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Topic: Best Low Resource Antivirus/Firewall  (Read 13225 times)
porsche6714
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« on: March 31, 2007, 10:20:45 AM »

Hello

I recently purchased a new Dell Laptop and need to install some antivirus software on it.  Its got plenty of power but Vista is a massive resource hog so i would like to keep the amount of resources my antivirus/Firewall uses to a minimum.  The Specs of the compouter are:

Dell E1505
2.0GHz Core 2 Duo
2GB of Memory
256MB Geforce 7300 Video card
Vista Home Premium

I've allready tried AVG Free and it dosent work that great.  When i tested it out it used a lot of memory on startup and struggles to detect and delete viruses and spyware.

I am willing to pay for the program too so i'm open to any siggestions.

Thanks
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DJ VaGGo
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« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2007, 10:48:53 AM »

Kaspersky IS

http://usa.kaspersky.com/products/internet-security.php

Hardly takes up any resources, and has the highest detection rate
« Last Edit: March 31, 2007, 10:53:25 AM by DjVaGGo » Logged

Buntz
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« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2007, 10:51:28 AM »

Try Avast for your anti-virus they have a free version and I think Trend makes a firewall for Vista,I am not sure if it is free. I been using Comodo free firewall on XP ,It works great,but I do not know if it works with Vista.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2007, 10:58:50 AM by Buntz » Logged

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Coknuck
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« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2007, 11:35:25 AM »

I found this Vista compliant Firewall at Majorgeeks.com you might want to check it out.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5578.html
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« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2007, 12:33:03 PM »

i know its off topic, but i honestly do not find vista to be a resource hog - my experience is that its pretty much like windows xp
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Diablo321
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« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2007, 01:06:42 PM »

i know its off topic, but i honestly do not find vista to be a resource hog - my experience is that its pretty much like windows xp

Same here! Vista actually runs better on my machine than xp did...

Back on topic...

Use Avast! Its free and runs perfectly on vista!
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porsche6714
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« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2007, 01:00:13 PM »

Vista sucks up about 3X more ram than my XP did.  However I did have my old vista computer tweaked to the max so i might have been a little more responsive than most peoples.  I also have Vista tweaked as much as possible too and its not slow by any means but compared to XP its definitly a downgrade in terms of overall speed and quickness

Ok, It seems some people are liking Avast.  How is that in terms of memory usage?  Firewall i'm not too concerned about between the stuff already implemented into vista and my router firewall.
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Diablo321
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« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2007, 02:05:46 PM »

Ok, It seems some people are liking Avast.  How is that in terms of memory usage?  Firewall i'm not too concerned about between the stuff already implemented into vista and my router firewall.



Using a total of 12,384KB of RAM. I'd say using 12 megs of ram is pretty low...
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disturbed
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« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2007, 02:32:54 PM »

id 2nd avast.....i use it and its great, such a low resource user and it does an awesome job of keeping my system safe
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Xx Mazza xX
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« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2007, 09:19:19 PM »

avast+Comodo  Smile
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porsche6714
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« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2007, 02:01:47 PM »

I installed avast on one of my older laptops just to test it out and I seems OK from what i've seen.  Its a little slow at start up but after that it better.  I also noticed that I had pc-cillin running on one of myy other computers.  I took a look in the task manager and saw that it only used around 10MB after the initial startup.  How is pc-cillin when compared to avast?  When i bought pc-cillin i can install it on up to 3 computers and i've olny used it on 2 so both softwares would technically cost me nothing to install.  What do you reccomend?
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Le_Murphant
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« Reply #11 on: April 02, 2007, 03:38:13 PM »

Nod32 uses a little under 20 MB on my xp machine, and I'm too lazy to go check on my Vista machine smiley
The cpu usage is pretty low (1 min 30 seconds out of 20 hours) but there hasent been much going on my cpu other than downloading files, so its not much of an indicator. When I get on my vista machine, I'l post how much it uses.
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« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2007, 04:40:39 AM »

NOD32 is actually extremly low on ram and is the second best after kas but im not sure its vista compatible. Comodo firewall
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Deltamusic
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« Reply #13 on: July 20, 2007, 10:05:57 PM »

I had Nod32 on my old machine and I liked it. I have been running CA Security Suite on my notebook and have been pleased so far.. It only uses 40MB of on hard disk, unlike some others that require from 70 to 200MB. I did have a problem with the upgrade.. It thought I had upgraded to Vista and I still have XP on here. Was an easy fix. Now I really like their PestPatrol as it has found several things all my others have missed. I will never use Nortons or McAfee as they are a bigger headache than any virus or bug. I have a utility I use all the time..called active ports and Nortons calls it a Trojan or malware. I have several new copies of eTrust as every time I get a new drive or router Tiger throws one in with the rebate. I don;t run Vista cause my Steamcast server does not like all the media tracking built into Vista.
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« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2007, 12:35:40 AM »

Kaspersky IS

http://usa.kaspersky.com/products/internet-security.php

Hardly takes up any resources, and has the highest detection rate

I did have Vista RC1 & RC2 but it expired (wasn't ready to reinvest in my current PC) anyhoo I agree with DjVaGGo with Kaspersky antivirus. I use it with WinXP MCE and the program is not a resource hog, now how that will work with any version of Vista...I am not sure; so if you seem interested in Kaspersky be sure to use v 6.0.2.621 or latre (I do)

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Sequoia
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« Reply #15 on: July 22, 2007, 10:36:35 AM »

I'm using AVG with Vista & no problems.I do have the Windows Security Center turned off.
Vista is supposed to use all of it's RAM if possible it's designed to do this.So no matter how much RAM you add Vista will use it if it can.At least that's the information I found on the web.
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Deltamusic
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« Reply #16 on: July 22, 2007, 03:44:32 PM »

Vista is supposed to use all of it's RAM if possible it's designed to do this.So no matter how much RAM you add Vista will use it if it can.At least that's the information I found on the web.
If that is the nature of Vista then where is one to find resources for other non Microsoft applications. Do you mean Vista will use whatever is left after intalling a firewall/virus program?

