According to American analytical companies, it became known that almost half of the inhabitants of our planet have a laptop or personal computer at home, but only a third of them are protected from various viruses.
This is due to the fact that many people simply can’t work comfortably if they have antivirus enabled. According to them, firewalls constantly check something because of what third-party programs begin to slow down. But according to experts, regardless of whether the firewall interferes with the work or not, it must be turned on as there are viruses on the network today that can destroy all the data available on the PC and transfer them even worse to scammers who will try to steal your money in the future from payment cards and so on. That's when users begin to think that all the same, an antivirus was needed.
In order to prevent various penetrations into your PC, you must install at least the simplest antivirus, which will not particularly affect the operation of the system and third-party programs.
Let us consider which antivirus is the fastest and does not load the system.
Experiment
For the experiment, we took a laptop with an Intel Pentium 4 processor, 1 gigabyte RAM and an 80 gigabyte hard drive.
The experiment involved such anti-virus programs as:
- Kaspersky Internet Security 2014;
- Avast (free version);
- Dr. Web
- Microsoft Security Essentials 2.1.
It took about a month to test each firewall, during the test we tested programs such as Photoshop and torrent, actively visited infected sites, copied information to portable media, tried to play some games and checked the resource consumption of firewalls.
As a result, we got the following picture:
- When working with Photoshop, we noticed various slowdowns when using the antivirus Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 and Dr. Web They were insignificant, but they are unlikely to be suitable for comfortable and perfect graphics work. The other two did not show themselves, there was a feeling that there was no firewall on the computer;
- When working with a torrent and downloading files from the Internet, we noticed special activity only on the part of Kaspersky; to check the downloaded file, it took almost all available free resources;
- As already mentioned above, during the experiment we tried to visit infected sites most often, Kaspersky did not always detect the presence of a virus on the site or page, but it was not the worst in this regard, but Avast coped with its task with a bang, even sometimes it worked and on uninfected sites;
- Next, we checked the effect of antiviruses on copy speed. Firewall from Microsoft and Kaspersky made itself felt here. When using them, the copy speed decreased by 1 megabyte per second;
- We were surprised at the process of carrying out the resource consumption test; Avast turns out to use only 80-100 megabytes of RAM and does not perform any checks without the need. Even with a full check of the system, it was possible to work comfortably with third-party programs;
- And finally, in idle state, we noticed that Dr. The Web begins to produce hidden, something like a complete check, due to which during idle time the processor load is constantly at the level of 25-50 percent.
After the experiment, we came to the following conclusion: We consider Avast to be the fastest antivirus, we have never noticed its presence. In order to make sure that it really works, after the end of the experiment we did a full scan and were surprised that not a single virus penetrated our PC.
Now you know which firewall is the fastest and if you liked this article, we would be glad if you tell your friends about its existence, as well as subscribe to our site updates.
And lastly, write in the comments which antivirus program you use and whether you are happy with its work :-). Good luck.
The results presented by AV-Comparatives in the report of this comparative testing of antiviruses for performance show only the effect on the system performance (mainly real-time / on-access protection components) of various antivirus programs in the given conditions.
Users are encouraged to try the antivirus program on their own computer and see how the antivirus works on a specific system configuration.
In April 2018, budget computers with HDDs (instead of SSDs) were used to test the performance.
Test computer
Testing for anti-virus performance was carried out on a Lenovo G50 laptop with an Intel Core i3-4005U CPU, 4 GB of RAM and a hard disk drive. Operational tests were carried out on a clean and fully updated Windows 10 (1709) system (64-bit, English version), and then with the antivirus program installed (with default settings). Tests were conducted with an active Internet connection to ensure the real impact of cloud services and functions.
Tested Antiviruses
The following antiviruses took part in this comparative testing for performance and speed (default settings were used):
Tested Antiviruses
- Tencent PC Manager 12.3 (English)
The specialists at the AV-Comparatives laboratory used the latest versions of antivirus software available at the time of testing (April, 2018). The test includes products of both the “Anti-Virus” category and the categories and “Internet Security” - all of them are marked as “security programs”. The laboratory tested the products that vendors provide for the main series of tests. Keep in mind that the results of the report apply only to individual versions of the products listed above (i.e., to a specific version for a specific system architecture, for example, for a 64-bit OS). You also need to consider that different development companies offer different functions (and their number) in their antiviruses.
