Security Question Regarding Windows 8

Hi All

Currently using avast 8.0.1489 with Windows 8 Pro 64bit, experiencing server packet loss in one online game, unknown if related to Avast or not? Would I be better off using built in Windows Defender.

My typical usage is
Online Gaming--Secondlife
Facebook, email, (Windows 8 mail app)
looking up news
watching music videos via youtube

No torrents or anything risky I don't think

I know Windows Defender/MSE doesn't do so well in the tests by Av-Test and Av Comparatives, so not sure on fully switching as yet

 

Have you disabled it and see if it still happens?

 

Yes I disabled Avast antivirus for 10 minutes, and packet loss still remained i'm guessing not related to Antivirus at this point and more related to at&t dsl internet issues I suppose..

Game is reporting this
Packets Lost: 8,829/1 (0.7%)

Performance slow at times as well, support for the game says packet loss should say 0.0 percent for optimal performance

So working on it, Ok might turn out to just be a bug with the Second life Viewer I just found out from my support request with them

 

Second Life will have packet-loss regardless. It's an 11 year old game. I would try turning off Windows Firewall, and test if that helps. I would disable UAC/SmartScreen/Defender by default as you don't need them with Avast! and they are just annoying and waste resources. If you wanna be like me and go full on, disable windows scheduled defragmentation and disable system protection "system restore" and turn off windows search as none of these things are really that helpful. I would also recommend downloading a free VPN such as SecurityKISS or CyberGhost and trying to test packet-loss while connecting to one of their servers close to your location. If this solves your packet-loss, then your ISP is being retarded and throttling the broadband connection you probably overpay them for anyway.

 

I find it hard to imagine how "UAC/SmartScreen/Defender" couldn't possibly contribute to packet loss...

 

Second Life downloads things as your play. UAC/SmartScreen/Defender could be blocking/scanning unknown things, and Second Life is basically random everything being downloaded constantly in the background. They don't work for real malware anyway. I was curious and had no trouble getting passed all three with both a Trojan and a Key-Logger. I used to code cheats for online games 5 years ago for fun, and my coding knowledge is limited yet my software got by and it was pretty simple.

 

Lowered the bandwidth the game was using on recommendation of Support people, and it seems to be better so far, will consider disabling other suggested items if I still have issues

 

That wouldn't contribute to packet loss, it would flat out block a file crashing the entire game as it attempts to execute said file. (Assuming you're talking about a streaming background downloader)

The mentioned protections should always be left on.

Seems like a logical explanation.

 

yeah seems to be working better so far. Not sure when Windows 8.1 Comes along if i'll continue using Avast or Just use Windows Defender at that point.

I guess i'll decide for myself then the time comes how much protection I need, and such

 

Second life is not like a normal game, If something gets blocked the game continues to run. It may, however register to the game engine as lost packets due to not being able to load a new texture or skin.

 

Yes Secondlife doesn't act like a normal game, have to exclude the program folders in the Antivirus programs to prevent it from blocking slplugin.exe and Slvoice.exe

(if those get blocked, then SL search doesnt' work, map, and Voice chatting)

not sure exactly how much data it uses, i'm on it 12 hours a day usually every day. Due to virtual job in the program and other things I like to do in it.

On our network also have
Directv On demand that we use a lot
Windows 8 Desktop PC-Avast 8 Free
XP laptop-Avast 8 Free
Windows Vista desktop--Wireless-Avast 8 Free
Windows phone-wifi
Intel Atom Media Center PC--Wifi-Avast 8 Free
Android Nook tablet--wifi-None that i'm aware of for antivirus protection
Android cell phone-wifi-none that i'm aware of for antivirus protection--Possibly Lookout installed by Sprint store on mom's phone, they said Avast caused issues with her phone

not sure if all that stuff makes a different with speed or not. But Game is running better than it was earlier, 0.1 percent of packet loss, which is a lot better than earlier...Now I just wait for 8.1 to come out and then decide which antivirus I want on this PC for sure

 

I will think about your problem a little more and get back to you. This is my house. I own this club etc etc.