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Siryak
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« Reply #17 on: July 22, 2007, 06:37:37 PM »

If that is the nature of Vista then where is one to find resources for other non Microsoft applications. Do you mean Vista will use whatever is left after intalling a firewall/virus program?



It uses a cache technique. It will take your most frequently used programs and load them up into the RAM for quicker access. If another application needs the RAM though I am pretty sure it gives up part of the cache it had stored up.

As far as a good low resource Anti-Virus goes I would recommend NOD32. It is one of the best and one of the lightest(on resources) Anti-Virus programs out there.
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« Reply #18 on: July 22, 2007, 10:47:09 PM »

If that is the nature of Vista then where is one to find resources for other non Microsoft applications. Do you mean Vista will use whatever is left after installing a firewall/virus program?
 
I think  Siryak explained it well.Vista uses all the RAM it has available & gives up some to the program you are currently accessing taking it from programs you have been using previously that it stored in RAM for faster access if you needed them again soon.I'm sure someone could give you a better technical explanation .
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« Reply #19 on: July 23, 2007, 02:54:50 AM »

I have been using a 3rd party cache manager with XP pro and was working fine until all the Vista and ie7 arrival's. I did not even think about that. The program was doing it's job and recovered ram at the  desired threshold and released mem the OS still needed. .. If that makes any sense at all.
Anyway I took it off auto and works much smoother. I gotta get more ram anyway. A friend of mine from Intel told me years ago that the best upgrade for any system is more RAM. Wonder if a rule of thumb would be enough ram to equal the speed of the system.  Thanks for refreshing MY memory on how much RAM Microsoft will use if it is there. ALL OF IT!  hello
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LeftFutBrakin
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« Reply #20 on: July 23, 2007, 02:19:16 PM »

I'd give a huge thumbs up for Kaspersky. I have it installed on a network with 20 machines and a couple with some really low specs - "ancient" PC's and have had a problem free environment for more than 7 months. It catches everything and is never a factor in resource hogging.

Excellent Buy!! Very Happy
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« Reply #21 on: July 24, 2007, 01:01:43 AM »

Ive been running NOD 32 on my laptop for about three months. def vista friendly. in fact, it scans faster and offers more options than Kas or AVG did. used both before nod. decided to try nod when i installed vista on the laptop. and yeah, I find Vista runs better on my laptop then XP, too. im using about half my ram or up to sixty percent when im really crunching numbers, but otherwise, it uses about a third of my ram, and i have two gigs installed so i dont even worry about it. i am also using a 160 GB 5400 rpm drive and vista really likes it too.

As far as firewalls go, comodo is the fav but the new Vista version of Zone Alarm is good too.

ev
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xoxsquallxox
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« Reply #22 on: August 17, 2007, 09:25:58 AM »

nod32+comodo firewall and you dont have to worries on your pc security anymore  angel
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« Reply #23 on: August 17, 2007, 10:00:28 AM »

Avast & Comodo.

Great combination, low on resource.
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grift3r74
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« Reply #24 on: August 17, 2007, 10:18:32 AM »

nod32+comodo firewall and you dont have to worries on your pc security anymore  angel

I cannot agree more!!!
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« Reply #25 on: August 17, 2007, 10:42:39 AM »

is nod32 any good

until yesterday i never heard of it now i see it all the time
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grift3r74
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« Reply #26 on: August 17, 2007, 10:52:14 AM »

is nod32 any good

until yesterday i never heard of it now i see it all the time


Yes sir..

Its good for me since its very light in resources and high detection rate.. Downside is it has an ugly user interface..

I dont usually believe in rankings but heres one for different antivirus descriptions and how they fare against each other...

NOD32 is tied for 2nd place

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130869/article.html
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xoxsquallxox
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« Reply #27 on: August 17, 2007, 08:25:14 PM »

hmm i dont agree that nod32 is in the fourth place and wth norton is 2nd? its really expensive for an antivirus and its plain useless.

i always check the ranks here and it is i think more reliable rankings than other sites

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
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« Reply #28 on: August 18, 2007, 07:51:11 AM »

hmm i dont agree that nod32 is in the fourth place and wth norton is 2nd? its really expensive for an antivirus and its plain useless.

i always check the ranks here and it is i think more reliable rankings than other sites

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/


I'd stop surfing if Norton was the only AV out there.  :haha:  :haha:

I was checking out that link and noticed something really peculiar. The scan times listed for an 80GB hard drive. McAfee takes and HOUR to scan, yet Kaspersky can do it in 8 MINUTES??? Holy bats**t, Ratman!!   Shocked
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xoxsquallxox
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« Reply #29 on: August 18, 2007, 12:09:44 PM »

well kaspersky is great in many ways my friend you should try scanning a file in virustotal.com and see to all the av scanners avilble there mostly 10 out of 10 scans kaspersky detects viruses rather than the others.

and i tried norton in the past cost me important documents and files cause some virus he do not detect and i was too late to notice that.