Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Blagard on October 04, 2013, 01:16:26 PM
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I have started this thread in the hope of getting some feedback on anti-virus software that works OK (or not) with Aces High.
My own experience on a Windows XP (32bit) system is that I don't get any problems using Norton's Internet Security. I can't speak for other Norton Packages that contain anti-virus software or how it works on Windows 7 (not yet anyway!). There was no Roxio software on my XP set up.
I am looking to find what works well under Windows 7, so objective information is welcome. Because there are so many variables in the way people use their PC's I fully expect information in supports of some software that is unsatisfactory for others. So in addition to answering the title of the thread please add additional information such as the operating system you use or other information that you think relevant.
Cheers
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I'm using Avast! Free version on XP Pro 32 bit without any problems. I've put AH on the exceptions list, disabled cloud updating and set it to silent mode. When MSE started to gain popularity I tested it for a while, but it seemed to use huge amounts of resources every now and then, indexing new files and software as I was told. It also relied on having Windows Updates running, manual settings made Security Center mad... So I took Avast! back. To avoid any hiccups I usually run the update right before logging in.
For what I've noticed during these years in household teching the major massive suites including all kinds of computer maintenance are a PITA. They do nothing better than Windows tools, but they interfere normal computing when they shouldn't and are extremely quirky to configure not to do their tasks when they think the computer were not in effective use - like while playing AH...
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i'm running avast free version on win7 home 64bit. i can turn the resident scanners off and it's fairly lightweight. never got a false positive on anything and it's stopped a few infections that i know weren't stopped by mse or avira. i think the latest rev is about 85-90% effective. norton and mcafee are far worse.
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Gyrene, for what I've learned, no, absolutely no antivirus is more than about 50% effective, when speaking about all potential threats. On the other hand almost every one of them is close to 100% effective against known threats. The percentage varies hourly, so no test can tell the absolute truth other than that of the time the test was run. Both the viruses and their counterparts are on a never-ending one sided Moebius loop.
In my opinion the best antivirus is one that the user can both understand and configure according his/her needs.
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for new threats, ya 50% max. for "in the wild" active threats, no...it can vary greatly and there are av programs that are very poor in detection/prevention.
http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/home-user/windows-7/julaug-2013/
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I've been using ESET's NOD32 for years, no issues with AH.
ack-ack
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I use Avast and spybot together,spybot doesn't allow registry enteries without a prompt to ok it and Avast seems to do a good job with all the other threats!
You can also easily set Avast to gammer mode or turn off for a set time or reboot,your choice.
YMMV.
:salute
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Jut FYI. As the data patterns for the game change with each release, you may not have a problem today, but you you could a problem tomorrow. It will never be consistent. Change your game ID/pilot handle, and you may have a ton of problems where you did not for years. It is as fragile as that. ESET has been the most 'game friendly' anti-xxx software I have found.
AVG, Avast, Norton, Spybot, and McAfee have all had their moments where they interfered with the game. Most of the time you may not be aware of the problems they can cause. It can manifest from a dropped game connection, to the dreaded "Losing TCP switching to UDP" message, to rubber bullets, to VOX issues and a host of other maladies.
Norton and McAfee can both get so problematic they have to be removed and reinstalled in order to get the computer back to some semblance to normality. It does not always happen, but it can happen.
These are not my opinions. I have had to deal with these products for a very long time and the list of issues associated with them continue to grow.
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I use Avast at home with Aces High and am happy with it. At work, we use MS Security Essentials, but I don't use AH with it enough to give an opinion.
As mentioned, no antivirus program will be perfect, but I wouldn't run my computer without some antivirus running on it.
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Skuzzy, thank you for your insider input! That's the most valuable information we AH'ers can get. No antivirus interferes banking or social media or e-mail, at least not in a manner it would be visible.
What I'd like to know is, does it really matter if I put the AH executable on the ignore list or is it just something to make me happy? I know the aforementioned "Gaming Mode" doesn't do anything else than eliminate the pop up messages after an update or such, at least during a full screen event, so that's just cosmetics. But the ignore lists... What do the do with aceshigh.exe on them, how about setting the servers as "safe" or "ignored" into the firewall - both the software one and the one in the modem/router? Are there any settings or tricks we could use to minimize the effects of security features during gameplay without compromizing the overall shield?
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I have found Trend/Micro a wonderful gaming AV.
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Skuzzy, thank you for your insider input! That's the most valuable information we AH'ers can get. No antivirus interferes banking or social media or e-mail, at least not in a manner it would be visible.
