Right so recently Windows 7 broke and i couldn't find the disc or the license key to go with it. Only option i had to hand was the recovery/reinstall CD that came with my original PC. (The PC is long since modded extensively. Only original part about it is the Mobo in a completely diffrent case). Now i knew the licenses are saved in the BIOS or something for 8. So reinstalled everything and long story short, it took two fresh reinstalls to make it run worth anything. So after spending 3 days installing over 3GB of updates and it's now actually running fine.
My first question: I've gotten to the stage where the store is prompting me to run the 8.1 Upgrade from stock 8. Main question being, is it worth it or am i really leaving myself open for another busted installation and another three days of hell fixing it?. Is there any performance difference if i do opt for the 8.1 update?
My second question is, i noticed Windows Defender the standard antivirus for 8 won't actually enable the protection service. Just throws a bunch of random errors at me when i attempt to start it. So is there any Free antivirus programs which don't hog my hardware but will actually help prevent this thing getting grilled again?
No Windows 8 haters comments please, i'm well aware from this experience that 8 is a royal pain but i refuse to purchase another license for an OS which is essentially 7 years old with Windows 10 just around the corner as a free update (Meant to be). Constructive advice/Program suggestions would be much appreciated!
1. Yes you should update to 8.1. Makes the OS much more bearable and improves performance a bit.
2. The free version of Malwarebytes is good for scanning when you request it to do so, but only the paid version will constantly monitor for malware. If you want a free program to supplement Malwarebytes with constant monitoring, you should get the free version of Avast. https://www.avast.com/en-us/index
3. If you want to make 8/8.1 more useable with things like the old start button, Classic Shell works wonders. http://classicshell.net/
4. There is no such thing as a random error unless a programer put one in as a joke. I might be able to offer a solution to get defender running if you post the content of the error. Even then, I would still recommend getting Malwarebytes and Avast.
This is the general feeling that is trending amongst my IT customers and peers.
this is just from a general computing point of view, not freelancer specific.
"If you are formless, the most penetrating spies will not be able to discern you, or the wisest counsels will not be able to do calculations against you." - Sun-Tzu
Wow the above is actually incredibly helpful. Might as well dig up the defender error code/message while i'm at it and make another feature work. Though Malwarebyes is going on regardless, i've used it on my laptop before and found it a magical little program (Many thanks for the link by the way, makes things a bit faster )
Windows Defender:
Whenever i open it through control panel and hit the 'Turn on' button as it keeps sending me alerts my antivirus is turned off. But each time i do so it appears with an error message: "Windows Defender couldn't turn on real-time protection.
This operation returned because the timeout period expired.
Click help....Blah blah.
Error Code: 0x800705b4"
I have already googled said error code and all Microsft could suggest when i found a thread about it was i install the latest definitions. It's since then downloaded nearly 200MB of Defender updates and still no joy, kinda strange little glitch
With the given information, my recommendation is to install both Malwarebytes and Avast. (I find them to be better than windows defender anyways.) Once you have those installed, it won't matter if defender works or not since defender is disabled if other anti-virus programs are installed.
Yeah kinda thought that myself and Avast is installing as this is written.
(04-16-2015, 04:39 PM)aakopa Wrote: If you opt out from Windows 8.1, you are going to have bad time. As AMD for example doesn't provide drivers for Windows 8 anymore.
I only use Nvidia and Intel Hardware, i don't really like AMD. Since some of the equivilent CPUs (I have an Intel i3 3240HT) have a much larger power consumption and generally less powerful for the power they do draw. So i prefer Intel, not to mention i found that Intel gear usually runs cooler thus meaning my PC is quieter overall without a fan screaming it's head off. Just my preferance.
Despite using Intel / Nvidia, you should still update to 8.1. It improves on a few things and adds some useful features. Also, it generally is a good idea to update to latest versions of software. This would be one of those cases.
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