Just thought I would mention this because I've heard many times that MSE won't really interfere with a DAW. I used to pretty much always leave it disabled but have been having such good luck with X3 I've kind of been letting it slide and leaving the MSE Real Time Protections on. I had however been getting brief whiteouts in X3 when loading a project. I've done a bunch of stuff recently that I thought might clear this up (updated Windows, updated Sonar...) but was still getting the whiteouts.
 
Just now I loaded my current project and got the usual lag/whiteout and because I had been online recently remembered that I had MSE turned on (and I had actually had it on for months without realizing it). So I opened MSE (with Sonar running... don't do that... lol) and turned of Real Time Protection. The MSE graphics kind of morphed into the X3 graphics and left graphical residue in the Sonar GUI.
 
So I closed Sonar and reloaded the project. Sonar opened up REALLY fast and when I loaded the project there was no whiteout. Tada!
 
Still it did not seem to interfere with the actual performance of Sonar but I have a high powered rig. Just bringing this up because this is actually the first time I've pretty much been able to directly correlate a functionality problem with Sonar in relation to MSE.
 
Correlation does not equal causation but it does hint that perhaps MSE isn't quite as non-intrusive as some people would have us believe.
 
Cheers.

With Microsoft Defender (part of Essentials?) you can specify folders to exclude. Have you tried adding all of your Sonar related folders to the exclude list?

sharke
With Microsoft Defender (part of Essentials?) you can specify folders to exclude. Have you tried adding all of your Sonar related folders to the exclude list?

Ain't nobody got time for that. ;-p
 
I just keep the network cable unplugged. Honestly I had just forgotten to turn it off the last time I was online and wasn't really getting any problems doing actual work. The whiteouts were tweaking my OCD tendencies though and when the updates/patches didn't clear them up I figured I would see what happened. This was only one time though so maybe the whiteouts will come back and I'll have to eat my words. Still it makes sense. MSE was likely scanning all sorts of crap in this project.

I have never had ANY issues with any program with MSE being on fwiw.

I have never had to touch MSE (on win 7 or 8) and have had no issues either.  But if it works for you better when its off, who am I to argue!

To exclude files and folders:
"Open Microsoft Security Essentials, click the Settings tab and select Excluded files & locations, and then use the Add button to select files, folders, or drives."
I excude this with ZoneAlarm, adapt to your needs:

C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\res*.log
C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\res*.jrs
C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\edb.chk
C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\Tmp.edb
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.edb
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.sdb
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.log
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.chk
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.jrs
C:\ProgramData\NTUser.pol
C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Registry.pol
D:\Cakewalk Shared\
D:\Cakewalk Content\
D:\Cakewalk Projects\
D:\Cakewalk X2 Projects\
D:\Cakewalk X3 Projects\
 
Please don't turn off your virus scanner :)... It's dangerous...

As long as the network is enabled, security software is always doing something because you're constantly getting hit with network traffic of some kind. I use the Comodo firewall here and it's especially intrusive, sometimes to the extent that I have to stop working on my audio project altogether because it's eating 99% of the CPU.
 
On top of that I have a memory leak, the source of which I haven't pinpointed yet beyond identifying it as a network-related service. It'll literally eat half my RAM if I don't reboot every 2-3 days.
 
Bottom line is if you can't have a dedicated offline DAW, the next-best solution is to set up a separate profile for it, one in which the network is completely disabled and all security, firewalls and anti-virus software is shut off.

I keep my network adapter off on my DAW setup but after turning off Defender last night the 'white screen' went away.  I'm happy.  Thanks Beep!
 
Paul

bitflipper
As long as the network is enabled, security software is always doing something because you're constantly getting hit with network traffic of some kind. I use the Comodo firewall here and it's especially intrusive, sometimes to the extent that I have to stop working on my audio project altogether because it's eating 99% of the CPU.
 
On top of that I have a memory leak, the source of which I haven't pinpointed yet beyond identifying it as a network-related service. It'll literally eat half my RAM if I don't reboot every 2-3 days.
 
Bottom line is if you can't have a dedicated offline DAW, the next-best solution is to set up a separate profile for it, one in which the network is completely disabled and all security, firewalls and anti-virus software is shut off.

 
I setup a profile for audio years ago on a XP computer. Do you have any pointers for doing that on a Win8 machine?

CakeAlexS
To exclude files and folders:
"Open Microsoft Security Essentials, click the Settings tab and select Excluded files & locations, and then use the Add button to select files, folders, or drives."
I excude this with ZoneAlarm, adapt to your needs:

C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\res*.log
C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\res*.jrs
C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\edb.chk
C:\windows\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\Tmp.edb
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.edb
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.sdb
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.log
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.chk
c:\windows\Security\Database\*.jrs
C:\ProgramData\NTUser.pol
C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Registry.pol
D:\Cakewalk Shared\
D:\Cakewalk Content\
D:\Cakewalk Projects\
D:\Cakewalk X2 Projects\
D:\Cakewalk X3 Projects\
 
Please don't turn off your virus scanner :)... It's dangerous...

Yeah... perhaps telling people to turn it off isn't technically the best advice because sh*t happens BUT for me it's alright because:
 
a) I ONLY plug in my ethernet cable when I am going online and when I am online I do not surf or do anything beyond downloading updates or programs.
 
b) I do not have any kind of wireless adapter on the system or any stuff like the bluetooth thingies set up so once that cable is unplugged nothing is getting in.
 
c) I am meticulous/paranoid enough to always remember to reactivate MSE before I go online and I have MSE set to warn me when it's disabled anyway.
 
d) When I am online I use a browser with heavy script and ad blockers and only allow what is absolutely necessary for what I am doing and then disable those scripts as soon as I'm done as well as use private browsing windows and stuff.
 
e) My Windows and browser security settings are set to the max possible blockage of everything.
 
If any of those things are not possible for anyone they should just leave it on and do the exemptions that Alex and sharke are referring to if they run into trouble.
 
Remember though MSE is good but it is light and might not be as much protection as other programs so... no donkey pr0n on the DAW folks.
 
Not that I'm judging. ;-)