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The lightest antiviruses for computers and laptops. Fast antiviruses that don't slow down the system: full review Antivirus that doesn't slow down the Internet

With development information technologies, computer and laptop have become an attribute Everyday life person. Thanks to devices and the Internet, users can receive useful information, communicate with friends and acquaintances, and also relax after a difficult working day. Unfortunately, there is a high probability of “catch” viruses. To protect your computer, it is recommended to install an antivirus.

When the question arises about installing antivirus software, many users do not know which antivirus loads the least operating system. To find a solution, you need to analyze several products. At the same time, we should not forget that important role The characteristics of the computer play a role.

Preparing for the experiment

To figure out which is the fastest antivirus, you need to install defenders on your computer one by one, and then test it for a week. To conduct the experiment, a laptop with the following characteristics will be used:

Processor – 2.8 GHz;
RAM – 2 Gb;
Hard drive – 320 Gb.

The following products will be used as tested antiviruses:

Kaspersky Internet Security.
Dr. Web.
Avast.
Qihoo 360 Internet Security.
Microsoft Security Essentials.

To conduct an experiment and determine which antivirus does not slow down the system, you need to install a new product on your machine every week. It is important that antivirus software is tested under the same conditions.

Antivirus testing

To determine the optimal antivirus software, it is recommended to load the program as much as possible. During testing, games are loaded onto the computer, since they are large in size, which means they force the “defender” to work as much as possible.

The second step of testing was the launch of games. In game mode, some antiviruses show virtually no activity, while others, on the contrary, consume system resources as much as possible.

The third testing step involved working with graphic editors. Photoshop and 3D Max programs were used. These applications themselves consume a lot of resources. If the antivirus does not load the system, conversion, saving and processing are faster. In addition, the high consumption of resources on the part of the “defender” affects the quality of graphics.

Don't forget to visit online resources. It is best to open websites that have animations and pictures with good quality. Besides good remedy Testing will include scripts and viruses that camouflage themselves on the pages of a website.

The next step is to copy large files from one folder to another. Some antiviruses begin to actively scan folders and files that are copied to a new location.

The final stage of testing will be scanning hard drive and virus detection. Please note that media load directly affects scanning time, as well as resource consumption.

Test results

After testing, you can see interesting results. When working with graphic editors, programs such as Kaspersky Internet Security and Dr. showed excessive activity. Web. Of course, this does not mean that antiviruses absorbed all resources, but in order to work correctly with Photoshop, it is better to temporarily disable them.

When copying files, the system was loaded by Kaspersky, as well as Microsoft Security. When these applications were active, the copying speed dropped sharply by 1.5 Mbit/s. When moving or creating copies of small files, this is not critical, but when you need to copy a folder exceeding 15 GB, this is already a problem, since the time increases dramatically.

Downloading files from the Internet forced antiviruses such as Qihoo 360 and Kaspersky to actively consume resources. When scanning downloaded files, defenders load the system, consuming up to 75% of free RAM.

During testing, websites loaded with content and also infected with viruses were visited. Avast showed increased activity. In addition, it blocked even those sites that were not infected. At the same time, it consumed the most resources.

As for the full system check, I was surprised by the result shown by Avast. This antivirus consumed the least amount of RAM, only 100-150 Mb. At the same time, it did not interfere with working with other programs. Unfortunately, other defenders were absorbing too many resources.

Besides everything Dr. Web starts checking the system when the computer is idle. During this period, the system load is about 30%.

Which antivirus to choose

According to the experiments carried out, Avast Free antivirus can be distinguished. It turned out to be the fastest product that hardly loads the system. In addition, the defender copes well with his immediate tasks. The application finds viruses both on the Internet and on removable media. Of course, such giants as Kaspersky or Dr. Web are better at protecting your computer, but unfortunately, they require serious resources.

Users with a large amount of RAM and a powerful processor should consider serious complexes, but for “average” users it is best to choose Avast or Qihoo 360.

Do antiviruses slow down the system?

If we consider weak machines, then even an antivirus with minimal functionality will consume a lot of resources. Before installing antivirus software, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with its minimum requirements.

Of course, there are also products that unreasonably consume system resources. These “Defenders” include:

Threat Track VIPRE;
Quick Heal;
Norman Security.

The AV-Test laboratory tested 23 antiviruses on a computer with the following characteristics:

Processor – Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz;
RAM – 4 Gb;
HDD – 500 Gb.

As a result, the best antivirus had a score of 5.1 points, and the worst one had a score of 13.9.

