surface 3 question?

ken979

Member
I have a surface 3 question. I have windows 10 on mine and got it 2 weeks ago. Its the latest version.

Do you think I need:

1. anti virus
2. malware bites
3. c cleaners

Does it run the same programs as a windows 7 desktop computer.

This one has an atom processor and apparently runs proper windows software like office, Photoshop etc.

If I do buy software what kind do I buy? Example 32bit or 64bit

my one is: 4gb ram

128 gb

This is all confusing for me lol.

I can't get a straight answer from PC world. I get conflicting advice. I tried youtube and couldn't much either.

Thank you.
 
Windows 10 comes with Windows Defender, and it works rather well. CCleaner can be useful if you are running low on storage space by clearing up temp files, but it's not required. The Surface 3 runs a full Windows OS, so any app you had on your Windows 7 desktop can also be installed. I can't seem to find if it's 64 bit or not, but an easy way to tell is right click on "this pc" and go to properties, it will tell you if it's 64 bit under "system type".
 
Windows 10 comes with Windows Defender, and it works rather well.

Windows defender sucks.

Yes, you'll need an antivirus program, install avast free but do a custom install and only check boxes in the following image. Installing malwarebytes and Ccleaner would help as well.

custom.jpg
 
Windows defender sucks.

Yes, you'll need an antivirus program, install avast free but do a custom install and only check boxes in the following image. Installing malwarebytes and Ccleaner would help as well.
Why Avast and not BitDefender?

And CCleaner would help with what?
 
I have a Surface Pro 3 and the thing I really like about it is that I can run the same software on it as on my other Windows computers (laptops and desktop). The only software you can't run is stuff that is very cpu intensive or gpu intensive like high end games.

I use Windows Defender on my Surface but don't use Ccleaner. MalwareBytes is something I use to run a scan about every 6 months or so, only thing it ever finds is some tracking cookies.

Ccleaner is a personal choice, I've used it before but the registry cleaning part of it isn't necessary (and could possibly bork your registry). The disk cleanup function is good to free up disk space but I just use the one that's built-in to Windows.
 
Ccleaner is a personal choice, I've used it before but the registry cleaning part of it isn't necessary (and could possibly bork your registry). The disk cleanup function is good to free up disk space but I just use the one that's built-in to Windows.
I use it ocassionally for just that reason, to free up some disk space from temp files. I'm just curious why John said CCleaner "would help".
 
I spoke to a girl in a coffee shop that has a surface 3. My exact same model and she has no virus protection, malware bites, and c cleaners.

She had it for about 6 months. She has no infecting on her computer at all.

I remember the first time I didn't understand computers and have no protection. Within 2 months my computer is infected.

She said also if you press the reset button it only takes 30 minutes to an hour to clean reinstall everything. Also you dont have to put the drivers in place? it this true?

Where as my computer will take 4 to 5 hours. (might be because its windows 7).

Is there a difference between windows 7 and windows 10 in terms of time to install the whole computer?

Is it worth protecting surface 3 with anti virus?
 
Within 2 months my computer is infected.
Well if you're torrenting garbage and going to nasty sites and downloading anything you possibly can, you're gonna get infected. It's all about how you use the computer more than the virus protection you have.

She said also if you press the reset button it only takes 30 minutes to an hour to clean reinstall everything. Also you dont have to put the drivers in place? it this true?
Built in recovery partitions have been like that for years. But also Microsoft added the reset feature in 8.1 and 10 so you can just hit the button and restore the PC back to factory.

Where as my computer will take 4 to 5 hours. (might be because its windows 7).
If you're loading it from scratch, installing drivers, updates, and programs, yeah it will take that long, or longer.

Is there a difference between windows 7 and windows 10 in terms of time to install the whole computer?
Yeah installing Windows 10 can take far less time, especially if you download the latest installer (which will require far less updates from Windows Update after install). Windows 10 is also pretty good at already having basic drivers for everything.
Is it worth protecting surface 3 with anti virus?
It's worth protecting ANY computer with antivirus.
 
... Is it worth protecting surface 3 with anti virus?
You're the only one that ca answer that question. How important is your data to you? Since you will lose any data that isn't backed up when you do a factory reset, can you bare to lose it? Also lost time and productivity every time you reset.

AV is very similar to auto or life insurance, you buy it and have it but hope you will never need it and you sleep better at night knowing you have it.
 
I use Panda Security for AV. I kinda got annoyed by Avast.
Avast has been hitting me with more and more popups lately, kinda annoying.

OP: Basic protection for Windows OS is Avast, Malwarebyte and CCleaner (only to clean useless files actually nothing to do with viruses). If you don't care about viruses and plan to re-install/reset to factory every two or three month then just leave Windows Defender I guess.
 
Avast has been hitting me with more and more popups lately, kinda annoying.

Go into programs and features and highlight avast and click on change. Only have the following boxes checked and most of your popups should be gone. I don't hardly get any.

custom.jpg
 
Go into programs and features and highlight avast and click on change. Only have the following boxes checked and most of your popups should be gone. I don't hardly get any.

View attachment 7179
And you only need the mail shield if you use a client like Outlook or Thunderbird. Webmail is covered under the web shield.
 
Special thank to Voyagerfan99

Wow computers have changed a lot. I appreciate everyone who posted on this thread.

I just go for anti virus I think.

Thanks every one.
 
Back
Top