Going really light

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by weboweb, Sep 6, 2008.

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  1. weboweb

    weboweb Registered Member

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    Hi folks,

    I'm running on a laptop with modest CPU speed and have decided to get really light with my software. I'm about to do a reformat with an nLited Windows XP installation and am looking for help wrt firewalls but primarily antivirus.

    My plan is to install Ghostwall for a firewall, and I'm thinking of ditching a live antivirus all together and just have an on-demand one available for when I download a suspect file. Two questions:

    A) Am I mad? I just cant justify giving away performance to an antivirus package anymore, since I don't download viruses or run insecure services. I mostly use my laptop for programming (Eclipse), and e-mail / general internetting (K-Meleon - so light and fast!)

    B) If I'm not mad, what scanner do you recommend for on-demand purposes?

    C) Any general suggestions for someone trying to cut down on RAM and CPU usage? I don't really keep up to date on security software so wouldn't know if there's a better solution under my nose.

    Thanks for your help. On my main (faster) desktop system I use Avira Free and Comodo personal firewall based on your suggestions months ago and have been happy with them.
     
  2. emperordarius

    emperordarius Registered Member

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  3. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

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    3 TIPS:

    Try Avira Free and change setting from check at reads and writes to check at writes only. Writing of files smaller than your Harddisk cache will cause no noticable delay for the antivirus check, XP also has a IO cache, so in 95% of teh cases this real time WRITE check will cause no delay (only large data files downloads, for instance when you download movies via the web, will have some noticeable impact on performance).

    Search Wilders for the thread on SURUN and FJXPFileSecExt to create a easy to use Limited User environment and Software Restriction Policy on XP home.

    Have a look at the new Google browser Chrome
     
  4. Kees1958

    Kees1958 Registered Member

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    When developing software without a good backup/restore plan you are definitely mad, otherwise no you are not
     
  5. Atomic_Ed

    Atomic_Ed Registered Member

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    Why not give the new Vipre AV a try?
    http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Home-Home-Office/VIPRE/

    It is super low on resources and still give realtime and antispyware protection too. http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2379&page=2

    They do have an efficient firewall product too that is low on resources and even free trial to see how it runs on your system yourself.
     
  6. HURST

    HURST Registered Member

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    Why not ditch Antivirus?
    There are many GOOD and LIGHT apps: sandboxes, HIPS, behav. blockers, virtualizating, etc...
    Try exploring those other approaches, you'll be safer than ever and you'll be surprized on how light those apps are.
     
  7. dw2108

    dw2108 Registered Member

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    HURST has a VERY, VERY good set of suggestions, and his ideas do not slow you down.

    PC protection is absolutely necessary, especially so with XP having been targeted. So please take HURST's advice!

    Dave
     
  8. Biscuit

    Biscuit Registered Member

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