lighter antivirus ??

[yashodhan.mohan]

Guys !! i m in distress.. i need a antivirus that is light and yet effective.. system details :

RAM : 2GB
Internal Hard Disk : 20GB
External Hard Disk : 250GB, 500GB
Windows XP SP2

[stroudyit]

I have tested several trimmed down AV solutions and these are my top 3:

1. AVG Free - Very thorough and not too system hungry
2. Microsoft Secuirty Essentials - Microsoft's very own AV. Probably the least resource hungry.
3. Threatfire - Smallest download but not quite as slick as the other two. Still offers Huersitic scanning.

Daniel Hunt
www.stroudyit.co.uk

[Captain Pooka]

When I build/fix customers computers I put Microsoft Security Essentials on it. It is very "light". I used to stand by AVG, but they're slacking off. Plus they aren't "light" at all. The most recent computer that I have put M$ SE on, that compares to yours, is one with 1gb ram and a 30gb HDD. Single core 1.6GHz processor. Runs like a champ.

-Q

[clacker]

Don't get one of the internet!!

[Indigo]

Originally Posted by stroudyit

1. AVG Free - Very thorough and not too system hungry

Like Pooka, AVG is a joke these days. They've turned into a bloat monster, and their results suck.

Originally Posted by stroudyit

2. Microsoft Secuirty Essentials - Microsoft's very own AV. Probably the least resource hungry.

Definitely one of the better AV scanners out there. Very effective at keeping both Viruses and most types of common malware off of a system. It's a standard install for my PCs at home, even my servers run it. (Yeah, Server 2008 R2 can run MSE!)

Originally Posted by stroudyit

3. Threatfire - Smallest download but not quite as slick as the other two. Still offers Huersitic scanning.

Threatfire is not actually an antivirus scanner. Think of it as a bouncer at a bar full of crooks wielding guns, while the bouncer can only use mace spray. It'll be good at keeping the lesser unknowns out, but a full on virus/malware attack leaves Threatfire useless and confused. Not to mention, I've noticed that the longer it's installed on a system, the more system resources it uses. The last PC I had it on used up so many resources, that the PC was virtually unusable after sitting idle (IDLE!) for only a few hours.

[berry120]

MSE is my weapon of choice these days. It's pretty lightweight and integrates into Windows well (as you'd expect.) Simple, easy and does the job well.