Windows Vista Ultimate/ Virus Protection

[Piet]

Hi

I need some advice about Antivirus slowing down my PC. I am running Vista
Ultimate +SP1. Quad Processor and 4gb Ram that seems to work after SP1.

I cannot leave my PC on during the day and it is Password Protected as I
have some
confidential documents on it.

When I get home at night and want to use the PC , the AV comes on, updates
and then starts a scan on the PC. This slows down the PC to a large extent
and I can hardly work on it. I have used NORTON, KASPERSKI and are now
running AVG free, but all is doing the same. SLOW PC.

If you can perhaps think of some AV, or have another solution please post.

Piet

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Turn off the automatic AV scan, or set it for a time where it won't disturb
you.

 

[Kayman]

Hi

I need some advice about Antivirus slowing down my PC. I am running Vista
Ultimate +SP1. Quad Processor and 4gb Ram that seems to work after SP1.

I cannot leave my PC on during the day and it is Password Protected as I
have some
confidential documents on it.

When I get home at night and want to use the PC , the AV comes on, updates
and then starts a scan on the PC. This slows down the PC to a large extent
and I can hardly work on it. I have used NORTON, KASPERSKI and are now
running AVG free, but all is doing the same. SLOW PC.

If you can perhaps think of some AV, or have another solution please post.

Hi Piet,

You should utilize only one (1) *real-time* anti-virus (AV) application but
you can have multiple *on-demand* AV installed to your machine.
Start anew:-
First, ensure your in-built Vista firewall application is activated.

A number of experts agree that the retail AV version of McAfee, Norton and
Trend Micro has become cumbersome and bloated for the average user.

The major Norton criticisms are related to stability and footprint, the
most common problem being slow-downs because of the massive system
resources Norton hogs. There are products on the market with equal or
better test results than Symantec's products, consuming less resources at a
lower price (even free ones).

The retail version of Norton can play havoc with your pc. Uninstall it
using Norton's own uninstall tool:

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool and try to get a refund:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039
The Norton Removal Tool uninstalls all Norton 2008/2007/2006/2005/2004/2003
products and Norton 360 from your computer.

Reboot

Use Kasperky *OR* AVG as your *real-time* AV application and turn-off the
automatic scan as suggested by Richard G. Harper.

Good luck

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi

I need some advice about Antivirus slowing down my PC. I am running Vista
Ultimate +SP1. Quad Processor and 4gb Ram that seems to work after SP1.

First, regarding the "4gb Ram that seems to work after SP1," note that
the situation is exactly the same as it was before SP1.

All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just Vista) have a 4GB address
space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.
But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you
have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.
That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not
available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can
use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can
range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around
3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it too.

What changed in SP1 is that Windows now reports the amount you *have*
(the entire 4GB) rather than the amount you are using. I personally
think making this change was a very poor decision on Microsoft's part.
Yes, it stops many people from asking "what happened to the rest of my
4GB," but it does so at the expense of completely misinforming them as
to what's happening.

I cannot leave my PC on during the day and it is Password Protected as I
have some
confidential documents on it.

When I get home at night and want to use the PC , the AV comes on, updates
and then starts a scan on the PC. This slows down the PC to a large extent
and I can hardly work on it. I have used NORTON, KASPERSKI and are now
running AVG free, but all is doing the same. SLOW PC.

If you can perhaps think of some AV, or have another solution please post.

Reschedule the AVG to run at a different time, one at which you don't
use the computer.

Alternatively, switch from AVG to Avast (which I personally prefer)
and instead of having a scheduled scan, set it to scan whenever your
screensaver comes on.