Recommendations on OS and antivirus software for M2TW?

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

I have had Windows 8 for a year, it is faster on boot up and loads games faster but I had constant problems with Windows 8 updates being incompatible with the game. I have not upgraded to 8.1 for fear of worse. I had disabled the UAC to be able to mod and recently disabled the updates because they were persistently blocking M2TW. Disabling the UAC and Windows updates has finally cought up with me and an increasing number of infections that Norton Antivirus could not clean has ground Windows to a halt and beyond. I will be restoring my system but I am now considering downgrading to Windows 7. I have the same mods in another pc with Windows 7 where I have not had such problems.

Do users ever get problems with the game being blocked when installing Windows 7 updates?

The second question is what antivirus software are people happy with in either Windows 7 or Windows 8. Have people been happy with not installing third party antivirus software on Windows 8? Microsoft Security Essentials had the best results in my Windows 7 computers, compared to Sophos, Norton or McAfee but have others had a different experience?

[irishron]

For one, I got tired of Norton antivirus about 2002 because Symantec was treating everyone like a commercial account. Bye. I use MSE anymore with a free copy of Malwarebytes when things get rough.
For two, there should be nothing wrong with Win 8 that 8.1 may not fix. If Microsoft is playing with you like this you need to do some research on how to bring it to a screeching halt. I would. Be surprised what little gems Google pulls up but it's the end user that has to do the work. I quit buying with Win 7 was released and I'm still finding little pieces of this computer does not need.

The biggest question to go with disabling the UAC is have you taken ownership of C: drive? Yes or no?

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

The biggest question to go with disabling the UAC is have you taken ownership of C: drive? Yes or no?

Thanks for your advice. I have full access to C, all files, read and write permissions, yes, though I had occasional problems - sometimes I lost files, like the string.txt files, from a mod for no obvious reason, and had to reinstall. That might have been a stainless steel setting up process that crashed or a failure to write something to virtual memory or something strange of that kind. The most annoying problem is the Windows 8 updates that block M2TW and the mods from starting. The computer is up to date with java and I think everything else, and it does not happen when downloading antivirus updates, it is a Windows 8 update problem, not even a new one. I am slightly puzzled that others have not reported something. Perhaps it depends on a second thing, a combination with something else specific to my machine.

[irishron]

Okay, 8 and 8.1 security layers being what they are, have you installed Steam anyplace but Program Files, Program Files (x86), or even Program Data?
I have my Steam folder on a different drive but before Steam would let you I still put it in C:\Games. Maybe not Steam version but same idea.
With lawyers always looking for a way to sue those with deep pockets and Microsoft doing its job with CYA, it is getting harder for the enduser to tweak much.

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

Steam is in Program Files (x86). I have no problems with Steam, as far as I remember, though I have not used Steam in a long time. Thanks for your time and suggestions. The best path is the path of least resistance (Windows 7, probably with MSE), until which time I will make sure I keep a backup of everything and be prepared to restore my system now and then.