It goes without saying that in our computerized age, the protection of information or entire systems from virus attacks is essential. In other words, any computer, in addition to the built-in tools of the system itself, must have at least some more or less functional antivirus. Let's try to consider the lightest antiviruses and, based on the test results, we will determine what is best suited to provide protection today.
Safety comes first!
As for anti-virus software, now you can find dozens, not hundreds, of options. Of course, it will not work to consider all of them, especially since in terms of functionality they are completely unequal to each other.
Therefore, let us dwell on some of the most famous software products. Perhaps the comparative results will tell someone what the lightest antivirus for XP or the server version of Windows is. Immediately we make a reservation that the same "ekspishka", although it remains a very popular and sought-after system, is nonetheless hopelessly outdated. However, a solution will be proposed for her.
The lightest antivirus software: key aspects of testing
Of course, not every person who constantly works with a computer can afford the most modern configuration with a powerful multi-core processor chip, a large amount of RAM, a modern video card, etc. Therefore, we will see what tests show for the lightest antivirus for a computer with mediocre configuration. We take the Pentium 4 processor , 1 GB of RAM and an 80-gigabyte hard drive as the basis. It seems that for testing it will be just right.
As for the main tests, we will consider the indicators of several independent laboratories. Among the checks, we highlight the following:
- parallel work with resource-intensive applications;
- downloading information from the Internet;
- threats from insecure sites;
- speed of copying or moving data on the hard disk;
- work in the background.
Kaspersky Internet Security
So, before us is one of the most famous antivirus packages of our time. Many may object. Why did you need to include Kaspersky Lab software in the list? The fact is that, unlike all other anti-virus packages, this program is the least demanding on system resources.
The test results on the above configuration, although not ideal, but look quite encouraging. This primarily concerns the identification of potential threats when browsing the Internet or installing any software. However, along with this there are also pronounced disadvantages. So, for example, the boot time of the system itself increases significantly, after its start, a connection via a Wi-Fi connection takes quite a while, when downloading files using the same torrent client, the save time to disk is quite large. This is due to the verification of content in real time. By the way, "Kaspersky" is the only package that has this roll-out.
When accessing the hard drive (copying files), there is a clear slowdown in operation. Not critical, but still there. And when you start the Photoshop package, so in general, the system starts to slow down in earnest (the antivirus by itself consumes too much RAM). So to say that this is the easiest antivirus for a laptop or stationary terminal, the language does not turn. In principle, it can be used if you do not work with heavy applications in parallel. But in terms of protection, it is in the lead, even despite the increased load on system resources.
ESET Smart Security
Another major player in the antivirus software market is ESET's Smart Security suite. The eighth version of the program is currently available.
In principle, the behavior of this application is somewhat reminiscent of Kaspersky. The system boot time has been increased, in addition, the initial scan of automatically loaded components takes a long time (this is especially noticeable in Windows XP). Protection in general showed good results even when the Anti-Theft function is turned off. When accessing the hard drive, there are no delays, there are no problems with the speed of access to the Internet either, however, when you start Skype, downloading the application takes quite a long time. However, if you look at the monitor of used resources, you will notice that the load is not as great as it might seem at first. It reaches maximum peaks only at the time of updating the anti-virus databases and initial scanning. It can and should be used, but it cannot be called the fastest, although compared to Kaspersky it is heaven and earth.
Dr. Web security space
Now about another well-known package, which is rightfully considered one of the best means of protecting computer systems.
What do its results show? Firstly, during installation, the program offers to install your own firewall, which is by no means necessary, since conflicts with the native Windows firewall may occur and a significant increase in the load on the system. The system boot is fast enough (according to the report, about 60-65 seconds), but in fact, it takes much longer to completely stop accessing the hard disk. In parallel with Photoshop, work is almost impossible, the Wi-Fi network thinks a little longer than usual when connected, but in all other respects, the indicators are quite high.
Now a fly in the ointment. As it turned out, a program sometimes spontaneously activates something like a hidden full scan. In this case, the load on the central processor can increase by 50%. However, this is only observed when using the standard default settings. If you turn off all unnecessary, you can get high-quality protection.
Avira Antivirus Pro
Avira makes a good enough impression. In principle, according to its indicators, the antivirus is somewhere in the middle of the list. His only problem is the launch of resource-intensive applications. With Photoshop, this is not too expressed, but some virtual machines with guest (child) OSes refuse to work (at least the first time they start).
In general, it cannot be said that this is the easiest antivirus for a weak computer, nevertheless, it can be used as reliable protection (all the more so if hardly anyone will install a virtual machine on weak machines). If to characterize it briefly, a good solid middling.
Avast Internet Security
As for this software product, it scored the highest in almost all indicators , however, some errors were noticed in identifying potential threats.
But when starting Photoshop or accessing the hard drive, monitoring the load on the system showed an unprecedented result. For example, the consumption of RAM in active mode is only 80-100 MB! The only negative is the excessive talkativeness of the program. Yes Yes! It is talkativeness, since the voice notification mode is turned on by default in the settings. However, disconnecting his work will not be.
Microsoft Security Essentials
Finally, the native brainchild of Microsoft Corporation. As testing shows, it must also be presented in the list "The lightest antiviruses." Since we still have the most common Windows systems, it suits them almost perfectly, because who, if not the creators of this family of operating systems themselves, needs to know which holes in the security system they have. In addition, when using this package, conflicts in the firewall are eliminated.
For all other indicators, the result can be called satisfactory, except for excessive load on the system when accessing the hard drive. Sometimes, when installing third-party programs, a false positive may occur, because some of them try to make the necessary changes to the system files.
Which antivirus is the lightest?
What are the results of the test, in which the lightest antiviruses were presented? The best overall performance shows Avast. First of all, it is a practically absent load on the system, even when working with heavy programs. The protection system, of course, is not ideal, but for weak machines or configurations based on Windows XP, it seems that it is ideal. In addition, if you do not take into account the technical aspects, we can say that Avast is the easiest free antivirus. But most programs must either be bought or constantly activated when using even shareware versions.
On the other hand, today there is not a single program that would meet the high security requirements, and even if this does not load the system. And, of course, other well-known antiviruses like Bitdefender and software products based on it were not considered here, since the antivirus itself is too voracious, and its modifications like 360 Security work quite fast, but they do not provide the proper level of protection, yes they also often give a false alarm. However, what exactly to use, this is a purely personal matter.