According to the results, the leading position was taken by Kaspersky antivirus Internet Security and Bitdefender.

Conclusion

System performance plays an important role, but do not forget that antivirus systems are primarily aimed at protecting your computer. In addition, paid solutions have expanded functionality, and accordingly they consume more resources.

To avoid problems with your antivirus, it is best to consider its minimum system requirements, as well as how well he copes with defense. After careful analysis and comparison, you can make a choice.

Load testing included 7 testing phases over 14 months for each antivirus solution. 19,000 individual results for each product were used, and results from 35 test events were combined. In the current endurance test, from January 2014 to the end of February 2015, a total of 23 antiviruses were tested for performance in the AV-TEST laboratories. This test alternated between the use of Windows XP, 7 and 8.1 operating systems.

Infographics

23 antiviruses in performance test

The testing included antivirus programs Ahnlab, Avast, AVG (free and paid versions), Avira, Bitdefender, BullGuard, Comodo, ESET, F-Secure, G Data, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microworld, Norman, Norton, Panda, Qihoo 360, Quick Heal, Tencent, Threat Track and Trend Micro. Additionally, a Windows system with free antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender (for Windows 8/8.1) was put through all tests to obtain a comparative result. A baseline system without antivirus protection was used for subsequent performance comparisons. More detailed information about the base system is available in the Test Configuration section.

For all products, the tests measured the required time to complete test cases (how long), which included the following types of activity on the user's computer:

downloading files from the Internet;
launching websites;
installation of applications;
launching applications with documents;
copying files.

For all subsections, load scores from 1 to 5 were calculated after each test, where 1 is good and 5 is bad. If the antivirus slowed down the system from 0 to 20 percent, it received 1 load point. From 21 to 40 percent - 2 points, from 41 to 60 percent drop in productivity - 3 points, and so on up to 5.

Thus, for 5 test sections, the ideal result was obtained when the load was 5 points, and the worst result was obtained when the load reached 25 points. All intermediate results were combined and the average was calculated for the 7 test stages.

Load testing results

: Some antivirus programs will be a heavy burden when performing daily tasks on Windows

The antivirus solution from Kaspersky Lab showed minimal impact on system performance, and therefore the best performance results, scoring a load score of 5.1. As previously noted, the ideal result is 5.0 points. Security products from Bitdefender and Qihoo 360 are next, scoring 5.3 and 5.7 points respectively.

6 antivirus solutions - McAfee, Bullguard, Trend Micro, Norton, Avira and F-Secure also showed good results in load testing, receiving load scores from 6.1 to 7.9. All other 14 products were above this threshold. At the same time, a Windows system protected by the built-in Microsoft Security Essentials or Microsoft Defender antivirus scored 8.7 points.

Antivirus solutions from Norman, Quick Heal and Threat Track are already significantly slowing down the system - 12, 12.4 and 13.9 load points. None of the antiviruses showed a worse result of 25 points.

File Copy category in Windows: While Kaspersky antivirus hardly slows down the system, Threat Track and Quick Heal have a noticeable impact

To better understand the final numbers, here is an example of two opposing results. Any user becomes impatient, especially when copying files in Windows. In this test, a basic system without antivirus protection takes 141 seconds to copy the AV-TEST test set containing 3.3 GB. A Windows system with Kaspersky antivirus installed scans the files and takes 165 seconds to copy. The antivirus with the worst result, Threat Track, requires an average of 300 seconds for the same procedure.

5 categories in performance testing: Most antiviruses slowed down the PC in the “file copying” category

Test configuration

For the test in the laboratory, several computers with absolutely identical hardware characteristics were used: Intel Xeon X3360 @ 2.83GHz, 4 GB RAM and HDD 500 GB. Since these computers could vary slightly in performance, they were selected from 60 test computers from the AV-TEST laboratory. All computers have been tested several times with unprotected operating systems Windows systems XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. PCs with identical performance indicators were selected for load testing. The resulting performance indicators were used as a benchmark for the test. Before and after testing each antivirus, each system was checked to ensure that they still showed the original indicative results.

Each antivirus product went through the test cycle several times. After this, the original state of the system was restored using a system image, including installed applications. The test is then repeated again, the system is rebooted, and the series of tests performed is repeated. The computer is rebooted and tested several times, then the system is restored using the image, and the procedure begins again. After all, there are a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 individual results for each individual test. For 90 test steps for each antivirus, between 1,800 and 3,600 individual results are recorded. In the stress test, which included 7 test stages, between 12,600 and 25,200 results were actually analyzed, with an average of 19,000 for each product. In testing 23 products, 430,000 test results were obtained.

