Now, my intention is to completely disable internet browsing on the PC that my ANAN is connected to (via a dumb switch as I also have an amp talking to Thetis via that same switch), thinking that this would be an effective way to "isolate" the radio from extraneous connections, making operating Thetis more "stable." Before I acquired the ANAN I bought a PC that I wanted to dedicate to running Thetis only as I can surf the internet on another PC. Also, having the PC not connected to the internet would enable updates from not running and thus creating "instability" from the perspective of the ANAN.
Merely disabling WiFi and/or not having an Ethernet cable plugged into a router are likely not "sufficiently" robust ways to isolate the PC from the internet and/or traffic that isn't necessary as the O/S may still trigger queries that would likely not like not seeing WiFi or Ethernet connections being available. There are many other processes running on a PC too, even if it is not connected to the internet and many of those could also be disabled, but I am not going to even attempt that before understanding which of them should or should not be disabled. On my PC I have very aggressive Malware software that very quickly issues warnings (I remember seeing those when installing Thetis for instance) suggesting that what I am installing "may not be safe". I have specified Thetis as an "exception" so the software no longer reacts this way, but perhaps I should simply disable that Malware software on the PC in question. I turned off Windows Firewall and several other Windows security options as well, hoping that all this will help create a "stable" Windows operating environment for Thetis. Then again, I am not sure that this is necessarily very smart in case my new PC has latent threats or vulnerabilities.
I know that one can create "Inbound" and "Outbound" (under Windows Firewall) rules when it comes to the internet and I just created an "outbound" rule where I blocked all access to the internet http/https (ports 80,443) . However, on second thought, perhaps I should be focusing on creating a new rule for "Inbound" traffic. Then again, the fact that I have no WiFi connection (WiFi radio turned off) or physical Ethernet cable plugged into my router might obviate the need to create any rules, inbound or outbound, I don't know?
There is a lot ham radio software out there that will want real-time internet access (spotting inside Thetis for instance) so I will need to see how I create "exceptions" for these pieces of software to be able to access the internet. I am not sure how to create them though and if I could use "Inbound/Outbound" rules under Windows Firewall to accomplish this.
I remember from a few years ago that disabling many processes running on my PC helped my DAW (I do a lot of my audio processing using software external to Thetis) behave in a more "stable" manner actually worked well. Would there be a thread speaking to a similar way of "optimizing" stability of Thetis?
Realizing that the above is just too much and I may need to find a book for "Dummies," to educate myself more generally rather than just aspects that would help me create a very stable PC environment for Thetis.
Note I do not have any extra Ethernet cards (I think that my PC has provisions for after-market installation of an extra card) that might be the "easiest" way to isolate Thetis. Then again, I may be completely off-base. Even with a dedicated Ethernet card in the PC would not prevent processes that aren't "necessary" for Thetis from running.
Juha
NI2M