Most effective security suite?

[unifex]

My question is simple - which security suite is most efficient, namely consumes least resources?

It's clear that every anti-virus software, every real-time protection app slows down the computer.

In particular they slow down downloads - every downloaded file get scanned, this is reasonable practice, however, if you download compressed software installers, then this takes a while, and frankly, if I am downloading something from, say, Microsoft, the probability for such a file being infected is very small. At least, this has never happened to me.

They also slow down file transfers - moving and copying files - between hard drives. It takes sometimes a few extra seconds to complete a file move between different hard drives and that's annoying, especially that it's totally clear that the files are not infected - they were scanned many times already on a machine that never had any infection.

In my experience there are three sources of infection that I have ever noticed. First, one can get some trojans from dubious websites, these the anti-virus usually catches. Second, one can download something from "file-sharing" services, or torrents, or usenet, or something like that. These can be bad altogether, or they can contain bad files in a package deal. Third - never happened to me personally - one can get some infection through some removable media, i.e. from friends and colleagues.

Now suppose one does not do any of the above. Only legit sites, only legit, trusted downloads (from CNET and big vendors only, for example). The computer is behind a hardware (NAT firewall. It would seem, that the usual strictest possible protection were a bit excessive. So how does one optimize the protection? Which security suite is the lightest in terms of resource usage? Or can one live without real-time protection altogether?

 

[Dinesh]

Why didnt you search the forum before posting this? There are hundreds of similar threads.

 

[CarlTR6]

I do not recommend any security suite. For ample protection with the least impact on your system, install Microsoft Security Essentials and turn on Windows Firewall. Download and install Malwarebytes and use it on demand.

 

[brianzion]

hi carl i have to agree with you i had second thoughts about using Microsoft Security Essentials but i am so pleased with how it works and runs glad i ditched KIS and bitdefender and the bonus is its free !!! i cant fault it Microsoft are on the ball with this one works great with windows 7

 

[CarlTR6]

Brian, I am glad it is performing well for you.

 

[Phone Man]

You may want to look at Avast. It has lots of options to customize what is scanned. I use the free version.

avast! - Download Free Antivirus Software or Internet Security

Jim

 

[CarlTR6]

And Avast works well with Win 7.

 

[Corrine]

Hi, unifex.

With the care you take in surfing, I tend to agree with CarlTR6 about suites. That said, I am a beta-tester of ESET Smart Security on one of my computers and have been very pleased with it. On another, I use MSE and fine that effective as well. Of course, no computer of mine ever goes without Scotty, "The Windows Watchdog", WinPatrol.

 

[Phone Man]

Hi, unifex.

With the care you take in surfing, I tend to agree with CarlTR6 about suites. That said, I am a beta-tester of ESET Smart Security on one of my computers and have been very pleased with it. On another, I use MSE and fine that effective as well. Of course, no computer of mine ever goes without Scotty, "The Windows Watchdog", WinPatrol.

I agree. Scotty barks at me all the time. Great program.

Jim

 

[Francis93]

Microsoft Security Essentials. Install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware as your on-demand scanner.

 

[johng]

I like avast too but you do need to configure ir to suit your usage- i had to tune the web shield off as it was slowing my browsing right down.

 

[dobhar]

I'm with Corrine...On my main Win7 rig I use Eset's NOD 32 AV 4.0...it does have Antispyware built in. I'm also running MalwareBytes (full). I also do run SUPERANTISpyware but only as an on-demand scanner. I also rely on the my Win7 Fireware along with my Hardware Firewall in my Router. I have always said, as it was taught to me when I used be be a HijackThis helper, that a layered defense was the best defense along with common sense.

On the rest of my hardware (PC's and Laptops) I'm running NOD 32 on a couple and the rest have Avast. I have run the Comodo Firewall and Antivirus Suite in the past and found them to be quite adequate.

 

[thathagat]

My question is simple - which security suite is most efficient, namely consumes least resources?

well this is a very good review....Lightest AV/IS Test

for example ....here is a snip of boot time with various av/suites

 

[bagavan]

MSE is the best

 

[malexous]

You could take the test posted by thathagat as a starting point. Performance will vary depending on a few factors including the machine it is running on and the version of the product being used.

You are best trying out products until you find one that works well for you.

I personally find the latest Norton products to run really well on my machine.

 

[bagavan]

but norton takes more system resources than MSE rite?

 

[malexous]

Norton uses far less RAM than MSE.

However, unless you have a really old computer, that shouldn't be of concern.

What will cause you to notice an anti-virus these days is the CPU usage and I/O reads/writes.

For me, Norton is low on them.

 

[DirtRider]

Well over the years I have tried a lot of different ones. To date I have not found anything as good as Kaspersky Internet Security and it runs great on Win7

Internet Security Software 2010 for Home Computer Security - Kaspersky Lab United States

I think this will be the one I will stick with from now on

 

[mark39]

Norton uses far less RAM than MSE.

However, unless you have a really old computer, that shouldn't be of concern.

What will cause you to notice an anti-virus these days is the CPU usage and I/O reads/writes.

For me, Norton is low on them.

I agree, with the latest NIS2011 beta on my PC, it is using less than 8MB of RAM!

 

[Phone Man]

but norton takes more system resources than MSE rite?

Check the link that Thathagat posted and look at the Memory usage test. MSE is one of the highest and Norton is near the lower end. Check out all the results. Interesting test and results.

Jim