Choosing an antivirus

You don't have to have an old device to wonder about a lightweight antivirus. Some modern budget models also require undemanding protection. The antivirus program itself has a lot to do: monitor running processes, check downloaded files, etc. All of this requires resources, which may be limited. Therefore, it is worth choosing those antiviruses that offer basic security tools, and the less such a product will have additional functions, the better in this case.

Avast Free Antivirus

Avast Free Antivirus is a free Czech antivirus that does not overload the system. Has various auxiliary functions for convenient work. This program can be easily customized to your liking by “throwing away” unnecessary components and leaving only the essentials. Supports Russian language.

Download Avast Free Antivirus

As you can see in the screenshots, Avast consumes few resources in the background.

When checking the system, it’s a little more, but when compared with other antivirus products, this is a completely normal indicator.

Read also: Comparison of Avira and Avast antiviruses

AVG

Easy to use, AVG effectively combats various threats. Its free version has basic tools, which are enough for good protection. The program does not heavily load the system, so you can work calmly.

Download AVG for free

The load on the system in normal mode with basic protection is small.

AVG also doesn't consume much during the scanning process.

Dr.Web Security Space

The main function of Dr.Web Security Space is scanning. It can be performed in several modes: normal, full, custom. Also, there are tools such as SpIDer Guard, SpIDer Mail, SpIDer Gate, firewall and others.

Download Dr.Web Security Space

The antivirus itself and its services do not consume many resources.

The situation is similar with the scanning process: it does not critically load the device.

Comodo Cloud Antivirus

The famous free cloud defender Comodo Cloud Antivirus. Perfectly protects against all kinds of Internet threats. The laptop doesn't load much. Compared to AVG or Avast, Comodo Cloud requires, first of all, a more stable Internet connection to provide full protection.

Download Comodo Cloud Antivirus from the official website

When tested, it does not critically affect performance.

Along with the antivirus, other auxiliary software is installed, which does not take up much space and does not eat up a large number of resources. You can delete it if you wish.

Panda Security

One of the popular cloud antiviruses is Panda Security. Has many settings, supports Russian. Takes up quite a bit of space and consumes minimal resources. The only negative, if you can call it that, is the need for a stable Internet connection. Unlike Comodo Cloud Antivirus, this product does not automatically install additional modules.

Download Panda Security antivirus

Even when scanning files, the antivirus does not load the device. This defender launches several more of its services, which do not consume many resources.

Microsoft Windows Defender

Windows Defender is Microsoft's built-in antivirus software. Starting with Windows 8, this software is installed by default as a means of protection against various threats, and is not inferior to other antivirus solutions. If you do not have the opportunity or desire to install other software, then this option is suitable for you. Windows Defender automatically starts after the system is installed.

The screenshot shows that the defender does not consume many resources.

During a full scan, it does not significantly load the system.

Other methods of protection

If you cannot or do not want to install an antivirus, then you can get by with a minimal set, which can also ensure system security, but to a lesser extent. For example, there are portable scanners Dr.Web CureIt, Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, AdwCleaner and the like, which can be used to check the system from time to time. But they cannot provide full protection and prevent infection, since they work after the fact.

We continue to explore valuable statistics from the AV-TEST antivirus testing laboratory. In one of the previous materials we talked about, and in this article we will consider another pressing issue - antiviruses for Windows 10. Moreover, we will evaluate them by important characteristic: performance.

Antivirus performance on Windows is a sore subject; there are often cases when the system and antivirus software literally fight with each other for processor resources, RAM and Internet connection. Briefly: if you consider the rating of antiviruses specifically in relation to Windows 10 and specifically from the point of view of performance, you can find out a lot of new names and get a lot of truly confusing results.

AV-TEST assessed antiviruses on an Intel Xeon X3360 @ 2.83 GHz computer with 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive and installed Windows 10 Home using five system slowdown tests, each of which was performed with the antivirus running. Let's look at the results.

1st place: АhnLab V3 Internet Security

Many of us have never heard of the leader in the performance table according to AV-TEST. Tests call the best antivirus for Windows 10 in terms of performance a little-known Korean product.

