AV and utilities question for the gurus

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Hi all, 
I'm reasonably tech savvy and understand basic network security. Here is my question.

I don't surf for porn ( not a judgement call....as Seinfeld would say: "Not that there is anything wrong with it :) ) and I don't click on anything in my emails. That said, when ever I get a new machine, I usually strip out all the bloatware, download CCleaner, Defraggler, and MSE, then call it good. I have a good wireless router with the firewall enabled.

I"m waiting for my new x17 level 4 laptop and the ONLY things I intend to do is install Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX, Microsoft Flight, and Tokto Big Wing ATC Simulator. One of the programs will access a very reputable site to download scenery files and the other will access Windows Live for multiplayer. I do not intend to access the Internet for anything else except hardware updates and Windows Updates. I have another laptop for my Internet use.

FSX is extremely CPU intensive and I understand that a desktop would have been better but my situation is that only a laptop would work so I'm under no illusions that this laptop is going to have an easy job running FSX in spite of getting the best parts.

Since I will need every CPU cycle to run FSX, I am considering running without the utilities and antivirus to keep running processes to a minimum. The apps will not be writing much so I think that the windows cleanup and native defrag is good enough and, if I do pick up something, I assume DS sends a reinstall disc and the apps can be reinstalled.

My question is: under those operating conditions, does anyone see a problem running a "naked" system over the network and, if you do see a problem, does MSE use so little resources as to be meaningless to my desire to allocate as much of the cpu cycles to running the app?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

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Bobby Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 16 May 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 324	Quote Reply Topic: AV and utilities question for the gurus Posted: 21 May 2012 at 2:19pm
	Hi all, I'm reasonably tech savvy and understand basic network security. Here is my question. I don't surf for porn ( not a judgement call....as Seinfeld would say: "Not that there is anything wrong with it :) ) and I don't click on anything in my emails. That said, when ever I get a new machine, I usually strip out all the bloatware, download CCleaner, Defraggler, and MSE, then call it good. I have a good wireless router with the firewall enabled. I"m waiting for my new x17 level 4 laptop and the ONLY things I intend to do is install Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX, Microsoft Flight, and Tokto Big Wing ATC Simulator. One of the programs will access a very reputable site to download scenery files and the other will access Windows Live for multiplayer. I do not intend to access the Internet for anything else except hardware updates and Windows Updates. I have another laptop for my Internet use. FSX is extremely CPU intensive and I understand that a desktop would have been better but my situation is that only a laptop would work so I'm under no illusions that this laptop is going to have an easy job running FSX in spite of getting the best parts. Since I will need every CPU cycle to run FSX, I am considering running without the utilities and antivirus to keep running processes to a minimum. The apps will not be writing much so I think that the windows cleanup and native defrag is good enough and, if I do pick up something, I assume DS sends a reinstall disc and the apps can be reinstalled. My question is: under those operating conditions, does anyone see a problem running a "naked" system over the network and, if you do see a problem, does MSE use so little resources as to be meaningless to my desire to allocate as much of the cpu cycles to running the app? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

bprat22 Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List DS Veteran Joined: 08 Jun 2011 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5142	Quote Reply Posted: 21 May 2012 at 2:47pm
	Hi Bobby....I have 'streaked'....I mean run 'naked'....I mean surfed the web with no AV for short periods of time when fixing problems and didn' t like it and waited for the Attack. I was lucky and had no problem. But, with MSE you're really not 'naked'. I use it on my 8 year old laptop because it doesn't bog it down. It's slow enough, and I picked MSE to make web access bearable. I haven't had problems. I would think you are good to go. Hope this helps.

Bobby Members Profile Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 16 May 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 324	Quote Reply Posted: 21 May 2012 at 3:19pm
	Thanks for the info on MSE. Back in the day before MSE, I paid for NOD32 because it had the smallest footprint and all the gamers liked it. FSX is such a resource hog; there are tons of tweaks created to help it run on anything other than the Cray Super Computer although I have seen good information of success running Digital Storm's desktops. I'm fairly confident that as long as I run the laptop as a dedicated machine with minimal processes, it should do the job for me. Thanks again for the info....I appreciate it.