VOGONS


First post, by KCompRoom2000

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On January 10th, 2023, to coincide with the end of support for Windows 8.1 (and 7 with ESU), Microsoft will be ending definition updates for both Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender for Windows 8.x:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/w … 38-b07dffcbbb20
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/p … indows-8-and-81

This is not a good sign at all. As someone who has tried Windows 10 Pro multiple times and had bad experiences every single time, I am not looking forward to this. Looks like I'll have to look for another antivirus that continues to support Windows 7 (or be extra careful when browsing the internet).

What are your thoughts on this? Anyone have any suggestions for a good free (or cheap) antivirus for Windows 7 and 8.1?

Reply 1 of 5, by Shponglefan

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KCompRoom2000 wrote on 2023-01-07, 02:08:

As someone who has tried Windows 10 Pro multiple times and had bad experiences every single time, I am not looking forward to this.

Out of curiosity, what issues did you have with Windows 10?

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Reply 2 of 5, by KCompRoom2000

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Shponglefan wrote on 2023-01-07, 02:11:

Out of curiosity, what issues did you have with Windows 10?

I've already mentioned in detail in other threads, so I won't got into too much detail here, so to sum it up: Notifications. I kept getting notifications to use Microsoft products and services that I wish to not use, and even after turning them all off, some of them kept coming back. If Microsoft really is done with feature updates (or is cutting them back to just once a year until 2025), I guess I could try it again with every tweak that can be found online. Then again, I don't see why I should if Windows 10 (non-LTSC) will be ending support in just two years, which would result in me repeating the process with Windows 11 (or 10 LTSC if I can justify buying volume licenses).

Reply 3 of 5, by LSS10999

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I use Immunet (which contains a ClamAV-based engine) on pre-Win10 systems, as that's the only truly free AV alternative I know of (not the free, crippled versions of commercial AVs many already know). It works to some extent and can fill in the vacuum for security in Win7-Win8.1.

However, it seems some of its functionalities consume a huge amount of RAM that it can be a problem if your system has less than 8-16GB of RAM. Expect consistent above-50% RAM usage on a system with 4GB of RAM if you turn everything on.

Does anyone else know of a similar, more FLOSS antivirus solution?

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-01-07, 02:11:

Out of curiosity, what issues did you have with Windows 10?

In my case, the still ongoing issue would be that some soft synths no longer survive reboots. Coolsoft VirtualMidiSynth (and MUNT) have managed to work it around, but I don't know if there's an updated Windows OPL3 driver that could have addressed it.

Many years ago when Win10 initially released I had several major issues, that finally made me switch to use Linux as main OS. One notable example was that the network stack (ndis/tcpip) at that time had serious DPC latency issues that caused my system to freeze once in a while. Everything would stop moving for a brief second when it happened, during which any sound being played would screech like when the system was about to go BSOD.

As for the OP's issue, I suggest manually disable Microsoft Content (formerly Windows Spotlight) using an Applocker rule. This should hopefully prevent some apps from reinstalling back especially during updates. I'm not sure about the notifications, but it's been the default rule for me to turn everything off during the final stages of Win10 install in order to disable as much telemetry as possible.

Reply 4 of 5, by chinny22

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Shame but inevitable.
As i no longer actively surf the web on my Win7 PC's anymore I'll just leave Defender on with its last update till next rebuild.
Come next rebuild I'll simply not bother AV. Yeh its a slight risk but thats what I did with XP and haven't had any issues.

Reply 5 of 5, by cameronwhite

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Even though this thread is a year old, the concern about Microsoft ending updates for Defender and MSE for Windows 7 and 8.x remains relevant. Security is always a priority for computer users, and it's important to find reliable alternatives.