The question of Anti-virus programs with Cubase 12 and Win 11

Hi
I have done some digging after a lot of people say Norton is an ugly beast that gets in every corner of your computer.
I have Norton and utilities on my music computer and i must say that i get no real problems and it does not clear unecessary registry items out like CC Cleaner can do.
With CC Cleaner at least you can save a session if things do go wrong.
Now people are advising things like AVG Antivirus and i unloaded Norton and purchase AVG for £10 on Groupon.
Everything looks good on this program and does not stop you downloading trusted programs.
The other thing is that when you disconnect the Anti-Virus from the net it does not bother you.
The thing that frustrated me was that i wondered what file shredder does and it planted an icon on my desktop and could not delete it.
So for now i ran my System Image and now back to Norton where i am used to it.
Another thing with Norton 360 is to go Power mode and make sure you are on Best Performance as Norton will put it’s own save power schemes in place of it and that would lead to crackling synth performances .
So my question is WHAT ANTIVIRUS? as they all appear to have some problems.
You simply just have to have one to do downloads ,especially when you have product managers on your desktop.

You should simply avoid installing third-party antivirus programs.
We are no longer in 2001, those are now utterly useless.
Windows Defender will work as good as Norton, if not better, and will never cause any issue.

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I just use the windows one but I don’t use the computer for browsing places I don’t know and I don’t open attachments on it. I use my iPad for checking stuff out. I treat my pc as the core of my studio and don’t use it for anything else.

Hi Louis
So would you recommend i get rid of Norton on my Music machine and just go defender?
Is that good enough on music download updates from Arturia, Korg and Ik Multimedia?
How do you clean the registry every now and then or do you just not worry about that .
I do hate Norton deciding that good programs are bad.
I would keep Norton though on my other internet computer for VPN downloads , films and series and watching EFL English football. nod nod!!

All the best
John

All the best
John

I agree with this, if you don’t go to dodgy sites, windows defender is all you need.
I’ve been using it since I switched to Win 10 in 2016, never had an issue ever, and I use a multi OS system, with one for Win10 general use and one for just DAW use, and of course the 3 Linux OS’s on the same computer have never needed any antivirus.

Defender plus Malwarebytes here, both turned off when recording in C11 Pro.

You guys leave Defender on when you record?

^^^
agree.

I would absolutely never ever install anything beyond the Windows system for viruses. You’re asking for trouble otherwise. Likewise, a dedicated computer just for music-making is the way to go. It reduces the chances of viruses coming on to your computer through non music software.

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I agree with the rest. Built-in Windows Defender does a very good job.

Downloads from known entities such as Arturia and other vendors or people you trust and do business with should all be no problem.

yes. if you have a fully ssd-based system, Defender will not affect your work at all.

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I never knew one could be that afraid of removing software antivirus and only using the built-in Windows Security :laughing:

There is absolutely no risk at all unless you are intentionally downloading AND running fishy programs like “cracked” software and stuff like that. But then, even Norton would not block those installers, because they are not actual “viruses” but will just install unwanted additional programs that will definitely slow down the computer, display ads, etc. Windows has something called Reputation-Based Protection, which can detect and block those programs.

There is no such thing as “cleaning the registry” on a computer. When you remove some programs they may keep some entries but there is absolutely no need to manually search for them and delete them. That would take a lot of time and is pure nonsense.

Windows will also sometimes refuse to run a legitimate program and show a warning pop-up, but that’s normal if the executable hasn’t been signed. In any case, even if you try to run a bad program, Windows would immediately stop its execution as soon as it detects the malicious code, and put it in quarantine with a different pop-up.

You should really not worry about all of this.

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I used to do this on Win 10 Pro, but when I installed Win 11 Pro I didn’t install CC Cleaner and I haven’t run it at all on this new computer. No problems not having it.