What I'd like to know is, does it really matter if I put the AH executable on the ignore list or is it just something to make me happy? I know the aforementioned "Gaming Mode" doesn't do anything else than eliminate the pop up messages after an update or such, at least during a full screen event, so that's just cosmetics. But the ignore lists... What do the do with aceshigh.exe on them, how about setting the servers as "safe" or "ignored" into the firewall - both the software one and the one in the modem/router? Are there any settings or tricks we could use to minimize the effects of security features during gameplay without compromizing the overall shield?
It depends on the program. There are those that simply stop reporting problems when you place the application in the allow list. They continue to do the damage they would do, you just are not told about it. As to who does what and when, that is pretty much a crap shoot.
I'll never use and A/V software. I have been using computers for nearly 30 years and never had to deal with any errant software on my computers. I never will. Once you shutdown the delivery mechanisms, A/V software becomes useless.
But I digress. Every package is going to work differently as it pertains to the "safe" list.
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I use the free version Avira. Small footprint but updates almost daily so it seems to stay on top of things. I use to just turn off my Anti=virus when I ran the game, but this one runs nicely in the background for years now with out issue. While I'm pretty careful about "where" I go it has saved me a number of times over the last few years. They have a "pop up" window the comes on once a day to remind you that they have a low, low price IF you want to buy the program. They have announced that they are going to do away with that soon tho.
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Once you shutdown the delivery mechanisms, A/V software becomes useless.
Skuzzy, could you list for us what you shut down? Some of us here could probably implement that.
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Java, javascript, flash, all file associations for anything from Adobe for that matter, and any HTML5 code/pages. For email, it is a little trickier. Your email client needs to get really stupid and only open email in ASCII mode. You need to disable all network LISTENERS, or put them behind a hardened firewall (I had to do this as my Wife's work demands she have things on her computer which are unsafe).
Now, for javascript, I do have a select few pages I allow it to run on that I know I can trust (like our bulletin board). I also use a junk email address anytime some site requires an email address, for anything. I periodically start a new junk address and leave the old one to languish.
My incoming data stream is checked for binary data, of any kind, and it is either allowed through, if it passes criteria (images can be verified clean pretty easily) or held up and a placeholder inserted into the stream to let me know. That is a Linux box doing that so it is pretty much immune to the nastiness intended for Windows.
I also have a hardened firewall at home, which most people do not have.
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Been using Microsoft Security Essentials for a couple years. No problems here.
Coogan
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I also have a hardened firewall at home, which most people do not have.
Don't get me started - you know mentioning the F word will get me going...
FWIW I use McAfee (Enterprise, not the crappy consumer version), never had any issues.
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Don't get me started - you know mentioning the F word will get me going...
FWIW I use McAfee (Enterprise, not the crappy consumer version), never had any issues.
I know. I really hesitate to call it a 'firewall' as it is more than that and less than that as the same time. Over the years it has turned into a really nice network protection device. It even manages to keep my Wife from getting bad things on her computer, which is something I did not think possible a few years ago. She willingly opens every attachment that comes in her email, and falls for every phishing scheme known to man. She is just a danger to herself and any network she is on.
That said, it has help escalate the protection mechanisms in the system.
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w7 64 bit with firewall enabled,
MS Security Essentials, real time protection enabled.
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w7 64 bit with firewall enabled,
MS Security Essentials, real time protection enabled.
As a sidenote, Microsoft no longer recommends anyone to use MSE: http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package)
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As a sidenote, Microsoft no longer recommends anyone to use MSE: http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package)
Good find, thanks! Will help me in my job...
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As a sidenote, Microsoft no longer recommends anyone to use MSE: http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package)
Can you point us to Microsoft actually saying that rather than to a third party website that may or may not have an agenda? Not saying it's wrong but would like further confimation before taking this as fact. A quick web search didn't turn anything up.
nm. Found too many articles to make me a disbeliever.
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Can you point us to Microsoft actually saying that rather than to a third party website that may or may not have an agenda? Not saying it's wrong but would like further confimation before taking this as fact. A quick web search didn't turn anything up.
You're right the source is missing. Best to ask the author.
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As a sidenote, Microsoft no longer recommends anyone to use MSE: http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2013/10/06/ouch_microsoft_no_longer_recommends_their_own_security_essentials_anti-virus_package)
Heh....I never trusted or used MSE. The words Microsoft and Security are mutually exclusive, IMHO (to be fair...the same could be said for many IT software companies....don't get me started on "unbreakable" Oracle for example).
