Whatever you do DON'T DISABLE YOUR ANTIVIRUS

[dougc75]

Whatever you do DON'T DISABLE YOUR ANTIVIRUS

In the hope that others may learn from my mistake: When I first start playing FSX-SE with ORBX I had Microsoft Security Essentials and it took a savage toll on the performance of the game (even with the right folders excluded).

So I decided to disable it (a suggestion I found on a few other forums)...

Fast forward a month or two and I become suspicious at CPU and network usage (LED on modem router always flashing). I ran a Wireshark capture and my worst fears were confirmed: my PC was riddled with malware / spyware.

Several secure disk wipes (very difficult with an SSD you can't use DBAN) and OS re-installs later I bit the bullet and purchased the full version of Avira's Ultimate Protection Suite.

It has a "System Speed Up Utility" that actually does speed up the system (I was very skeptical) - when gaming I select the "Power Boost" profile which turns off Aero desktop and disables network shares whilst enabling HQ video.

Further the main AV console has a Game Mode that when enabled I guess minimizes impact of the AV processes on the system.

I have a modest i5, 2.7Ghz with 12MB RAM and an (overclocked) nVidia GTX 660 and with the exception of large cities frame rate varies between about 50 and 200+ (again that's with ORBX Australia + AU Holgermesh).

N.B. I have no commercial affiliation with Avira whatsoever

[Jeff]

Well when you do add ons some say to disable it just for their download so there is no conflict then turn it back on,Or when you buy an addon you can get the disc and wait and do it that way.In my settings in the bios MSI board there is a safety net too keep that from having the CPU prone too a worm.Check into something like advast you can put it in a gaming mode while it is running so it dont affect your gaming.Sounds like you need too start with a clean slate.A virus can really mess up a SSD thats why I dont use them anymore they dont help framerates they only load stuff faster.Good luck and keep us updated.

[dougc75]

Originally posted by Jeff:

Well when you do add ons some say to disable it just for their download so there is no conflict then turn it back on,Or when you buy an addon you can get the disc and wait and do it that way.In my settings in the bios MSI board there is a safety net too keep that from having the CPU prone too a worm.Check into something like advast you can put it in a gaming mode while it is running so it dont affect your gaming.Sounds like you need too start with a clean slate.A virus can really mess up a SSD thats why I dont use them anymore they dont help framerates they only load stuff faster.Good luck and keep us updated.

Thanks for the reply, Jeff. You actually raise a very good point about SSDs.

Previously I kept only the OS on the SSD and installed Steam executables and game files on a separate physical magnetic drive.

Then I wondered at the advice of the Intel SSD Toolbox optimizer which said "keep your most frequently used programs on the SSD" so this time around I did in fact install Steam and FSX-SE on the SSD and... you guessed it - the frame rate is not as good as before actually!

Having everything on the SSD is causing Windows, Avira and FSX to contend for resources too much.

I don't know if my sanity could stand another install so I might try moving the files in safe mode and creating a hard link.

In general I have come to loathe Windows and am actually wondering if Steam's Linux distro will run on my PC...

[TextRich]

I don't understand the point of the original post. Are you trying to say that FSX:SE downloads viruses and malware if you leave your anti-virus off? Or are you trying to say that disabling anti-virus doesn't help the game's performance anyway?

[Jeff]

To play FSX I think you have too have the fire wall on.

[RustyDog]

I disable my antivirus prior to starting FSX SE and re enable when I have finished. I find it works well as I have a lot of networked add ons and the anti virus would slow this down. Just remember to re enable before going on line for anything else.

[dougc75]

Hey guys

My point is never disable antivirus whether it be during install or game play. If your AV is slowing down the game look for a better AV product.

As discussed in my original post I use Avira Ultimate Protection that has the ability to:

a) enable "Game Mode" in the AV control panel

b) a component of the suite, System Speedup, allows you to switch to a "Power Boost" mode that does stuff like disable network shares and printing to free up maximum resources for your game

I have also taken a few extra steps: configured the entire FSX folder as an exception for real time scanning) and (kind of off topic) moved my FSX folder from my SSD to a separate physical drive and created a directory junction (mklink /J).

With ORBX Australia pack the fps gets down to about 30 over cities but up to 200 over ocean but then my rig is very modest: i5 2.7Ghz, 12GB RAM with nvidia GTX 660 GPU.

As an aside it's not the GPU or RAM that are the limiting factor but the number of cores. I have tried a config with AffinityMask=15 which increases frame rate but naturally hamstrings the ability of the OS to perform its necessary background processes...

[dougc75]

Originally posted by BF Bullpup:

I don't understand the point of the original post. Are you trying to say that FSX:SE downloads viruses and malware if you leave your anti-virus off? Or are you trying to say that disabling anti-virus doesn't help the game's performance anyway?

I am saying some AV products cripple the game (like MSE that I used to use) so there is a temptation to disable them.

No I am not saying FSX:SE downloads malware.

[dougc75]

Originally posted by RustyDog:

I disable my antivirus prior to starting FSX SE and re enable when I have finished. I find it works well as I have a lot of networked add ons and the anti virus would slow this down. Just remember to re enable before going on line for anything else.

I would suggest unplugging from your router as well as Windows is always chatting in the background and if the DNS cache of your router gets poisoned (a well known exploit for any consumer grade modem router built before 2012) you don't even have to open a browser to get infected.

[dougc75]

Why your modem router is probably leaving the front door open:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2930554/security/new-soho-router-security-audit-uncovers-more-than-60-flaws-in-22-models.html

http://routersecurity.org/bugs.php