4 ms·

> I don't use it on any OS You don't even leave the built-in Windows Security (or Defender) running on Windows? I haven't noticed any performance impact or fa

> I don't use it on any OS You don't even leave the built-in Windows Security (or Defender) running on Windows? I haven't noticed any performance impact or false positives in the years it's been running, and it is supposed to be highly effective. Better safe than sorry I guess. Although I have never had a virus in 30+ years.

arp242 4y ago
> You don't even leave the built-in Windows Security (or Defender) running on Windows? Is there even an option to disable it? I disabled what I could on my VM and it still eats up all my CPU and memory (I should maybe get a faster laptop, but it works fine for everything except this, and I only rarely need it to test something).
- zx8080 4y ago
  +1 I would love to know too how to disable it completely.
  - hsbauauvhabzb 4y ago
    Adding c:/ in the whitelist is your best bet. I strongly advise against it unless you’re doing malware research though.
- rdlw 4y ago
  WinAero Tweaker can disable it.
dTal 4y ago
"Lisa, I want to buy your rock."
hutzlibu 4y ago
Windows defender definitely has a performance impact, sometimes to the point of freezing when plugging in a USB stick for example (on low spec hardware). And you can disable it, but only with hackistry. "Although I have never had a virus in 30+ years. " And this might translate to: you never had a virus you were aware of. Most professional virus are quite silent and don't want to be noticed by doing noisy stuff. Their point? Spreading everywhere, until they find a high value target. But I doubt windows defender is a defence against those.
- hsbauauvhabzb 4y ago
  Afaik, modern malware will also do things like keylog for passwords, silent malware is neither reserved for high value targets or reserved for av evasion tier malware (which is relatively easy to do)
  - hutzlibu 4y ago
    Yes, "high value" is relative. But a criminal gang won't risk attention, to steal some bucks of a poor linux hacker, who potentially will raise hell, to find out how that steal happened. Which is the reason linux is more secure in the first place - there is simply plenty of easier prey elsewhere.
    - hsbauauvhabzb 4y ago
      Won’t they? How do you know what an entire collective would do?
      - hutzlibu 4y ago
        I know that from basic reasoning (what if I wanted to to make money via hacking) and the fact that allmost everyday there is news about someone being ransomed on windows, but very, very rarely (if at all) on linux (on the desktop). Lower numbers, sure, but also a higher IT affinity. Overall not worth the hassle.
rom-antics 4y ago
It's been a few years since I ran Windows, but I remember some annoying behavior. - Every time you open a network drive in Windows Explorer, it will (sometimes?) partially download the contents to scan for viruses. It was noticeable on wifi. - If you run grep in a large repo (in the multi-GB range), it will scan each file before letting grep access it. Ripgrep is multithreaded, but that didn't matter since Defender seemed to be single-threaded. I could see it pegging just one core as it made sure none of those text files had a virus. I ran Process Hacker, which had a tray icon you could quickly hover to see what's using CPU. I noticed Defender slowing things down often enough that it had to go.

arp242 4y ago

> You don't even leave the built-in Windows Security (or Defender) running on Windows? Is there even an option to disable it? I disabled what I could on my VM and it still eats up all my CPU and memory (I should maybe get a faster laptop, but it works fine for everything except this, and I only rarely need it to test something).

zx8080 4y ago
+1 I would love to know too how to disable it completely.
- hsbauauvhabzb 4y ago
  Adding c:/ in the whitelist is your best bet. I strongly advise against it unless you’re doing malware research though.
rdlw 4y ago
WinAero Tweaker can disable it.

dTal 4y ago

"Lisa, I want to buy your rock."

hutzlibu 4y ago

Windows defender definitely has a performance impact, sometimes to the point of freezing when plugging in a USB stick for example (on low spec hardware). And you can disable it, but only with hackistry. "Although I have never had a virus in 30+ years. " And this might translate to: you never had a virus you were aware of. Most professional virus are quite silent and don't want to be noticed by doing noisy stuff. Their point? Spreading everywhere, until they find a high value target. But I doubt windows defender is a defence against those.

hsbauauvhabzb 4y ago
Afaik, modern malware will also do things like keylog for passwords, silent malware is neither reserved for high value targets or reserved for av evasion tier malware (which is relatively easy to do)
- hutzlibu 4y ago
  Yes, "high value" is relative. But a criminal gang won't risk attention, to steal some bucks of a poor linux hacker, who potentially will raise hell, to find out how that steal happened. Which is the reason linux is more secure in the first place - there is simply plenty of easier prey elsewhere.
  - hsbauauvhabzb 4y ago
    Won’t they? How do you know what an entire collective would do?
    - hutzlibu 4y ago
      I know that from basic reasoning (what if I wanted to to make money via hacking) and the fact that allmost everyday there is news about someone being ransomed on windows, but very, very rarely (if at all) on linux (on the desktop). Lower numbers, sure, but also a higher IT affinity. Overall not worth the hassle.

rom-antics 4y ago

It's been a few years since I ran Windows, but I remember some annoying behavior. - Every time you open a network drive in Windows Explorer, it will (sometimes?) partially download the contents to scan for viruses. It was noticeable on wifi. - If you run grep in a large repo (in the multi-GB range), it will scan each file before letting grep access it. Ripgrep is multithreaded, but that didn't matter since Defender seemed to be single-threaded. I could see it pegging just one core as it made sure none of those text files had a virus. I ran Process Hacker, which had a tray icon you could quickly hover to see what's using CPU. I noticed Defender slowing things down often enough that it had to go.