Thanks Skuzzy for the information. I'm still not 100% comfortable with ditching a host-based antivirus, but I like you disable most of the delivery methods so it's not really an issue. I have not been happy of late with AVG. I have noticed new "functionality" added which appears to be impacting AH as you described. I had planned to move to Avast, but may give ESET a try or simply ditch AV on my gaming computer altogether. I've used Linux as my primary desktop for years so it's not really an issue for me to do so (my son and wife are another matter).
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PC Pro has an article based on the same poor test results: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/384394/microsoft-security-essentials-is-designed-to-be-bottom-of-the-antivirus-rankings (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/384394/microsoft-security-essentials-is-designed-to-be-bottom-of-the-antivirus-rankings). It's based on an interview of a Microsoft senior program manager saying MSE will only provide baseline protection against "real" threats.
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PC Pro has an article based on the same poor test results: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/384394/microsoft-security-essentials-is-designed-to-be-bottom-of-the-antivirus-rankings (http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/384394/microsoft-security-essentials-is-designed-to-be-bottom-of-the-antivirus-rankings). It's based on an interview of a Microsoft senior program manager saying MSE will only provide baseline protection against "real" threats.
this was ms reply to the above test.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/mmpc/archive/2013/01/16/lessons-learned-from-the-latest-test-results.aspx
semp
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Good to know that too :salute
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I fully expect MS to stop supporting Security Essentials at some point, no profit.
In the mean time, its enough for me, I limit machines use, I turn it off when not using it. Things have got thru, but theres MB to clean up things. If it ever got to bad, clean install fixes that. Fact is I do not trust the net or puter tech, so I put nothing useful in the box.
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Avast :aok
Seems to work well for me.
:cheers: Oz
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The one AV program everyone should stay clear from is ZoneAlarm.
ack-ack
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I use the bought version of Kaspersky on a win7 64bit system. Renew it every year and haven't had any problems. Another item I use whenever I log into the game is Game Booster3. Seems to keep my FRs at high 50's most all the time.
Nutz
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I have Avast. I run AH on a 5+ year old laptop with Vista, by running the following batch file before running AH I get a good performance boost.
"SHUTDOWN.BAT"
@ECHO OFF
CLS
NET STOP "THEMES"
NET STOP "Security Center"
NET STOP "Print Spooler"
Net Stop "Windows Update"
Net Stop "Windows Defender"
NET Stop "ReadyBoost"
NET STOP "Superfetch"
NET STOP "Windows Firewall"
NET STOP "WLAN AutoConfig"
NET STOP "avast! Antivirus"
exit
There are probably more things I could shut down but this works well for me.
I do reboot after exiting AH to restore all the settings.
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Not a bad list, at all. All are either resource intensive or interfere with network comms, or both.
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I use the bought version of Kaspersky on a win7 64bit system. Renew it every year and haven't had any problems. Another item I use whenever I log into the game is Game Booster3. Seems to keep my FRs at high 50's most all the time.
Nutz
I use Kaspersky as well w/o issues.
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I use Kaspersky as well w/o issues.
Test another a/v program and be surprised how fast your computer becomes.
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Questions for Wayout and/or Skuzzy
Can you run similar batch files in Windows 7 to shut down services that are resource hungry ?
If so, can they not be simply set running again by another batch file?
Edit:
Thanks Wayout for your post in respect of my question - I may give it a try.
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Questions for Wayout and/or Skuzzy
Can you run similar batch files in Windows 7 to shut down services that are resource hungry ?
If so, can they not be simply set running again by another batch file?
I have no idea if it would work in Win7. Just give it a try and see what happens. That's what I did for Vista. If it doesn't work the most you would have to do is reboot.
Here's a bat file you could use to restart.
Start.bat
@ECHO OFF
CLS
NET START "THEMES"
NET START "Security Center"
Net Start "Windows Update"
Net Start "Print Spooler"
Net Start "Windows Defender"
Net Start "ReadyBoost"
NET START "Superfetch"
NET START "Windows Firewall"
NET START "WLAN AutoConfig"
NET START "avast! Antivirus"
exit
Other things you could stop/start from a .bat file. Be careful, turning off some of these will make your machine behave badly.
You might want to have a look here (http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-7-service-pack-1-service-configurations/) first.