The following operations / tests were performed on a computer with the latest updates to Windows 10, version 1709 64-Bit:
- Copy files
- Archiving / Unzipping
- Add / Remove Applications
- Launch applications
- Download files
- Website Visits
- PC Mark 10 Professional Testing Suite
Testing methodology
Measures were taken to minimize third-party factors that could affect the test results and / or system compatibility. The optimization technologies used in the products have also been considered - this means that the results represent the impact of the product on the system after some period of user use of the product. The tests were carried out several times (with optimization technology enabled and disabled) to obtain average values \u200b\u200band eliminate measurement errors. After each start, the test computer was defragmented and rebooted 6 times. Researchers simulated various types of file operations: copying clean files from one place to another, compressing files into archives, unpacking archives, downloading files from the Internet and launching applications (opening documents). For individual tests, the Windows Assessment and Deployment Toolkit (Windows ADK) with the Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT) was used. This toolkit is widely used in the industry to measure the performance of computer systems. This tool allows vendors to easily repeat the results and discover what exactly leads to slowdowns. To prevent possible optimization of products for the test, we implemented our own drivers for ADK. These tools allow you to evaluate the impact of products on performance in individual subtests, regardless of other tests.
The lab used a third-party industry-recognized test suite (PC Mark 10 Professional) to confirm the impact on the system during actual use. Users are invited to evaluate various products on their own systems (results may vary depending on software conflicts, user settings and various system configurations).
Antiviruses should boot into the system at an early stage for maximum protection - such a load affects the startup time of the computer. Accurate measurement of load times is challenging. The main problem is to determine the state of full readiness of the system, because in many environments, the starting activity continues for some time after the system has become completely responsive to the user. It is also important to consider when antivirus protection is fully active, because this can be an important criterion for completing the boot process. Some vendors implement a very late boot for their products - in this case, the system may be slow for a while after it is fully loaded. In fact, the product simply loads its services and processes late, leaving the system vulnerable for a while. The laboratory believes that this situation can be misleading, so download times are not published in reports.
Test results
Rating AV-Comparatives
- File copying - Copy files
- Archiving / unarchiving - Archiving / Unzipping
- Installing / uninstalling applications - Add / Remove Applications
- Launching applications - Launch applications - Downloading files
- Browsing websites - Visiting websites
- Slow - slow
- Mediocre - average
- Fast - fast
- Very fast - very fast
PC Mark overall score
Assessing the impact of antivirus on the system (less is better)
Performance test. What is the fastest antivirus?
Certificates issued on the basis of performance evaluation of antivirus programs with default settings in Windows 10 64-Bit:
(6) AV-Comparatives experts suggest considering products with the same award equally affecting system performance.
To assess the effectiveness of anti-virus protection, look at the results of dynamic testing and verification of the level of malware detection that were conducted at the beginning of 2018.
The full report can be found here.
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The use of antivirus in our time has become a prerequisite for ensuring system security. After all, everyone can encounter viruses on their computer. Modern antiviruses that guarantee maximum protection are quite resource-demanding. But this does not mean that weak devices should remain vulnerable, or even without protection. For them, there are simple solutions that will not adversely affect the performance of the laptop.
Not all people have the desire or ability to update their device by replacing some parts or the laptop itself. Undoubtedly, antiviruses effectively protect the system from virus attacks, but they can very heavily load the processor, which is bad for your work with a computer.
It is not necessary to have an old device to wonder about a lightweight antivirus. Some modern budget models also need undemanding protection. The antivirus program itself has a lot to do: keep track of running processes, scan downloaded files, etc. All this requires resources that may be limited. Therefore, it is worth choosing those antiviruses that offer basic security tools, and the less such a product will have additional functions, the better in this case.
Avast free antivirus
Avast Free Antivirus is a free Czech antivirus that does not heavily load the system. It has various auxiliary functions for convenient operation. This program can be easily customized to your liking, "throwing away" excess components and leaving only the most necessary. Supports Russian language.
As can be seen in the screenshots, Avast consumes few resources in the background.
When checking the system, it’s already a little more, but if compared with other anti-virus products, then this is quite a normal indicator.
Avg
Easy-to-use AVG effectively fights various threats. Its free version has basic tools, which are enough for good protection. The program does not heavily load the system, so you can safely work.
The load on the system in normal mode with basic protection is small.
During the scanning process, AVG also does not consume much.
Dr.Web Security Space
The main function of Dr.Web Security Space is scanning. It can be performed in several modes: normal, full, selective. Also, there are such tools as SpIDer Guard, SpIDer Mail, SpIDer Gate, firewall and others.