Hi Louis
Thanks for the heads up.
There is only one more thing that is slightly bothering me and that is optimizing.
With my other internet computer i have Avg Tuneup and at odd times it gets really slow and get 100% Disk and that gets annoying until i use avg tune up .
After running that the old Internet computer is running like a demon again.
What i am saying is what do i use to keep the machine fast as i was using 360 and utilities.
I have now taken Norton off of my Music computer and now defender is running.
I must admit i do not like Norton making decisions for me.
I do use cccleaner to get rid of junk usually , but i do not touch the registry.
I have an I7 7800X and is fast and hopefully stays that way for two or three years to come as it was built by Pc Specialists here in UK late 2017.
If you have any thing to add further , i am listening

All the Best
John

I am a computer engineer. I’ve been in IT/Network support for 20+ years (started in the very early days of the PC) I’ve also been a musician since age 10. Have built all my various studio machines/servers etc… Louis_R is correct: Any 3rd party antivirus will and can cause problems with your DAW. And affect overall performance of your system. DON’T use them… Other than a slight performance hit, I’ve found Windows Defender to be fairly transparent. That said: I have WD completely disabled on my music system. I only go online when music software needs to be downloaded. Otherwize my system is always offline.

Before I need to go online, I create a “Restore Point” with pertinent discription.
I will also create a restore point occasionaly when my DAW is running well.

Keep regular backups and image your system (at least your OS drive) fairly often.

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Hi Randy
I always come offline when not updating but have been using Norton and now as i said i have uninstalled it. I do keep two full backups of my music computer as i am paranoid about that.
A system image always gets you back to normal.
Have been burnt too many times.
You also learn over time to get on with your music instead of trying to do the impossible.
Sometimes windows updates throws a spanner in the works but again stick that on pause until safe to go forward.
Apart from the Cubase 12 , Stuck on video thing now solved, Cubase is running great, just the peak meters going red on certain sounds but have a workaround for that.
What do you use to make sure all is running fast as possible because things do get chunked up over time.

All the Best
John

I’m glad I could help you John.
When the disk usage is 100% on your old computer, can you see what process is taking up the resources in Task Manager ? Also what version of Windows is it running ?

Hi John,

If you have a Wifi adaptor on your DAW system, disable it when you’re not on line (simplest way is to
open “Control Panel”. Upper right: Make sure ‘View by’ is set to small or large icons. Go to “Network and Sharing Center”. On the upper left click “Change Adapter Settings”. Right click on your Wifi adapter and choose ‘Disable’ Note: You can also right click on the adapter and choose “Create Shortcut”. You will get a message stating that Windows can only create the shorcut on your desktop. Just click “OK”. This will make it quick and easy to disable and enable.

Wifi adapters use a surprising amount of rescourses even when not in use if enabled.

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Hi Louis
I have avg tune up on the I5 internet machine and it sorts out the 100% disc problem when it occurs.
When it happens things dart all over the place in task Manager, so i am not worried as that is an old workhorse for downloading films and tv series boxsets, so i do get a lot of junk but use vpn.
Just got the whole series of Ozark, great stuff, but i am in another country in 10 seconds Also great for football playoffs here in UK!!! lol.
I do download what i can on usb musical wise if possible .
I , like you just have to download through Arturia, Korg and IK managers if and when so i can keep that off the internet as much as possible.

Here’s what i turn off (completely) every time I record:

-Windows Defender (including virus, and all three firewalls, individually (uggh) since I can’t find a global Windows Defender “Off” button to click)

  • Malwarebytes
  • WiFi (turn the blue slider off at the top of the page: Settings> Network& Internet>Wi-Fi)
    -OneDrive
    -Tunnel Bear VPN
    -Bluetooth (Oh, i don’t have Bluetooth, never mind :smile:)

And then when I’m done recording, I turn it all back on.

Any thoughts from smart dudes/dudettes?

Man i wish I were smart enough to write a “script”, or do a dual boot or something cool to speed up that process! :smile:

I don’t turn anything off when recording but I do suspend updates. I don’t use wi fi either. I have a wired connection. I have OneDrive disabled anyway and don’t use it.