Suggestions for antivirus?

[Dukasaur]

Any computer geeks out there want to give me some advice on lightweight antivirus software?

I have two computers. Both are relatively modern machines with 2.2 GHz Celeron processors. The desktop is slightly older, with 1.5 gigs of RAM and Windows XP. The laptop is slightly newer, has 2.0 gigs of RAM and Vista.

My problem is that whenever I install antivirus software, it's such a memory pig that it slows either of machines down to a crawl. Usually after a few months of suffering through the two hours a day the virus scan runs and every webpage takes 20 minutes to load, I get pissed off and uninstall the thing. But then after a few weeks of blazing fast speeds, my wife goes on Facebook or some shit and picks up another virus. Then I get panicked and install an antivirus to clean it out, and the whole cycle starts anew.

I've tried all the big names -- AVG and Avast and McAfee -- and they all suck memory like a pig at the trough. Does anybody have any advice on some reasonably lightweight antivirus software that will run?

And never mind the smartass "buy a newer computer" responses. I'm not a millionaire, plus I'm ideologically opposed to this corrupt materialistic society where people constantly throw away shit in perfectly good working order just to buy the new shit the marketing assholes are pushing out. I want a solution that will get me a few more years out of these machines.

[waauw]

What slows you down so terribly much? The Real-time scan or the planned scan?
I use McAfee and I just switch off the planned scan, so it only starts running when manually activated, which is usually right before I leave my computer to go do something else.

[Dukasaur]

What slows you down so terribly much? The Real-time scan or the planned scan?

The real-time presence is very noticeable. Not horrendous, but noticeable.

The planned scan makes most activities impossible. The daily "downloading new definitions" thing is a drag too.

[waauw]

What slows you down so terribly much? The Real-time scan or the planned scan?

The real-time presence is very noticeable. Not horrendous, but noticeable.

The planned scan makes most activities impossible. The daily "downloading new definitions" thing is a drag too.

well for the planned scans I would suggest to run them when you go to sleep at night. As for the real-time scans you can always try and adjust the settings so it doesn't scan everything. For instance by excluding some files of which you're almost certain they won't be affected anyway.

Personally I don't have any trouble with the real-time scan despite my computer being old. Of course you might try clearing some space on your drive, never hurts. Lamentably system clutters or errors could also be a possible cause for slowing down everything including the virusscanner. There should be windows programs on your computer to overcome them, though I can't say I know what they're called. I pay for System mechanic.

[TA1LGUNN3R]

I'm not really a techie or all that knowledgeable, yet I can talk out of my ass easily enough. I've actually read that the best are the free ones, like the Microsoft security whatever. Norton and all those pay ones load up your pic with crap and get you to buy another subscription by generating scary reports.

-TG

[nietzsche]

Yes, for those computers microsoft security essentials.

If i was you I wouldnt run an antivirus on those machines, i'd be pulling my hair off.

I sincerely think you gotta give a second thought to buying a new computer. Used, refurbished, something around 200 dls would be better than what you have. But i think i've told tou that before. I have an used, dell refurbished precision m4400 with and intel core 2 duo 2x3.06ghz and 4gb ram that i bought on ebay for around 250dls. It runs very fast.

It's not that your computers dont work well for what they were designed, the thing is they were designed for 2002 software. Software gets heavier year after year.

So, if you keep those machines, put win 7 on them (i've started having issues with xp now that its not longer updated) shut down as many services as you can (use something like blackviper registry files) turn off hibernation, indexing, restore and use MSE as antivirus. Or dont use one, just be sure not to download shit from unknown sites.

If what you use is only a browser, give linux mint with xfce a try, it's not heavy and you wont need an antivirus.

[mrswdk]

Antivirus alone really makes that much of a difference? Upgrade your RAM, lolz. My laptop's years old, has 4GB and runs stuff like Avast or Kaspersky no problem.

[Metsfanmax]

nietzsche is correct. Linux ix the best lightweight antivirus software.

[DaGip]

Yes, for those computers microsoft security essentials.

If i was you I wouldnt run an antivirus on those machines, i'd be pulling my hair off.

I sincerely think you gotta give a second thought to buying a new computer. Used, refurbished, something around 200 dls would be better than what you have. But i think i've told tou that before. I have an used, dell refurbished precision m4400 with and intel core 2 duo 2x3.06ghz and 4gb ram that i bought on ebay for around 250dls. It runs very fast.

It's not that your computers dont work well for what they were designed, the thing is they were designed for 2002 software. Software gets heavier year after year.

So, if you keep those machines, put win 7 on them (i've started having issues with xp now that its not longer updated) shut down as many services as you can (use something like blackviper registry files) turn off hibernation, indexing, restore and use MSE as antivirus. Or dont use one, just be sure not to download shit from unknown sites.

If what you use is only a browser, give linux mint with xfce a try, it's not heavy and you wont need an antivirus.

My dinosaur also ran Win XP. It was 2001 Gateway with an added 2Gb ram; however after Microsoft quit updating WinXP, it wasn't long until YouTube was sounding like Max Headroom and it was taking me forever to load anything. My CA virus protection became totally useless, and I removed all kinds of stuff from the computer. Still, there was never any improvement in performance. I finally gave up and bought a 16 gig gaming rigg with Win8.1. It's protected by Linux. Problem solved.

[nietzsche]

Yes, for those computers microsoft security essentials.

If i was you I wouldnt run an antivirus on those machines, i'd be pulling my hair off.

I sincerely think you gotta give a second thought to buying a new computer. Used, refurbished, something around 200 dls would be better than what you have. But i think i've told tou that before. I have an used, dell refurbished precision m4400 with and intel core 2 duo 2x3.06ghz and 4gb ram that i bought on ebay for around 250dls. It runs very fast.