The antivirus itself and its services do not consume a lot of resources.
The situation with the scanning process is similar: it does not critically load the device.
Comodo Cloud Antivirus
The famous free cloud protector Comodo Cloud Antivirus. It perfectly protects against all kinds of Internet threats. The laptop loads a little. Compared to AVG or Avast, Comodo Cloud requires, first of all, a more stable Internet connection to provide complete protection.
When checking does not critically affect the performance.
Along with the antivirus, another auxiliary software is installed, which does not take up much space and does not eat a large amount of resources. If you wish, you can delete it.
Panda security
One of the popular cloud antiviruses is Panda Security. It has many settings, supports Russian. It takes up quite a bit of space and consumes a minimum of resources. The only negative, if you can call it that, is the need for a stable Internet connection. Unlike Comodo Cloud Antivirus, this product does not automatically install additional modules.
Even when checking files, the antivirus does not load the device. This defender launches several more of his services that do not consume a lot of resources.
Microsoft Windows Defender
Windows Defender is Microsoft's built-in antivirus software. Starting with Windows 8, this software is installed by default as a means of protection against various threats, and is not inferior to other anti-virus solutions. If you do not have the ability or desire to install other software, then this option is suitable for you. Windows Defender automatically starts after installing the system.
The screenshot shows that the defender does not consume a lot of resources.
When fully scanned, it does not significantly load the system.
Other protection methods
If you cannot or do not want to install an antivirus, then you can get by with a minimal set, which can also provide system security, but to a lesser extent. For example, there are portable scanners Dr.Web CureIt, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, AdwCleaner and the like, with which you can check the system from time to time. But they cannot provide full protection and prevent infection, since they already work after the fact.
Load testing included 7 stages of testing for 14 months for each antivirus solution. 19,000 individual results were used for each product, and the results of 35 test events were combined. In the current endurance test from January 2014 to the end of February 2015, a total of 23 antiviruses were tested for speed in the AV-TEST laboratories. In this test, the use of the Windows XP, 7, and 8.1 operating systems alternated.
Infographics
23 antiviruses in performance test
Antivirus programs Ahnlab, Avast, AVG (free and paid versions), Avira, Bitdefender, BullGuard, Comodo, ESET, F-Secure, G Data, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microworld, Norman, Norton, Panda, Qihoo 360, Quick Heal, Tencent, Threat Track, and Trend Micro. Additionally, the Windows system with the free antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender (for Windows 8 / 8.1) was conducted through all tests to obtain a comparative result. The base system without anti-virus protection was used for subsequent comparison of performance results. More information about the base system is available in the "" section.
For all products in the tests, the necessary time was measured to complete the test sets (for how long), including the following types of activity on the user's computer:
- downloading files from the Internet;
- website launch;
- application installation;
- launch applications with documents;
- copying files.
For all subsections, load points from 1 to 5 were calculated after each test, where 1 is good and 5 is bad. If the antivirus slows down the system from 0 to 20 percent, it received 1 point load. From 21 to 40 percent - 2 points, from 41 to 60 percent of the decline in productivity - 3 points, and so on to 5.
Thus, for 5 test sections, the ideal result was obtained when 5 points of load were obtained, and the worst result was when 25 points were reached. All intermediate results were combined, and as a result, the average for 7 test stages was calculated.
Stress test results
: Some antivirus programs will be a heavy burden when performing daily tasks on Windows
The antivirus solution from Kaspersky Lab showed a minimal impact on system performance, and, consequently, the best performance results, gaining 5.1 load points. As previously noted, the ideal result is 5.0 points. The next are security products from Bitdefender and Qihoo 360, scoring 5.3 and 5.7 points, respectively.
6 anti-virus solutions - McAfee, Bullguard, Trend Micro, Norton, Avira and F-Secure also showed good results in load testing, receiving from 6.1 to 7.9 load points. All other 14 products were above this threshold. At the same time, the Windows system, protected by the built-in antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials or Microsoft Defender, scored 8.7 points.
Antivirus solutions from Norman, Quick Heal and Threat Track already significantly slow down the system - 12, 12.4 and 13.9 load points. None of the antiviruses showed the worst score of 25 points.
