Hi, thanks in advance for any clarity on this matter.
Trying for TL;DR: After 4-5 days of trying to get brand new computer updated/software installed/kinks sorted out, vt-x for core isolation had managed to turn itself off at the BIOS when it was working fine on day 1.
More details:
Day 1: Computer came out of the box, security and privacy settings gone over with fine toothed comb. New to windows 10 as a personal user so went through all the settings carefully and familiarized myself with everything. Absolutely certain of the following:
* core isolation, security processor, secure boot, enhanced hardware security, DEP, memory isolation ALL working on day 1 (I didn't know these things existed before new computer, I googled them all and researched them when I saw them in settings, I know they were there and on)
Began the slog of updating stuff. Windows, drivers, etc. Installing essential items. Scanned new machine. Basic stuff. No data transfer yet. Sat there and wondered "do I strip Mcafee and use defender/etc now or .." Big mistake, I was tired. I let it slide and kept Mcafee. I … paid for this.
Days 2-4: Kept working, no problems except learning I didn't like Mcafee. Oh well. I had deadlines. I didn't want to deal with the removal at that moment. Figured I would do it in a couple weeks when I had more time. Stupid stupid stupid.
Day 5: Wanted to force a virus definition update. Had a question about the firewall. Chatted with Mcafee support. We found out that Mcafee was not updating at all. Yay. This could not be fixed. Even though I thought "this is it, this is my chance to go back to life as usual, using windows defender and firewall," it was late, I was tired and I just wanted things fixed so I could do a scan overnight and work the next day. Mcafee was uninstalled, their removal tool used, and a fresh install was performed. Mcafee appeared to be working ok after this. Latest definitions installed. Shut down.
Day 6: Rechecked all privacy and security settings. Why? Because of Mcafee nonsense. Prepared to do virus scan after reinstall and update of stuff. Found device security was borked. Core isolation was not showing up. Could not get it to turn on. Got error messages saying it was not supported. Google was not helpful, ran two scans, Mcafee and Trend Micro.
Day 7: Calls to OEM to try to figure out problem. First was system refresh. Didn't fix it. Then they messed with the registry. Apparently some windows 10 update turns off core isolation? They were saying that 1803 turns it off? But a friend has core isolation on and 1803 and so that wasn't making sense. I had seen that there was a related BIOS setting but I had not touched the BIOS. It hadn't been checked. They ordered me a flash drive with yet another OS to try. After getting off the phone, I went in and checked the BIOS. Sure enough, it was disabled.
So … WHY. Why did it go from enabled to disabled in the BIOS. I myself did not go in and turn it off at the BIOS. Is there something that I tacitly accepted (windows updates, graphic driver updates, oem driver updates, the mcafee nonsense) that did it? Or do I have some other cause for concern?