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At this point windows defender is the principal threat to the normal functioning of my computer. It takes 100% CPU frequently, blocks my own programs based on s
by cm2187 5y ago
At this point windows defender is the principal threat to the normal functioning of my computer. It takes 100% CPU frequently, blocks my own programs based on some obscure ML rules, it re-enables itself when you disable it. It is indistinguishable from a virus.
- zamalek 5y agoI'm not making excuses for it, just trying to help. Try and infer what it's scanning. If you're coding, then that directory. If you're doing video editing, then that program. Set up exclusions for things that your PC should be doing. Heuristics could be used to infer that stuff, so it's not ideal that we have to do it manually.
- cm2187 5y agoOh I know what it is doing. My deployment mechanism on my home computers is that when it launches one of my apps, it checks first if there isn’t a new version stored on a private cloud repository, and if there is, downloads it, and runs it. The apps aren’t signed. And I am pretty sure that triggers defender’s malware downloading binaries from c&c network logic, so it randomly deletes the executable. Also when I want to scan all the video files in a folder I run ffprobe hundreds of times pretty much in parallel and defender will want to inspect each instance of the same ffprobe exe independently, resulting in a 100% cpu usage and slow scan. I solved the issue by defining folders exclusions but I don’t believe it can be scripted and it is a pain in the ass. All of the above is unwanted behaviour of an antivirus working against me.
- unionpivo 5y agoMove most of the things(programs, data) on other drive and exclude whole drive. EDIT: I have 4 drives on my C machine: Every disk but C is excluded. - C - as little stuff as possible, does not exclude - D - programming and misc utilities (everything from browsers to total commander, editors, programming languges is here) - E - Gaming - F - network share - media That said my primary workstation is linux, htat just backup/gaming/windows programming one
- unionpivo 5y agoThe way I have dealt with it is that, I just keep my main os on C: and install almost everything else on other drive , that I put in excluded folders in settings. It is especially important if you are programming in rust or golang, that produce fat binaries, because its scans and uploads them.
- ssully 5y agoI have had the opposite experience. I've found windows defender to be basically the only AV you really need. I had a single occurrence where it flagged software I was writing as potentially malicious, but I was able to add an exception for my project and not think about it again. I've never noticed it clocking my CPU at any noticeable levels. For comparison, my work computer requires McAfee and at least once a day it clocks my CPU at 65% or more.
- etempleton 5y agoWindows Defender is the only antivirus I have used on my personal machines since it first launch and I have never had an issue, though I suspect most of my good fortune is good internet habits. I wonder how much modern windows really requires an anti-virus. During the Windows XP days it felt vital, but since then it has felt more like something everyone just does out of caution.
- jaywalk 5y agoI've been relying exclusively on Windows Defender since before it was called Windows Defender. I view third-party antivirus software as pointless at best, and actively harmful at worst.
- phkahler 5y ago>> I've found windows defender to be basically the only AV you really need. Microsoft has no reason to load crapware along with Defender, they just ship that stuff with Windows itself.
- pyuser583 5y agoSame here. Love the thing. By “love it” I mean I never have to think about it or acknowledge it’s existence. Which is the exact opposite of how the word “love” is generally used. But I still love it.
- Buttons840 5y ago> By "love it" I mean <insert highest possible praise software can receive here> Seems like a normal thing to say to me. :)
- ralmidani 5y ago
- mixedCase 5y agoYou got downvoted for the overly simplistic reduction. But many of the new "features" of modern Windows are exactly what we used to call "spyware" and "adware" in the 2000s: Barely useful tools, if at all, that tried their best to promote other tools from the manufacturer, tried to dark-pattern their way out of being uninstalled and for which we had to use specialized tools for their detection & removal. With that era acting as hindsight, and specially taking into account the anti-trust suit they lost for bundling IE, the fact that Windows ships with such software now feels like very lazy satire.
- jazzyjackson 5y agoHey calm down there, Agent Smith
- grishka 5y agoWhat happens if you delete its main executable?
- iqanq 5y agoI don't think there is a concept of "main executable". There may be an executable that shows a GUI for the user, but most of the antivirus is probably implemented in the kernel, file system filter drivers, etc.
- grishka 5y agoEven then, I doubt it's statically linked into the kernel or any other core component. It still must be some kind of separate loadable module that would most probably be stored as a separate file.
- garaetjjte 5y agoMsMpEng.exe is the core component, not sure if you can just delete it. There's group policy setting for disabling it (and corresponding registry key, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\DisableAntiSpyware), but I think it only sticks in Enterprise versions.