AV-TEST statistics claim that AhnLab practically does not slow down standard Windows 10 operations: copying files (both locally and over the network) when the antivirus is running is slowed down so minimally that it can be neglected; the same can be said about the processes of installing programs, downloading files from the Internet and launching standard Windows programs. Only site loading slows down slightly, but only 1% more than the industry average. At the same time, the antivirus detects 100% of malware from 10,684 virus samples collected on the Internet over the past 4 weeks.

AhnLab V3 Internet Security - impact on Windows 10 performance

Test	Number of samples	Result
	39	12%	11%
	20	4%	4%
	12	8%	15%
	19	7%	26%
	7 915	2%	7%

Data: AV-Test

2nd place: Avira Antivirus Pro

To our no less surprise, the second place in the ranking of the fastest antiviruses for Windows 10 is occupied by the paid version Avira.

Avira Antivirus Pro

With Avira on board, files in Windows 10 are copied only 3% slower than without antivirus. Loading sites and downloading files also slows down so slightly that it can be ignored. Standard Windows applications launch about 18% slower when Avira is running, and third-party programs install almost half as fast as the industry average.

At the same time, Avira cannot be called the best antivirus for Windows 10 - only one of the fastest. In terms of anti-virus scanning, Avira does not do a great job: out of 10,684 fresh viruses, the scanner finds about 97%.

Avira Antivirus Pro - impact on Windows 10 performance

Test	Number of samples	Result	Industry average
Delay when opening websites	39	8%	11%
Delay when downloading files	20	8%	4%
Delay when starting standard programs	12	18%	15%
Delay when installing third-party programs	19	12%	26%
Delay when copying files	7 915	3%	7%

Data: AV-Test

3rd place: Bitdefender Internet Security

It is also not the most popular antivirus among Russian users, but it has good test results specifically on Windows 10. Bitdefender Internet Security ranks third in terms of performance in the top ten antivirus rankings.

Bitdefender Internet Security

Bitdefender is the most liberal antivirus in terms of downloading and copying files on Windows, which it has virtually no effect on at all. Installation of third-party programs is also half as fast as the industry average. But the antivirus scans the websites that are opened meticulously, resulting in a delay of as much as 15% compared to the opening speed without an antivirus. The antivirus test passes 100% to detect new malware.

Bitdefender Internet Security - impact on Windows 10 performance

Test	Number of samples	Result	Industry average
Delay when opening websites	39	15%	11%
Delay when downloading files	20	1%	4%
Delay when starting standard programs	12	6%	15%
Delay when installing third-party programs	19	13%	26%
Delay when copying files	7 915	2%	7%

Data: AV-Test

4th place: Kaspersky Internet Security

But our native Kaspersky is located on the fourth line of the rating. Some will be surprised (like us) why only fourth with such indicators, others - how did it even end up in the top of the fastest antiviruses, but the fact is a fact: on Windows 10 Home full version Kaspersky Internet Security detects 100% of the viruses offered to it and at the same time works extremely quickly.

Kaspersky Internet Security

Thus, Kaspersky does not slow down downloading files from the Internet at all - from the word “at all”. Files download at the same speed as without antivirus. Copying files goes almost unnoticed, and launching standard programs and installing third-party ones is half as fast as the industry average. Loading sites is also quite fast. And yet, the fourth line of the rating, although we would readily give him the first.

Test	Number of samples	Result	Industry average
Delay when opening websites	39	13%	11%
Delay when downloading files	20	0%	4%
Delay when starting standard programs	12	6%	15%
Delay when installing third-party programs	19	14%	26%
Delay when copying files	7 915	4%	7%

Data: AV-Test

5th place: McAfee Internet Security

Closes the top five among the best antiviruses for Windows 10 McAfee Internet Security, free version which many inadvertently try together with Adobe Flash Player. Here, however, we are talking about a full-fledged paid version.

McAfee Internet Security

McAfee, although it passes the virus detection test 100%, already gives a fairly noticeable delay when installing programs: 30% slower than without an antivirus. But it allows you to open websites and download files from the Internet faster than anyone else. Copying is generally slower than the industry average. Standard programs launch quite quickly.

Kaspersky Internet Security - impact on Windows 10 performance

Test	Number of samples	Result	Industry average
Delay when opening websites	39	7%	11%
Delay when downloading files	20	1%	4%
Delay when starting standard programs	12	5%	15%
Delay when installing third-party programs	19	30%	26%
Delay when copying files	7 915	11%	7%

Data: AV-Test

Other candidates

Three little-known products also show good performance results: MicroWorld eScan Internet Security Suite, PC Pitstop PC Matic And VIPREAdvancedSecurity. However, the first one falls far short of the mark in malware detection, the second one suffers from false positives, and the third one, to our surprise, works brilliantly - 100% of viruses detected, and performance in certain tests is even higher than that of McAfee and Avira - but why -few people know.