It's not that your computers dont work well for what they were designed, the thing is they were designed for 2002 software. Software gets heavier year after year.

So, if you keep those machines, put win 7 on them (i've started having issues with xp now that its not longer updated) shut down as many services as you can (use something like blackviper registry files) turn off hibernation, indexing, restore and use MSE as antivirus. Or dont use one, just be sure not to download shit from unknown sites.

If what you use is only a browser, give linux mint with xfce a try, it's not heavy and you wont need an antivirus.

My dinosaur also ran Win XP. It was 2001 Gateway with an added 2Gb ram; however after Microsoft quit updating WinXP, it wasn't long until YouTube was sounding like Max Headroom and it was taking me forever to load anything. My CA virus protection became totally useless, and I removed all kinds of stuff from the computer. Still, there was never any improvement in performance. I finally gave up and bought a 16 gig gaming rigg with Win8.1. It's protected by Linux. Problem solved.

THe computer I'm having troubles since WinXP stopped being supported changes the date of the system every day, I've had to install the antivirus 3 times because it stops working, and the pc takes forever to shut down. I already have a new computer ready to take it's place because besides having WinXP it was very old, but I'm waiting for an idiot that was supposed to come a month ago, he needs to configure a software for cellphone prepaid credit sales.

[DoomYoshi]

Simple: get a firewall and block port 80.

[Dukasaur]

I guess I made the question too complex.

Which antivirus requires the least RAM and other system resources?

[waauw]

windows defender? though that's like grabbing water with a net

[Dukasaur]

windows defender? though that's like grabbing water with a net

Yeah, I can't use windows defender because microsoft says my copy of Vista is bootleg. Even though it's a perfectly legit store-bought copy, the file that says it's authentic is corrupt or something, and if I try to go to the microsoft website to download an update I get that message that says "You're a bootlegger, f*ck off and die!" (Probably didn't get the exact wording right on that.)

[nietzsche]

why do you think you need an antivirus? do you suspect your computer is already infected?

[waauw]

why do you think you need an antivirus? do you suspect your computer is already infected?

one word "Porn"

[nietzsche]

why do you think you need an antivirus? do you suspect your computer is already infected?

one word "Porn"

Dukasaur is too old for porn, he can't get it up anymore at will, he only experiences random erections when he accedentally hears gospel music. Besides he already owns a betamax porn collection.

[mrswdk]

windows defender? though that's like grabbing water with a net

Yeah, I can't use windows defender because microsoft says my copy of Vista is bootleg.

So get a bootleg copy of defender?

[/]

Well, as long as you're on a schedule with your viruses, you should try SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes. I've been using the free versions of both for years; they literally can't bog down your stuff with random scans because they only scan when you tell them to, which means you aren't really getting the full safety of an antivirus unless you pay, but I recommend giving it a shot anyhow. I can generally run both of them at once, twice over in the same time it takes Norton to do the same full scan. Plus the quickscans are typically enough to catch whatever is bugging you at that moment, and those only take a few seconds to a few minutes.

[Dukasaur]

why do you think you need an antivirus? do you suspect your computer is already infected?

one word "Porn"

Dukasaur is too old for porn, he can't get it up anymore at will, he only experiences random erections when he accedentally hears gospel music. Besides he already owns a betamax porn collection.

When porn was on betamax, I was still in high school and couldn't afford it. Most of my porn is on VHS.

why do you think you need an antivirus? do you suspect your computer is already infected?

My wife gets them pretty regularly because she talks to her idiot friends and relatives on facebook. She's actually really good about not clicking on suspicious things, but unfortunately a lot of her idiot cousins and stuff are not so careful. So every now and then she gets infected. It's not like a daily thing, more like once every couple months. So then I download an antivirus and clean it up, not too big a problem. Still, I would like to have one small enough that I could keep it full time active, instead of having to install and uninstall all the time.

[Metsfanmax]

Ok so then Step 1 is to install Linux, and Step 2 is to stop letting your wife use your computer.

[waauw]

Ok so then Step 1 is to install Linux, and Step 2 is to stop letting your wife use your computer.

I agree with this one. Though using linux will require getting used to and you'd have to verify if your installed programs support linux.

[mandalorian2298]

I just use Malwarebytes and Spybot Search&Destroy to scan the system every so often. I do have Windows Defender, but it's turned off.

[Dukasaur]

Well, as long as you're on a schedule with your viruses, you should try SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes. I've been using the free versions of both for years; they literally can't bog down your stuff with random scans because they only scan when you tell them to, which means you aren't really getting the full safety of an antivirus unless you pay, but I recommend giving it a shot anyhow. I can generally run both of them at once, twice over in the same time it takes Norton to do the same full scan. Plus the quickscans are typically enough to catch whatever is bugging you at that moment, and those only take a few seconds to a few minutes.

I just use Malwarebytes and Spybot Search&Destroy to scan the system every so often. I do have Windows Defender, but it's turned off.

Do they suck back a lot of memory?

[mandalorian2298]

Depends on how much you have. I am using 4 GB desktop so I usually watch a movie while Malwarebytes/Spybot is scanning in the background.

I don't use Spybot's active protection (this means its always running in the bacground looking for threats) because it does reserve part of your RAM. Instead, after I visited a dodgy site (I mostly mean pornsites because their common mission statement is to inflict as much spyware and malware on the visitor's system as possible) I 1) update both programs, 2) go offline, 3) scan the system with both programs and fix issues if there are any, 4) defragment if necessary. Easy-peasy.