NET STOP "Wired AutoConfig"
NET STOP "WLAN AutoConfig"
NET STOP "Application Experience"
NET STOP "Background inteligent service"
NET STOP "CNG Key Isolation"
NET STOP "Function Discovery Provider Host"
NET STOP "Human Interface Device Access"
NET STOP "IKE and AuthIP IPsec keying modules"
NET STOP "KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator"
NET STOP "Microsoft Network Inspection"
NET STOP "Portable Device Enumerator Service"
NET STOP "Shell Hardware Detection"
NET STOP "Terminal Services"
NET STOP "SSDP Discovery"
NET STOP "WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service"
NET STOP "Application Information"
NET STOP "Application Layer Gateway Service"
NET STOP "CNG Key Isolation"
NET STOP "DFS Replication"
NET STOP "Diagnostic Service Host"
NET STOP "Diagnostic System Host"
NET STOP "Distributed Transaction Coordinator
NET STOP "Extensible Authentication Protocol"
NET STOP "Function Discovery Provider Host"
NET STOP "Health Key and Certificate Management"
NET STOP "Human Interface Device Access"
NET STOP "Interactive Services Detection"
NET STOP "IPSec Policy Agent"
NET STOP "Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper"
NET STOP "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider"
NET STOP "Netlogon"
NET STOP "Network Access Protection Agent"
NET STOP "Network Connections"
NET STOP "Peer Name Resolution Protocol"
NET STOP "Peer Networking Grouping"
NET STOP "Peer Networking Identity Manager"
NET STOP "Performance Logs and Alerts"
NET STOP "PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator"
NET STOP "PNRP Machine Name Publication Service"
NET STOP "Portable Device Enumerator Service"
NET STOP "Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support"
NET STOP "Protected Storage"
NET STOP "Quality Windows Audio Video Experience"
NET STOP "Remote Access Auto-Connection Manager"
NET STOP "Remote Access Connection Manager"
NET STOP "Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator"
NET STOP "Telephony"
NET STOP "Terminal Services Configuration
NET STOP "Terminal Services UserMode Port Redirector"
NET STOP "Thread Ordering Server"
NET STOP "TPM Base Services"
NET STOP "Windows Cardspace"
NET STOP "Windows Color System"
NET STOP "Windows Connect Now"
NET STOP "Windows Driver Foundation"
NET STOP "Windows Event Collector"
NET STOP "Windows Image Acquisition"
NET STOP "Windows Installer"
NET STOP "Windows Module Installer"
NET STOP "Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0"
NET STOP "Windows Search"
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AVast caused me endless issues. I dumped it. I don't use anything at the moment but will use Eset when I get one.
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I use batch files to start all of my simulation games and to launch the associated Helios* profile for that specific game. While I've used Game Booster in the past I decided to incorporate some of the ideas from this thread into the batch files. The following is the script I now use to launch Aces High....hopefully it will give some of you ideas to work off.
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@echo off
cls
REM --- SECTION I: STOP SERVICES ---
ECHO Stopping services to enhance game performance....
ECHO.
NET STOP "Security Center"
NET STOP "Print Spooler"
Net Stop "Windows Update"
Net Stop "Windows Defender"
NET Stop "ReadyBoost"
NET STOP "Superfetch"
NET STOP "Windows Firewall"
NET STOP "Apple Mobile Device"
NET STOP "Adobe Flash Player Update Service"
NET STOP "Adobe Acrobat Update Service"
ECHO Stopping Avast Antivirus: Click "Yes" when prompted to do so...
ECHO.
NET STOP "avast! Antivirus"
REM --- END SECTION I ---
REM --- SECTION II: START HELIOS PROFILE & GAME ---
cls
ECHO Starting Helios Profile and Aces High....
ECHO.
C:
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\SCSimulations\Helios"
start HeliosControlCenter.exe -d Helios "H:\Documents\Helios\Profiles\AcesHigh.hpf"
E:
cd "E:\Games\Aces High"
start /wait aceshigh.exe
REM -- END SECTION II --
REM --- SECTION III: STOP HELIOS AND RESTART SERVICES ---
cls
ECHO Stopping Helios....
ECHO.
pskill -t HeliosControlCenter.exe
ECHO Restarting services....
ECHO.
NET START "Security Center"
NET START "Print Spooler"
Net StART "Windows Update"
Net START "Windows Defender"
NET START "ReadyBoost"
NET START "Superfetch"
NET START "Windows Firewall"
NET START "avast! Antivirus"
NET START "Apple Mobile Device"
NET START "Adobe Flash Player Update Service"
NET START "Adobe Acrobat Update Service"
REM --- END SECTION III ---
* http://www.gadrocsworkshop.com/helios/ (http://www.gadrocsworkshop.com/helios/)
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My game booster is like this:
Boot up windows. Play.
Using this method I can get pegged 60fps easily using everything but the full environment slider.
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http://askleo.com/do-i-need-to-stop-using-microsoft-security-essentials/