VIPRE Advanced Security

Favorite by Russian users Avast Free Antivirus in terms of performance, it sags somewhat, in particular due to the slow launch of standard Windows system applications and incomplete detection of malware. Otherwise, all the indicators are quite decent - we would give him a place without any special complaints Avira.

"Native" Microsoft Windows Defender does not shine in the tests, since it slows down the installation of applications by almost half as much as the installation speed when Windows Defender is disabled (by 42%), and besides, it generates false positives too often.

Memorabilia for experienced PC users Norton Internet Security And ESET Internet Security- quite “heavy” guys. The second one especially distinguished itself, as it manages to slow down the launch of the simplest system applications by as much as 60%.

With the development of information technology, computers and laptops have become an attribute of human everyday life. Thanks to devices and the Internet, users can receive useful information, communicate with friends and acquaintances, and relax after a hard day at work. Unfortunately, there is a high probability of “catch” viruses. To protect your computer, it is recommended to install an antivirus.

When the question arises about installing antivirus software, many users do not know which antivirus loads the operating system the least. To find a solution, you need to analyze several products. At the same time, we should not forget that the characteristics of the computer play an important role.

Preparing for the experiment

Processor – 2.8 GHz;
RAM – 2 Gb;
Hard drive – 320 Gb.

The following products will be used as tested antiviruses:

Kaspersky Internet Security.
Dr. Web.
Avast.
Qihoo 360 Internet Security.
Microsoft Security Essentials.

Antivirus testing

The second step of testing was the launch of games. In game mode, some antiviruses show virtually no activity, while others, on the contrary, consume system resources as much as possible.

Don't forget to visit online resources. It is best to open websites that have animations and pictures of good quality. In addition, scripts and viruses that camouflage themselves on the pages of a website will be a good tool for testing.

The next step is to copy large files from one folder to another. Some antiviruses begin to actively scan folders and files that are copied to a new location.

The final stage of testing will be scanning the hard drive and identifying viruses. Please note that media load directly affects scanning time, as well as resource consumption.

Test results

Besides everything Dr. Web starts checking the system when the computer is idle. During this period, the system load is about 30%.

Which antivirus to choose

According to the experiments carried out, it can be distinguished. It turned out to be the fastest product that hardly loads the system. In addition, the defender copes well with his immediate tasks. The application finds viruses both on the Internet and on removable media. Of course, such giants as Kaspersky or Dr. Web are better at protecting your computer, but unfortunately, they require serious resources.

Users with a large amount of RAM and a powerful processor should consider serious complexes, but for “average” users it is best to choose Avast or Qihoo 360.

Do antiviruses slow down the system?

Of course, there are also products that unreasonably consume system resources. These “Defenders” include:

Threat Track VIPRE;
Quick Heal;
Norman Security.

The AV-Test laboratory tested 23 antiviruses on a computer with the following characteristics:

Processor – Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz;
RAM – 4 Gb;
HDD – 500 Gb.

As a result, the best antivirus had a score of 5.1 points, and the worst one had a score of 13.9.

According to the results, the leading positions were taken by Kaspersky Internet Security and Bitdefender antivirus.

Conclusion

To avoid problems with an antivirus, it is best to consider its minimum system requirements, as well as how well it copes with protection. After careful analysis and comparison, you can make a choice.

Which antivirus loads the system the least?

It goes without saying that in our computerized age, protecting information or entire systems from is extremely necessary. 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 look at the lightest antiviruses and, based on the test results, determine what is best suited to provide protection today.

Safety comes first!

As for antivirus software, now you can find not dozens, but hundreds of options. Of course, it will not be possible to consider all of them, especially since in terms of functionality they are completely unequal to each other.

Therefore, we will focus on several of the most famous software products. Perhaps the comparative results will tell someone which is the lightest antivirus for XP or server Windows versions. Let’s immediately make a reservation that the same “expert” system, although it still remains a very popular and in-demand system, is nevertheless hopelessly outdated. However, a solution will be proposed for this too.

The lightest antiviruses: main aspects of testing

Of course, not every person who constantly works with a computer can afford to purchase the most modern configuration with a powerful multi-core processor chip, a large amount of RAM, a modern video card, etc. Therefore, let's see what tests show for the lightest antivirus for a computer with average configuration. Let's take 4.1 GB of RAM and an 80 GB hard drive as a basis. I think this will be just right for testing.

