User question
Good day.
Tell me what antivirus can be installed on an old computer with Windows XP (Pentium-IV 512 MB). I tried Kaspersky Anti-Virus and NOD 32 - after installing them, the system began to slow down so much that it was impossible to work, and the latter barely removed at all ...
Good day!
Quite a relevant topic, it turns out, and you are not the first who asked me such questions ... Many people at home, in the country, at work have rather old PCs (which are already 5-10-15 years old). And often, when installing a modern antivirus, such computers start to slow down and freeze so that it is completely impossible to sit at them.
In this article I will try to recommend a few antivirus products that load the system less than others.
Note: I agree with you, by the way, that Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Nod 32, and DR.Web are quite demanding, and hardly worth recommending for installation on old PCs.
👉 To help!
If you are looking for a browser for your old PC, I recommend another article.
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Antiviruses for a weak computer
Panda cloud
Website: //www.pandasecurity.com/
An excellent free cloud antivirus with fairly low system requirements. It works quietly, imperceptibly, and most importantly - quite reliably.
It is not necessary to set any settings after installation - it usually works out of the box! Antivirus, by the way, "feels" well even on computers with 64 MB of RAM!
Panda Cloud protects your system from the lion's share of threats with state-of-the-art Collective Intelligence technology. Therefore, for the full operation of the antivirus, constant access to the Internet is required - to connect to the cloud, send and analyze information, suspicious files found on your PC.
By the way, in most cases, the installation of the Panda Cloud antivirus has almost no effect on system performance, and therefore is suitable for installation on very weak PCs.
Panda Cloud main window
System requirements:
- OS: Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8/7 / Vista (32 and 64-bit), Windows XP (32-bit) with Service Pack 2 or higher;
- Memory (RAM): 64 MB (Recommended: 128 MB +).
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AVG
Website: //www.avg.com/ru-ru/homepage
Pretty reliable and fast antivirus for Windows. I will add that an antivirus with relatively low system requirements: for example, I have installed it more than once on a PC with Pentium IV 1.5 GHz - it works tolerably, slows down when the system boots (otherwise there are no complaints).
By the way, I will also add that the program, in addition to the PC itself, can be installed on other devices - for example, you can protect your phone with it (which has now become very relevant with the development of Internet payments).
AVG - main window screen
System requirements:
- Processor: Intel Pentium CPU 1.5 GHz or higher;
- RAM: 512 MB (for Windows XP) / 1024 MB (for Windows Vista, 7 and 8) RAM;
- Free space on hard disk: 1.3 GB (for installation).
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Avast Free
Website: //www.avast.ru/
One of the most popular antivirus programs on the Runet! The main advantages of this antivirus: free, provides a good level of security, has all the necessary functions of a modern antivirus: real-time behavioral analysis, CyberCapture cloud technology, browser protection and Wi-Fi connection check.
It is worth noting the rather low system requirements: for normal operation, you need a machine with Windows XP and 256 MB of memory on board (by the way, I will add that with 512 MB of memory, the antivirus works much faster).
AVAST Free - Browser Protection
System requirements:
- Intel Pentium 4 processor;
- 256 MB RAM;
- 2 GB of free hard disk space (for installation);
- Windows XP SP3 / Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 / 10.
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360 Total Security
Website: //www.360totalsecurity.com/ru/
A relatively "young" antivirus, but rapidly gaining popularity. The fact is that the antivirus developers tried to create a product that would not load the system, with a good level of protection (needless to say, this software is built on several antivirus systems: 360 Cloud Scan Engine, 360 QVMII AI Engine, Avira and Bitdefender ).
In addition, 360 Total Security has special modules: acceleration and cleaning.Thanks to them, the system will always be cleaned of junk and temporary files, optimized, and thanks to this, it will work without crashes and freezes ...
360 Total Security - main antivirus window
I will also add that 360 Total Security did a good job of hints: the antivirus will always tell you what to do with the threat found, when to check, when to update, etc.
Recommended system requirements:
- processor not less than 1.6 GHz;
- 512 MB RAM (at 256 MB - the antivirus works, but there are slowdowns ...);
- free hard disk space: at least 600 MB;
- Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8/7 / Vista / XP system.
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Microsoft Security Essentials
Website: //support.microsoft.com/ru-ru/help/14210/security-essentials-download
This program, of course, will not suit the author of the question, but nevertheless I cannot but recommend it within the framework of this article ...
This is a free antivirus package from Microsoft itself. The package allows you to fight against viruses and spyware, adware and Trojans. However, I want to upset Windows XP users right away - the antivirus works in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and higher ...
I should note that Microsoft Security Essentials (Windows Defender) protects the system quite well from most popular threats, and at the same time does not overload it.
Computer state - no protection // Microsoft Security Essentials
System requirements:
- Windows Vista and Windows 7 require a computer with a 1 GHz processor and at least 1 GB of RAM;
- VGA display with a resolution of at least 800x600;
- 200 MB of available hard disk space.
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PS
Maybe this is not politically correct for such an article, but in my opinion, you can do without an antivirus (especially if the computer is weak enough and often slows down).
It is enough to follow a number of simple security rules (do not download software from unknown sources, do not visit various gray sites and sites for adults, etc.), and regularly check your PC with antivirus utilities (CureIT, AVZ, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware).
You can learn more about these utilities here: //ocomp.info/esli-antivirus-ne-vidit-virusov.html
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Additions on the topic are welcome!
I have everything on this for now, good luck to everyone!
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First publication: 16.09.2017
Correction: 01/30/2020
