Undemanding to the power of computer modern operating systems even put on obsolete equipment. Is it any wonder that people are looking for antivirus software for weak computers? Although not only they are low-power, but also laptops and tablets. As an orientation, we assume that we have a device with 512 MB of RAM and a processor clock frequency of 1.6 GHz.
Who needs to be circumvented?
We’ll say a few words about Kaspersky Anti-Virus. It is often criticized for being too "heavy" for the computer's operating system and its RAM. Well, these allegations are not unfounded. But little known is the fact that there are also
software products that are designed for weak computers. And about them you have to hear positive reviews that everything is working fine. Therefore, you can keep it as a fallback if the proposed basic offers do not fit. Now consider what a simple antivirus for a weak computer to choose.
Main applicants
We will consider only (conditionally) free antiviruses. Although, it should be noted that many of them offer additional functionality, for which you will have to pay extra. So, for this case there are:
- Comodo Internet Security.
- Norton Security Deluxe.
- ESET Smart Security.
Other proven solutions exist, such as the free Avast or KIS. Although they are quite lightweight and can run on 512 MB of RAM, they still take up a fairly significant part of the resources (in this case, it can be only a few tens of megabytes, but if this is too much, then choose from the list below). By the way, speaking of the free Avast, it should be noted that the freely distributed version can only be used as an antivirus. But the already purchased extension will be able to provide comprehensive protection (but here again the resource issue becomes relevant).
In case of lack of internet
Without a global network, computer operation now seems rather poorly, and this was taken into account earlier. What if there is no access to the Internet? But is there a CD drive or USB port? In this case, it is necessary to focus on these transmission paths of computer viruses. In this case, Dr. Web This antivirus for weak computers supports fine tuning, so you can completely disable all the functionality that is not needed. This saves the computing power of the computer.
About Windows 10
At Microsoft, we managed to create a lightweight operating system that can work even with 512 MB of RAM. Therefore, we can make an assumption that it will become popular on low-power equipment. Regarding this, we can say that the lightest free antivirus for a weak computer with Windows 10 is the one that is available by default. Users can choose from two software products:
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- Windows Defender
It should be noted that none of them claims to be the most flexible, built using powerful solutions of the product. But any of these antiviruses for weak computers is suitable on the basis that the system is almost not loaded with them. The only advice - do not use them together, as in most cases they will simply deal with duplication.
What to do if not one of the offers fits?
Probably, this applies only to very low-power equipment (for example, with 64 MB RAM) or to one whose physical part was damaged (power surges, long service life). Therefore, if no antivirus was suitable for weak computers, you can only recommend using Firewall. Moreover, the existing system solution is better not to be limited, but to use Comodo Firewall for this purpose. In this case, of course, it is necessary to disable the existing "Firewall". Also, as an alternative, you can try to improve the performance of your computer. This can be done both with the help of optimizer programs, and at the physical level. The first involves tidying up the file structure. In the second, you can buy or remove RAM from other computers and install them on one (fortunately, all models have provided this feature over the past three decades).
Conclusion
It’s almost impossible to do without protection now. Antivirus for weak computers, although it does not provide a 100% guarantee, but it still allows you to reduce the likelihood that something will happen to the equipment. You can do without such a useful program only if the computer does not have any possible infection paths at all. That is, there should be no drives, optical drives, USB ports and network cards. But to meet such an instance is very difficult, and working on it does not shine with convenience. In addition, the question remains what can be done there and how to transfer data. After all, even relatively new floppy disks by modern computers can no longer be processed.