As for the main tests, let's look at the performance of several independent laboratories. Among the checks we highlight the following:

parallel work with resource-intensive applications;
threats from unsafe sites;
speed of copying or moving data on the hard drive;
work in the background.

Kaspersky Internet Security

So, before us is one of the most famous anti-virus packages of our time. Many may object. Why was it necessary to include a Kaspersky Lab software product on 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, look quite encouraging. This primarily concerns identifying potential threats when browsing the Internet or installing any software. However, along with this there are also obvious disadvantages. So, for example, the loading time of the system itself increases significantly; after it starts, it takes a long time to connect via a Wi-Fi connection; when downloading files using the same torrent client, the saving time to disk is quite long. This is due to checking content in real time. By the way, Kaspersky is the only package for which this time is off the charts.

When accessing the hard drive (copying files), there is a clear slowdown in operation. Not critical, but still there. And when you launch the Photoshop package, the system actually starts to slow down in earnest (the antivirus itself consumes too much RAM). So to say that this is the lightest antivirus for a laptop or desktop terminal is beyond words. In principle, it can be used if you do not work with heavy applications in parallel. But in terms of protection, it is among the leaders, even despite the increased load on system resources.

ESET Smart Security

Another major player in the antivirus software market is the Smart Security package from ESET. 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 is increased, in addition, the initial check of automatically loaded components takes quite a long time (this is especially noticeable in Windows XP). The protection generally showed good results even with the Anti-Theft function turned off. There are no delays when accessing the hard drive, and there are no problems with the speed of Internet access either; however, when launching Skype, the application takes quite a long time to load. 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 its maximum peaks only at moments of renewal antivirus databases and initial scan. You can and should use it, too, but you can’t call it the fastest, although compared to Kaspersky it’s 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 prompts you to install your own firewall, which you should not do under any circumstances, since conflicts with the native Windows firewall may arise and a significant increase in the load on the system. The system loads quite quickly (according to the report, approximately 60-65 seconds), but in reality it takes much longer for access to the hard drive to stop completely. Working in parallel with Photoshop is almost impossible; the Wi-Fi network takes a little longer than usual when connected, but in everything else the performance is quite high.

Now the fly in the ointment. As it turned out, the 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 only occurs when using standard default settings. If you disable everything unnecessary, you can get high-quality protection.

Avira Antivirus Pro

Avira makes a pretty good impression. In principle, in terms of its performance, the antivirus is somewhere in the middle of the list. Its only problem is running resource-intensive applications. With Photoshop this is not too pronounced, but some refuse to work with guest (child) operating systems (at least when they are launched for the first time).

In general, it cannot be said that this is the lightest, however, in quality reliable protection can be used (especially since it’s unlikely that anyone will install a virtual machine on weak machines). To describe it briefly, it’s a good, solid average.

Avast Internet Security

As for this software product, it scored true in almost all indicators; some errors were noticed when identifying potential threats.

But when launching Photoshop or accessing the hard drive, monitoring the load on the system showed unprecedented results. For example, RAM consumption 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 enabled by default in the settings. However, it won't be difficult to turn it off.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Finally, the native brainchild of Microsoft Corporation. As testing shows, it must also be included in the “Lightest antivirus” list. Since Windows systems are the most common in our country, it fits them almost perfectly, because who, if not the creators of this family of operating systems themselves, knows what kind of holes in the security system they have. In addition, when using this package, conflicts in the firewall are eliminated.

In all other respects, the result can be called satisfactory, except for the excessive load on the system when accessing the hard drive. Sometimes, when installing third-party programs, false positives may occur, because some of them try to make the necessary changes to system files.

Which antivirus is the lightest?

What do the results of the test, in which the lightest antiviruses were presented, say? Avast demonstrates the best overall performance. First of all, there is virtually no 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, I think it is ideal. In addition, if we do not take into account the technical aspects, we can say that Avast is the easiest free antivirus. But most programs must either be purchased or constantly activated when using even shareware versions.

On the other hand, today there is not a single program that would meet high security requirements, and at the same time not load the system. And, of course, other well-known antiviruses like Bitdefender and those based on it were not considered here, due to the fact that the antivirus itself is too power-hungry, and its modifications like 360 Security, although they work quite quickly, do not provide the proper level of protection, and even often give false alarms. However, what exactly to use is a purely personal matter.