3 ms·

It's unnecessary for users smart enough not to get viruses. Pretty necessary for users that aren't.

mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
It's not rocket science. My mother is pretty tech illiterate but she's never gotten any viruses after I hosed the Win Defender off her laptop. She literally just checks her mail, streams netflix and visits a handful of news websites. Lots of users are like this. They can get by fine just with an adblocker and an occasional scan to be sure. Scanning the disk constantly is just ridiculous.
- tpush 4y ago
  > [...] she's never gotten any viruses after I hosed the Win Defender off her laptop. How would you (or she!) know that?
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
    I do a basic service when I visit, including a malware scan.
- SleepyMyroslav 4y ago
  anecdote to the contrary: >visits a handful of news websites That's exactly how I got my only zero day virus in 20+ years of tech career. News sites have sources. Some news are rumors. It was very long ago and i pressed source link to 'semi accurate' tech news source in a news about CPUs. Your best bet is to replace hdd with ssd or replace laptop and turn everything to 'recommended' or even 'security recommended'. Yes 8ms delays on some file opens will be there but people can live with that.
orangepurple 4y ago
HN readers can delete Windows antivirus and reduce global warming. It's your civic duty.
nikanj 4y ago
I would bet good money that people using an xtreme tuning OS like Atlas, are more likely to get their games from the pirate bay and their hacks from honest-bobs-totally-not-virii.com
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  For me, Atlas was just a way of installing my gaming windows install a little faster, because I didn't have to spend hours removing or disabling all the shitware, spyware etc. I was gonna do that anyway. I think it's just as likely that people using Atlas are just Linux/Mac daily drivers who consequently have a much lower tolerance for Windows' builtin malware, and so take efforts to make the little time they spend in Windows more bearable.

It's not rocket science. My mother is pretty tech illiterate but she's never gotten any viruses after I hosed the Win Defender off her laptop. She literally just checks her mail, streams netflix and visits a handful of news websites. Lots of users are like this. They can get by fine just with an adblocker and an occasional scan to be sure. Scanning the disk constantly is just ridiculous.

tpush 4y ago
> [...] she's never gotten any viruses after I hosed the Win Defender off her laptop. How would you (or she!) know that?
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  I do a basic service when I visit, including a malware scan.
SleepyMyroslav 4y ago
anecdote to the contrary: >visits a handful of news websites That's exactly how I got my only zero day virus in 20+ years of tech career. News sites have sources. Some news are rumors. It was very long ago and i pressed source link to 'semi accurate' tech news source in a news about CPUs. Your best bet is to replace hdd with ssd or replace laptop and turn everything to 'recommended' or even 'security recommended'. Yes 8ms delays on some file opens will be there but people can live with that.

orangepurple 4y ago

HN readers can delete Windows antivirus and reduce global warming. It's your civic duty.

nikanj 4y ago

I would bet good money that people using an xtreme tuning OS like Atlas, are more likely to get their games from the pirate bay and their hacks from honest-bobs-totally-not-virii.com

mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
For me, Atlas was just a way of installing my gaming windows install a little faster, because I didn't have to spend hours removing or disabling all the shitware, spyware etc. I was gonna do that anyway. I think it's just as likely that people using Atlas are just Linux/Mac daily drivers who consequently have a much lower tolerance for Windows' builtin malware, and so take efforts to make the little time they spend in Windows more bearable.