Anti-virus software is used among other reasons to provide real-time protection against viruses just as the name suggests, and also malware that may attack your computer. Such viruses and malware may result in front clicking non trusted sites, links and text, spam emails, or performing certain commands on your computer, many people wonder whether antivirus software like Avast slows down computers. Let us know “Does Avast Slow Your Computer Down?”
Avast Antivirus software slows down due to real-time protection features. This might be due to various other add-ons being installed in the system which makes the system slow as well. Avast Antivirus incurs overhead in scanning your computer. Avast is pretty lightweight. To avoid your computer from slowing down, it’s recommended you use Kaspersky, Bitdefender or windows defender as these all have lower overhead than Avast, thus won’t slow your PC down as much, but windows defender provides very poor protection.
Avast Slowing Your Computer Down
Although Avast may slow your computer down, that, however, depends also on the pc on which it is running. The real-time protection facility by Avast activates more “services” in your pc for better protection. If the system can handle these services (i.e., good ram and memory management), you won’t feel anything in your pc. Otherwise, you may feel a little slow. That’s all but activating Avast antivirus real-time protection is always good as it detects threats / any unwanted programs easily without manual scanning!
Being an Avast user, and having installed Avast Premium for total protection, the first experience using it can be heartbreaking! It always blocks you, popping up SSL certificate requirements, and then it is not able to stop the pop-up ads which the ad blocker does very efficiently for free. It requires frequent updates to scan your pc and it slows down your pc.
You need to have a pc/laptop with a better configuration e.g., RAM, processor etc. to have such big antivirus software like Avast to run, or else it may slow your computer down. Avast Antivirus and other antiviruses like McAfee and Kaspersky when installed have a lot of services and tasks running in the background. They monitor every type of activity, which is why it may slow your computer down especially if your computer runs on a relatively low RAM and other specs requirements.
Any antivirus programme including Avast has to, by definition, scan every file on the pc and depending on the settings, every file that gets written to the pc. It may be that the settings are too “aggressive”, hence Avast slowing down your pc.
Another potential issue could be that you have a second antivirus package such as windows defender running at the same time. Generally, it’s the best idea to only have one running. For example, you can have a paid antivirus service but also run the free version of Malwarebytes on the side. It is recommended to run a secondary antivirus program as a backup. Run it once in a while as a backcheck.
The same applies to any type of security solution. Each layer may add a small delay, if that delay is worth reducing the myriad of risks you may face online, then there is nothing to be concerned about. Either you in invest in other ways to speed up your browser by using a faster machine and or connection, or you invest in a security with less impact on your computer. Alternatively, you can be using another OS like Mac that comes with a more efficient antivirus.
There is a lot of antivirus software, like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, ESET nod32, trend micro, Norton, Avast, Avira, avg, f secure, k7, McAfee, quick heal etc. Using some antivirus software like Avast, you may notice some changes on your pc.
Yes, Avast is slowing down your pc and can affect your PC’s performance very badly. However not just Avast, most antivirus software will slow down your pc. While doing daily tasks this slowdown may not be at a noticeable level with a decent pc, however, you can easily notice the slowdown while playing games.
Every anti-virus incurs overhead in scanning and behavioural analysis. Avast is pretty lightweight. Avira is also low overhead. Avg is more of a burden than these 2.
Precautions To Take to Prevent Avast from Slowing Your Pc Down
If you have a slow system, say with a hard drive or with just a dual-core CPU or something, Avast may slow down your machine. Therefore, here are some precautions to take to speed your pc up.
- It’s suggested you dial back the settings of Avast or any anti-virus to not have active monitoring on and maybe even turn off anti-malware.
- Or you can totally abandon a 3rd party anti-virus and just trust windows defender. But for that, you need to be incredibly smart, vigilant and careful and respect every little warning from windows defender. Otherwise, better just to dial back your anti-virus/malware
- It’s always best to use a paid anti-virus version that will support you when you are infected or if you need any assistance with the computer.
- You can shut it down though. Once you run it, go to the system tray (in windows 10 it looks like an up arrow, the bottom right-hand corner of the screen in the taskbar) and right-click on its icon and there is an option to exit the program. By doing this you can speed up your computer and solve any interference between programs. Please be warned though; when you shut down an antivirus program it no longer protects you. You want at least one virus program running for your protection.
- Some users have claimed the free antivirus from Avast has sapped the life out of their PC’s battery life. A battery saver is automatically enabled when you run Avast. There are different presets that change the level of protection that the Avast anti-virus offers.
Best Antivirus Apart from Avast That won’t Slow Down Your Computer
Because, in general, anti-virus programs like Avast, are written very poorly for windows OSs and require vast system resources to do anything useful on the computer. This means that for the minor benefits they provide, they will slow every single thing you do down.
- Anti-virus programs on windows have always been essential and the competition is fierce, meaning that there is a huge amount of pressure to make them useful, effective, and efficient. As a result, there are many good ones for windows, including Kaspersky, Bitdefender and Sophos.
- K7. You can check k7 antivirus products. It takes only low memory in your pc which is good in that it won’t slow down your pc. It will not slow down the pc because it doesn’t need large memory to run on your pc.
- Quickheal. Quick heal total security has technical capabilities that make it one of the safest antiviruses that will slow down your computer. Such technical capabilities include its pre-installation memory scan which helps systems restore.
- AVG. Avg is awesome in detection but the main drawback is it deletes the file, while quick heal and Avast have the option of quarantine & chest respectively, from where you can restore the file (it’s very useful for gamers using cracks and patches: p)
- Norton. You might consider using Norton if you have an isp e.g., Comcast Comcast provides Norton for free.
- Kaspersky. It has a relatively higher performance than Avast. However, it has an extremely high overhead.
Conclusion
Working in the office can be a daunting task mostly when your whole computer gets encrypted by ransomware. Using Avast; they have a sound detection system that can detect malware, viruses and other infections via their behaviour. But you may notice throughout the years that Avast may slow your pc down due to its high config nature, especially if your pc runs on low ram and inferior processor and system requirements. You can use a device with better specs config, or another OS e.g., Mac. Also, you can stop other Avast settings like automatic updates. Otherwise, alternative antivirus includes Kaspersky, Bitdefender etc. They have one of the best detection ratios of most antivirus software, automatically scan all emails for malware, defend against internet browser scripts, and don’t annoy you with marketing messages that slow down your pc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: Does Avast offer a security update?
Yes, Avast offers security updates, so you’re not likely to be left offline should any issues arise with the OS or other apps you’re using
Question 2: How much does Avast security cost?
For the baseline security package you get, Avast’s subscriptions start from £2.49 ($3) a month. This gets you a 5/5 rating in all antivirus security tests, as well as 24/7 tech support. Alternatively, a lifetime license, which is the best-value option, costs £6.99 ($9.70) a month.
Question 3: How good is Avast antivirus for computers?
The antivirus: is pretty good, it’ll get rid of most of the stuff you accidentally download with no problem. The free version isn’t too bad, there are extra features that come with the subscription that is worth it for extra protection from viruses and malware. The browser on the other hand just slows down the startup of your pc if you let it turn on at startup.
