Symantec slowing my computer down

gib65

Baseband Member
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When I have File System Realtime Protection on, Symantec antivirus tries to scan each and every file, folder, program, and installation I try to run. It makes my computer run reeeaaaallllly sssslllloooowww. I can solve the problem by turning off File System Realtime Protection, but then I'm worried I won't have the protection it offers when I open new files that I've downloaded or opened in email attachments that I'm not sure about. Is there a way to setup Symantec antivirus so that it stays on constant alert for viruses on my computer, and tells me whether a new file I've opened contains a virus, without slowing my computer right the hell down by scanning each and every file, folder, application, etc. that I open?

Also, under some conditions (I haven't figured out which), File System Realtime Protection seems to turn itself back on even after I've manually turned it off. Under what conditions would it do this, and how do I prevent it from doing this? I've tested it by rebooting my computer and File System Realtime Protection stayed off, so I don't think rebooting is one of those conditions. One condition under which it started itself up again was after I installed Microsoft Publisher 2007. The installation itself was rather slow, so I suspected it had started right when I started the installation, but I didn't check to see if it was on.

I appreciate any forthcoming help.
 
Sorry, but in order for anti-virus software to work it needs to use processor time. My advice would be to back everything up that you want to keep to some type of external storage device, come up with a good backup routine and get rid of all anti-virus software. Then just be really careful when web surfing and downloading and emailing. Of course, if you're one of those people that absolutely cannot control themselves and have to click on everything no matter how shady or ridiculous it appears, then please for the love of God don't listen to me.
 
Sorry, but in order for anti-virus software to work it needs to use processor time. My advice would be to back everything up that you want to keep to some type of external storage device, come up with a good backup routine and get rid of all anti-virus software. Then just be really careful when web surfing and downloading and emailing. Of course, if you're one of those people that absolutely cannot control themselves and have to click on everything no matter how shady or ridiculous it appears, then please for the love of God don't listen to me.

Thanks cboucher, I'm usually very cautious.

Say, there isn't any chance a virus could get downloaded on my computer all by itself - I mean, without me doing anything - is there?
 
Maybe if you have port forwarding enabled on your router for a particular port to go straight to your PC it might be theoretically possible that a hacker could be trying to hack random IP addresses using common ports. I wouldn't think this would be a huge threat, though. But even then you would have to forward the port on your router, so you would still be doing something.
 
Everything you talk about here sounds very normal for Symantec antivirus. As for it restarting the service that is common when you update and restart computer.Best advice is to find a different antivirus software that doesn't use so much resources. Try trend Micro they are much better. Hope this helps. Good Luck.
 
Yes i agree with shazam. Micro trend is great anti virus. Try avg as well.

Symantec is very well known for causing your pc to slow down more then any virus could. To be honest i wouldn't care if i got a virus... if any malware got on my pc it'd never slow it down as much as symantec. I'd consider taking it off and installing avg. Make sure you've got a firewall. I doubt (unless you've any idea what you're doing with computers) that you'd have port forwarding set up like one of the posters said and even if you did you'd have to have something exploitable on your end already.

Not everything is detectable. Every time you visit a website you could be downloading a virus. Unfortunately there's not a lot you can do about it. Some exploits are around before any antivirus or firewall is updated to detect them. As soon as you hit the web page bam a program downloads onto your pc and may run in the background. Now if you have a firewall that you don't mind tending to you can set it to alert you when a program tries to access the internet. This way trojans can be stopped in their tracks.
 
Symantec is very well known for causing your pc to slow down more then any virus could. To be honest i wouldn't care if i got a virus... if any malware got on my pc it'd never slow it down as much as symantec.

+1, Symantec has always been notorious for causing more problems that it fixes, in varying degrees.

My mom had a System Works suite quite a while back(like ~2001) that decided to put one of its own files in quarantine. This rendered us unable to log into it, which means we couldn't turn it off or uninstall it, and it wouldn't let us install anything else. It wasn't so bad until the subscription ran out, leaving us with no way to renew it. :(
 
I've always ran Trend Micro and it's kept the job done for me for many years WITHOUT the slowdown and problems I constantly got from Symantec.
 
When I have File System Realtime Protection on, Symantec antivirus tries to scan each and every file, folder, program, and installation I try to run. It makes my computer run reeeaaaallllly sssslllloooowww. I can solve the problem by turning off File System Realtime Protection, but then I'm worried I won't have the protection it offers when I open new files that I've downloaded or opened in email attachments that I'm not sure about. Is there a way to setup Symantec antivirus so that it stays on constant alert for viruses on my computer, and tells me whether a new file I've opened contains a virus, without slowing my computer right the hell down by scanning each and every file, folder, application, etc. that I open?

Also, under some conditions (I haven't figured out which), File System Realtime Protection seems to turn itself back on even after I've manually turned it off. Under what conditions would it do this, and how do I prevent it from doing this? I've tested it by rebooting my computer and File System Realtime Protection stayed off, so I don't think rebooting is one of those conditions. One condition under which it started itself up again was after I installed Microsoft Publisher 2007. The installation itself was rather slow, so I suspected it had started right when I started the installation, but I didn't check to see if it was on.

I appreciate any forthcoming help.

Hi
Check this site out, it will give you informative details of various security software, the pros and cons.
Very helpful site.

http://issviews.com/forum/

Cheers.
 
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