Windows File Copy Category: While Kaspersky’s antivirus almost does not slow down the system, Threat Track and Quick Heal have a noticeable effect
To better understand the final figures, we give an example of two opposite results. Any user becomes impatient, especially when copying files to Windows. In this test, the base system without anti-virus protection takes 141 seconds to copy the AV-TEST test suite containing 3.3 GB. A Windows system with Kaspersky installed antivirus scans files and it takes 165 seconds to copy. The worst-performing antivirus, Threat Track, requires an average of 300 seconds for the same procedure.
5 categories in performance testing: Most antiviruses slowed down the PC in the file copy category
Test configuration
For the test in the laboratory, several computers with absolutely identical hardware characteristics were used: Intel Xeon X3360 @ 2.83GHz, 4 GB RAM and 500 GB hard drive. Since these computers could vary slightly in performance, they were selected from 60 test computers from the AV-TEST lab. All computers have been tested several times with unprotected operating systems Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. PCs with identical performance indicators were selected for stress testing. The obtained performance indicators were used as a guide for the test. Before and after testing each antivirus, each system was checked to ensure that they still showed initial indicative results.
Each antivirus product has been tested several times. After that, the initial state of the system was restored using the system image, including installed applications. Then the test is repeated again, the system reboots, and a series of tests are repeated. The computer restarts and is tested several times, then the system is restored using the image, and the procedure starts again. In the end, there are a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 separate results for each individual test. For 90 test steps for each antivirus, from 1,800 to 3,600 individual results are recorded. In the load test, which includes 7 test steps, from 12,600 to 25,200 results were actually analyzed, with an average of 19,000 for each product. In testing 23 products, 430,000 test results were obtained.
Do antiviruses slow down your computer?
The subjective slowdown of computers that users often talk about is actually an objective fact. This is clearly demonstrated by products such as Norman, Quickheal, and Threat Track. These security packages increase the copy time by 2.5 to 3 times, compared, for example, with the anti-virus solution from Kaspersky Lab.
The AV-TEST team is sometimes contacted by users who receive completely different results in their own tests. This can indeed happen for certain configurations and in specific combinations of hardware and software. Those who are not sure that a fast antivirus program is suitable for them should try the following test: first, create a backup of the system, and then download the test program and try it in action. If something goes wrong, then you can simply return to its original state using the backup.
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The search for a lightweight antivirus for Windows 7 and older versions of this OS is considered a fairly popular topic today, because not every user has a powerful PC that can “cope” with high-capacity applications. Any gadget and device needs an antivirus, because without it, the risk of malware infection on the device increases significantly. Various companies offer fast, lightweight and extremely reliable antiviruses that are ideal for budget computers.
As mentioned earlier, not all people have the opportunity to buy a PC with the latest configuration, a powerful processor, a substantial amount of RAM, the latest video card and so on. Therefore, many people opt for lightweight antiviruses for computers with medium and low configuration.
In order to finally determine whether this or that protection program is suitable for a weak computer, it is necessary to analyze a number of aspects by type:
- simultaneous work with demanding utilities;
- downloading information from the Internet;
- threats from dubious resources;
- speed of copying or transferring information to the HDD;
- background functioning.
The best lightweight antivirus software for Windows 7
Many users have already been able to understand that on weak PCs, powerful antiviruses eat up almost all the system resources, which is why the computer starts to slow down. Some companies took care of the owners of budget devices and offered lightweight antiviruses for weak computers, which guarantee data protection without brakes and system overloads.
Comodo Internet Security
It is a well-established free antivirus designed for budget PCs and consuming a minimum of RAM and other resources. It is able to provide protection against both threats from files and from the Internet. This program includes an antivirus with a firewall and a behavioral blocking system, so the virus does not penetrate the user's PC.
The following advantages of this utility can be distinguished:
- one service that can control all devices
- full protection from spyware applications, Internet attacks;
- blocking of doubtful resources and downloads;
- help finding devices that have been stolen or lost;
- the ability to work on a PC with minimal requirements.
The above advantages distinguish this program from all the others.
Trend Micro Internet Security 2016
The main feature of Trend Micro Internet Security 2016 is its very specific design. Antivirus interface, transitions between windows are considered animated. There is a possibility of choosing one of the proposed themes or even setting the background of the program for absolutely any picture.
