benny2021uk wrote on Jun 7^th, 2021 at 9:21pm:

Firstly I have no AV on the computer, the install is a fresh install of windows 10 and firewall was turned off etc.

Windows Defender is installed and most likely active, therefore the AV is on. This is usually the case for me if I do a fresh install of Windows 10, and before I install the Avast AV, which then takes over from Windows Defender.

When I install Captain Sim products, I do the following:
Shut down my email program, and web browser, and disable the AV program
Install the product
Enable AV, open email, and web browser
This is usually only for a few minutes, and I've never gotten a virus by doing it.

Generally, the web sites I'm visiting are safe, and my email program checks for new emails every 30 minutes. By not having them running for a few minutes, is safe, and not a problem for me.