Antivirus for a 3-year-old laptop

Hello,

I am making the setup of a quite old and slow laptop of a friend of mine.
I need to find a suitable Antivirus software for that PC - it came with Norton, but that makes it really really slow.

I am myself quite happy with Bitdefender, but I am not sure if the new version will be too heavy for that laptop.

Therefore my question is: do you know if i can try to install the new version, or if the older versions of Bitdefender are good, or if you know any other program i could install.

The computer is an Acer Travelmate 2420 with Win XP Home, 256 MB Ram and a Centrino core, of which now I don't really know the frequency.

Thank you!
Simone

 

I have a now 4 years old laptop too - ran XP; now its a personal web server

Anyway, on topic:
It ran well with Kaspersky.
Avira is also said to use little resources in its newest version and is free.

Norton in its newest version is said to be quite light - but I still wouldn't ever use it

One more thng:
You may want to invest in some more RAM - a cheap upgarde that will give you a lot of benefit.
512MB minimum, better 768MB or 1GB depending on how much your chipset supports.

 

wow, thanks for your fast reply.
do you mean the very new version of kapersky? (v. 2009?)
I also have to consider that the friend I am doing this for is really not into computers...so a 1-click-thing is good, and with bit defender i made good experience: install and forget.
yeah, new ram would be good ;-).

Simone

 

When it had XP I ran Kaspersky 7 and 2009 (In fact I ran the whole Internet Security Suite)

There is one "caveat" with Kaspersky - its essential to let the software scan the system once after its installed. On my newer laptop I was wondering why it was slow - because I didn't do a full system scan - did that and no more slow down.

 

I am running KIS 2009 on a 6+ year old Dell Inspiron 8200 lappy. It is now the kids' computer and it runs perfectly fine. XP Pro.

 

Forget Avira/Avast, they're crap. Buy NOD32, it's the lightest of the lot as well. It's on my 6 years old desktop as well, and hasn't given me any problems.

 

Put some memory in it! It wants memory.

 

From what I can find there is nor free Nod 32 - but maybe its hidden...

Avira - using your words - crap - no. I think you should start reading, in a recent anti virus comparison Avira scored high.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report21.pdf (pdf document)

From:
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

 

Obviously - and th OP knows this.

But some Anti virus software will slow down systems never the less. (or is that one word?)

And memory alone will not help.

Obviously lower RAM usage can be advantageous.

Oh, and an addition to Kaspersky Internet Security - KIS 2009 - is afull suite, anti virus, spam, firewall etc. Avira and Nod are just anti virus software.

 

Did the OP ask for a free AV? No, as usual, it's your recommendation! And yes, from Avast/Avira are both crap, no matter what spin this website put on them!

 

No. You are reading my post wrong.
The OP asked for an anti virus for an old laptop.

I recommend Avira as a free software and Kaspersky as paid software.

You are looking for a fight again.

 

Then when I suggested NOD32, why'd you post this witty little comment? -

 

Because you made it sound like free software.

 

What? How?

Admittedly, I made a spelling mistake ("by" instead of "buy"), but where does it say or imply that it's free?

 

Are VirusTotal and AV-Comparatives also spinning results?
I don't think so.
Next time, come with a couple of arguments why they are supposed to be crap.
Or better yet, explain for example why AV testing outfits like those two, are not to be trusted.
Otherwise it's just NOD32 fanboi talk...

 

Do I care which website has what on it? I can only talk from my experience, and if you want me to, I can oblige by putting my memoir here.

 

If you mention a free software and immediately mention another the immediate assumption is that it is also free.

It is generally normal for paid products to be better in some respect than their free counterparts - if they are better in a way that the average user will notice is another question, also the gap is shrinking.

So you labelled free software "crap" and immediately mentioned another product. Therefore by association you expect that product to be free too.

If you would have said the "paid for product" or the "non free product" nod 32 is better that wouldnot have happened.

 

Well there is no standardized test - but independant places can give a good indication.

Also, personal experience alone is a bad indicator.

I had etrust ant virus, no updates and outdated - no viruses.
Then I had CA not the best in comparisons, but no virus either.
No I use Kaspersky and no virus still.

Does that mean etrus ativirus without updates and ancient signatures is as good as current Kaspersky? NO!!!

So, if you had a positive experience its generally good, but mentioning sites like the indepent one I posted above is also a good idea.

 

Ah, right.
Anecdotal evidence -> wild assumptions.
Excellent argumentation.

 

Uh oh, huge words are here, I'm out!

 

Take a look here; http://gladiator-antivirus.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9644

IME, the little known Twister AV and Dr Web are the lightest in real-time and both are fine for older computers.

Both are commercial programs but relatively cheap; Twister for example has a lifetime license.

Of the free AVs, Avira is light but their Servers are sometimes very slow. AVG and Avast may therefore be better options.

 

Nod32 for the win!

 

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus is one of the best options if you don't want to pay. Good detection and very low in resources (not crap at all, as it's been mentioned...).

NOD32 is one of the bests options if you want to pay. Good detection and also light in resources.

 

I think that Kapersky is good because it actually checks for activity patterns as well as viral signatures. I'd say that or Nod32 are both good paid AVs.

If you want to stay free, Avira is a good option.

 

Takes up so little resources. Thats why it wins.

 

I wouldn't pay for anything. I've tried AVG and Avira, and I liked AVG better. Never had a problem with it.

Cheers...