I know we have IT people here, and I would like your opinion please.
I just got a new ThinkPad. The first thing installed will be my paid copy of Malwarebytes.
So that got me thinking about seeing how my AV app compares with others. I use the same test results site that computer repairman uses. He says is not influenced by ads or bribery as far as he can tell.
Having the AV integrated with the OS seems like it could be a good idea for avoiding potential conflicts.
I suppose it will keep itself up-to-date by itself. I'll have to dig into the cryptic MS controls to find out where a control panel, quarantine, and/or manual scans are.
Malwarebytes premium finds things that other AV apps do not, because it works differently. So it's best to have both.
Moving all my apps from an old computer to the new one is definitely a time sink, but it needs to be done. I suppose google and I will be good friends for a few days (actually I use StartPage as it isn't voluntary spyware).
I can see a right click will allow me to scan individual files or drives like my old aftermarket AV apps did.
It'll be nice not having an additional app on the computer taking up resources and disk space. When my aftermarket subscription runs out on my other computer I think I'll just delete it and use Defender.
Great, and for the most part I haven't touched the default settings. It's never interrupted music recording, editing, flight simming, or other gaming either. I'll get an occasional message in the lower right notifications area that scans were clean which is more a reassurance than an annoyance.
We use an offsite IT company at the office which is a CPA firm and security is very important. I had a long conversation with them when I bought my latest computer.
I was told Defender is integrated with the OS and most importantly you need to use Edge with it not another browser if you really want the best security. The IT company will not allow us to install another browser. Edge is not IE. When folks talk about how IE has issues they're using an older version of Windows, not Win 10. This is why I've harped continuously on these forums that folks need to upgrade to Win 10 AND do the automatic updates. That's very important according to our IT guys.
Now, I started a thread about problems with the latest October update and what MS is doing about it and now it's been delayed again. Some will take that and say see, MS is crap, these updates will hose my system, I'm not doing it. Wrong. Nothing's perfect and this is another example of folks needing to be on top of it and be aware that's all. When the update is finally ready, let it happen.
People like to trash MS because they are the Alpha OS. And yes, they have made their fair share of mistakes, but so has Apple and probably just about every other complex computer app. Look how many bug fix updates the good folks at PG Music supply us with.
Computers are complex, and there are so many different variations out here with an almost infinite array of apps running on the OS. I doubt that two computers have exactly the same things on them. Plus some of the apps running on the OS are not written properly and have taken 'illegal' short-cuts not approved by MS or Apple, so real world testing is impossible.
I have several months remaining on my paid Avast. After that expires, I'll not renew and go to Defender exclusively.
My question ... Is it not advisable to use both at the same time? Does that create potential issues, create conflicts, diminish to effectiveness of my protection, or just slow things down?
My (desktop) computer - the one I'm referring to - is pretty dang fast (I5-6th gen, 8 Gigs DDR4) and both AVs are running right now. When I pose the question on Google, the "answers" are all over the place. I appreciate any thoughts you knowledgeable folks might have.
Thanks. I may give it a try. I have several desktops and a laptop still on W7. My wife's laptop and All in one are W10 so I will likely set those up first.
No. In Win 7 Defender is not integrated with the OS and it's not as robust. Because of this our IT company had to install and run a separate AV program on each workstation and according to them it was a PIA. That was one of many reasons they pushed us for several years to upgrade all the workstations to Win10. Win 10 has it's automatic update feature that some folks hate. Well, the update includes Defender along with whatever else.
I'm not the expert but I work with some and know some others and I read a lot. An OS is sort of an island unto itself. You can do lots of things on that island but you're restricted to what's there. When you're able to move to another island (upgrading to a new OS) you have lots of new things that you can do that you couldn't do on the old island. Or, something like that haha.
Lots of folks are still on Win 7. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I get that, I believe in that too for almost everything but computers. Computers have a useful life of about 3-4 years. Then regardless of it still "working" perfectly, no hangups, no BSOD, it's time has expired because of too many things to list here. If it still runs great that means you can sell it or give it to a friend with a clear conscience but I would still tell them to upgrade it to Win 10.
Another very important element is the integration between the OS and the CPU/Mobo. Intel is coming out with new versions of their CPU's every year or two. And now AMD has re-entered the fray with their new Ryzen series of chips. Security is a big part of the new chips if not the biggest part. Mobo's change to support the new chips.
Hacking and security is as serious as a heart attack. I can tell a story about how hackers got into a business and cloned their hard drive by piggybacking on a wireless printer. Because the printer isn't on all the time it took them almost a year to do it but they did it and then got busted which is how I know about it.
Here's another tidbit I just saw yesterday when I was watching a bunch of DAW related vids on Youtube. The guy was testing a Surface Pro 6 with different DAW's and mentioned he had been having issues with low latency audio output when stressing the system but the night before he did the vid there was a Win 10 update. After the update he was doing some music work on the system and his problem was gone. He then tested it further and it was truly gone. The update fixed something with the audio output and a latency of 128 samples which is about 5ms.
Yet another reason to just let the updates happen.
Add updated printing options, enhanced tracks settings, smoother use of MGU and SGU (BB files) within PowerTracks, and more with the latest PowerTracks Pro Audio 2024 update!
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Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows for free with build 1111!
With this update, there's more control when saving images from the Print Preview window, we've added defaults to the MultiPicker for sorting and font size, updated printing options, updated RealTracks and other content, and addressed user-reported issues with the StylePicker, MIDI Soloists, key signature changes, and more!
A few excerpts:
"The Tracks view is possibly the single most powerful addition in 2024 and opens up a new way to edit and generate accompaniments. Combined with the new MultiPicker Library Window, it makes BIAB nearly perfect as an 'intelligent' composer/arranger program."
"MIDI SuperTracks partial generation showing six variations – each time the section is generated it can be instantly auditioned, re-generated or backed out to a previous generation – and you can do this with any track type. This is MAJOR! This takes musical experimentation and honing an arrangement to a new level, and faster than ever."
"Band in a Box continues to be an expansive musical tool-set for both novice and experienced musicians to experiment, compose, arrange and mix songs, as well as an extensive educational resource. It is huge, with hundreds of functions, more than any one person is likely to ever use. Yet, so is any DAW that I have used. BIAB can do some things that no DAW does, and this year BIAB has more DAW-like functions than ever."
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