The easiest antivirus for your computer and laptop

It goes without saying that in our computerized age the protection of information or entire systems from virus attacks is extremely necessary. In other words, any computer, in addition to the built-in means of the system itself, should have at least some more or less functional antivirus. Let's try to consider the lightest antiviruses and, based on the results of the test, we will determine what is the best for protection today.

Security - above all!

As for anti-virus software, now it is possible to find options not tens, but hundreds. Of course, all of them will not be considered, especially as they are completely unequal in terms of functionality.

Therefore, we will dwell on several of the most famous software products. Perhaps, the comparative results and will prompt someone, which is the easiest antivirus for XP or the server version of Windows. At once we will make a reservation that the same "ekspishka", although it remains a very popular and popular system, nevertheless becomes hopelessly obsolete. However, a solution will be proposed for it.

The easiest antiviruses: the 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 graphics card, etc. Therefore, let's see what tests for the lightest antivirus for a computer show Mediocre configuration. As a basis, take the Pentium 4 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 80 GB hard drive. I think that for the tests it will be just right.

As for the basic tests, let us consider the indices of several independent laboratories. Among the checks we will outline the following:

• Parallel work with resource-intensive applications;
• Downloading information from the Internet;
• Threats from unsafe 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 the Kaspersky Lab product in the list? The matter is that, unlike all other antivirus packages, this program is the least demanding for system resources.

The test results on the above configuration are not perfect, but they look quite encouraging. This primarily concerns the identification of potential threats when working on the Internet or when installing any software. However, along with this there are clearly pronounced shortcomings. So, for example, the loading time of the system itself is significantly increased, after its launch, a connection over a Wi-Fi connection lasts for a long time, when downloading files with the same torrent client, the time to save to disk is large enough. This is due to the verification of content in real time. By the way, "Kaspersky" - the only package, which is off this time.

When accessing the hard disk (copying files), there is a clear slowdown in operation. Not critical, but still there. And when you start the package Photoshop, so generally, the system slows down in earnest (the antivirus itself consumes too much RAM). So to say that this is the lightest anti-virus for a laptop or a fixed terminal, the language does not turn. It, in principle, can be used if you do not work with heavy applications in parallel. But for 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 Smart Security from ESET. At the moment, the eighth version of the program is available.

In principle, the behavior of this application somewhat resembles "Kaspersky". The boot time of the system is increased, in addition, the initial check of the automatically downloaded components lasts long enough (this is especially noticeable in Windows XP). Protection in general has shown good results even when the Anti-Fog function is turned off. When accessing the hard drive, there are no delays, there are no problems with the speed of Internet access, however, when the Skype is started, the application is downloaded for a long time. However, if you look at the monitor used resources, you can see that the load is not as great as it might seem at first. The maximum peaks it reaches only at the time of updating the anti-virus database and the initial scan. You can also use it, but you can not call it the smartest, although compared to "Kaspersky" it's heaven and earth.

Dr. Web Security Space

Now one more known package, which is rightly considered one of the best means of protecting computer systems.

What do its results show? Firstly, during installation, the program offers to install its own firewall, which you do not need in any case, since it may cause conflicts with the native firewall Windows and a significant increase in the load on the system. Loading the system is fast enough (if you believe the report, about 60-65 seconds), but in practice until the full stop of access to the hard disk of time passes much more. In parallel with Photoshop, the work is almost impossible, the Wi-Fi network seems to be a little longer for the connection, but in other respects the indicators are quite high.

Now a 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 be increased by 50%. However, this is only observed when using the default settings. If you turn off all unnecessary, you can get quality protection.

Avira Antivirus Pro

Avira makes a pretty good impression. In principle, according to its indicators, the antivirus is somewhere in the middle of the list. Its only problem is the launch of resource-intensive applications. With Photoshop, it is not too much expressed, but here some virtual machines with guest (child) operating systems refuse to work (at least when they first start).

In general, we can not say that this is the easiest antivirus for a weak computer, nevertheless, as a reliable protection can be used (especially on weak machines hardly anyone will put a virtual machine). If you describe it briefly, a good solid average.

Avast Internet Security

With regard to this software product, in almost all indicators, he scored the highest scores, however, some errors were noticed in determining 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 the active mode is only 80-100 MB! The only downside is the excessive talkativeness of the program. Yes Yes! It's talkative, because in the default settings, voice-activated alert mode is enabled. However, to disconnect his work will not be.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Finally, the native brainchild of Microsoft Corporation. As the testing shows, it must also be presented in the list "The lightest antiviruses". Since we have the most common Windows systems, they approach it almost perfectly, because who, if not the creators of this family of operating systems, knows what security holes they have. In addition, when using this package, conflicts in the firewall are avoided.

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 may appear a false alarm, because some of them try to make the necessary changes to the system files.

Which antivirus is the easiest?

What do the results of the test, in which the lightest antiviruses were presented, say? The best overall performance is demonstrated by Avast. First of all, this is practically absent load on the system, even when working with heavy programs. The protection system, of course, is not ideal, but here for weak machines or configurations based on Windows XP, I think 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 in fact most programs need to either buy, or constantly activate when using even shareware versions.

On the other hand, today there is no program that would meet the high security requirements, but still did not load the system. And, of course, there were not considered other well-known antiviruses like Bitdefender and software based on it, because the antivirus itself is too gluttonous, and its modifications like 360 Security, although they work quite fast, but do not provide the proper level of protection, yes And often give a false alarm. However, what exactly to use, this is a purely personal matter.