.

No problems at all.

:)

Bud
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