Antivirus works quite smoothly on slow computers and includes a number of the following features:
- scanning online. This is a file antivirus that monitors the file system around the clock;
- deb filtering. A special web screen created for filtering HTTP traffic opens. Despite the fact that the above program automatically installs its extensions, even without them, web protection works fine;
- checking the health of the computer. The utility checks if there are recent updates for Windows, analyzes the account and firewall settings, allows you to edit the list of software downloaded automatically, finds “garbage” in the PC and clears the history;
- privacy scan. In this case, the social systems account is configured for the availability of personal data exclusively for friends.
G Data Internet Security
This antivirus uses a special Bitdefender engine along with the new CloseGap system with a cloud component in order to guarantee immediate and constant virus protection, protection of spam, threats on the network and so on. Regional threats are also taken into account, the firewall works in the background and does not bother the computer, even if you play games. The presence of parental control allows you to protect the younger generation from sites with dubious content.
Among the main advantages of the antivirus are the following:
- high level of detection of infected files;
- protection against theft of personal information in the form of passwords, e-mail and so on;
- the possibility of free web surfing, online banking and online shopping;
- ease of installation and use;
- fast enough start;
- delete confidential information with one click.
F-Secure Internet Security
It is a comprehensive software in which there is protection against threats on the Internet. The program runs on the Bitdefender engine, cloud technologies, proactive protection, antiphishing are used, there is the possibility of control by the parents and safe work with Internet banking.
Antivirus itself:
- protects against infections and spyware. There is a regular scan of e-mail;
- there is a firewall, advanced network protection, application analysis, intrusion management and control of network connections.
Internet protection is also offered:
- allows you to set a restriction of access for children to questionable sites;
- thanks to protection when surfing the network, pages with dubious content are blocked and security information is displayed;
- banking operations are protected, which protects customers from unfriendly actions when using online banking and making transfers.
Total security
This is a free anti-virus program, which in its functionality is no worse than many paid programs, and even ahead of them in certain parameters. The program includes a free antivirus, PC acceleration, system cleaning, device verification and a number of other additional features.
Antivirus involves several test modes (we are talking about fast, complete and selective):
- quick scan allows you to literally in a couple of minutes check the system settings, running programs, software in startup and basic system information;
- a full scan differs only in that it also includes stored files on the PC. Therefore, the analysis completion time can be different - it all depends on how many files are stored on the user's HDD;
- selective scanning means the ability to select files, folders or disks that are checked for malicious elements.
Also, using this program, you can significantly speed up your computer by optimizing startup, scheduled tasks, utility utilities, critical system services, and network connectivity. All this is done automatically.
The computer cleaning function involves searching for temporarily stored files created during Internet surfing. It also removes all garbage that appears while watching a video and other unnecessary information.
A few more reasons to choose Qihoo for downloading antivirus software on a weak PC
There are a number of main reasons why you should choose Qihoo to download a security application on a weak PC:
- the possibility of simultaneous operation of several engines at once (one of them is Bitdefender);
- the presence of additional functionality with which the program makes the work of a weak PC faster;
- special plugins embedded in the browser and monitoring dubious sites, as well as other signs of threats;
- work in the background mode, so that the user is not distracted from performing key tasks due to the constant pop-up of windows.
Important! The emphasis should be on the fact that downloading everything for weak computers is recommended exclusively on official resources. Only in this case will it be guaranteed to receive a full-fledged antivirus without code changes that can harm personal information and Windows 7 itself.
Antivirus Installation Instructions
Consider the detailed instructions for installing the antivirus using the example of the latter, 360 Total Security from Qihoo. The installation of the remaining antivirus utilities is similar, the difference can only be in the installer menu, with which you can easily and quickly install any antivirus.
Important! If the device already has an antivirus, it should be removed before installing a new one.
- Go to the official website of the utility developer at the link: https://www.360totalsecurity.com/en/.
- Left-click on the button “Download for free”.
- Run the downloaded installation file from the “Downloads” folder of the browser.
- Check the box to accept the license agreement, additional items as necessary, click "Installation".
- Expect the installation process to complete. After the installation is complete, offer to use the download of additional software, click "Start" or close the window by clicking on the cross in the upper right corner.
- After installation, the antivirus will open automatically. Select a function from the list that you need and click on it. We recommend that you perform a full scan of the device by clicking on the large “Test” button.
Video - How to Install 360 Total Security Antivirus
All the antiviruses presented above are free!
Thus, to start using the above antiviruses, it will be enough to download them to your computer and install. After installation, you will need an Internet connection to update the anti-virus database - thanks to this, protection will always be relevant. At the same time, for weak PCs they use the minimum system capacity and often miss very difficult viruses to detect.
