An antivirus that doesn't slow anything down?

I've used the Norton Antivirus/Internet Security series and now I'm using AVG free, but with both I get the same annoying as hell problem:

When I used Norton, I would notice all these small slowdowns that really built up. Whenever I opened a word document, PDF, powerpoint, etc, there would be about 1-3 seconds of lag (depending on the file size) during which Norton would scan the file for viruses or whatever. When I disabled Norton, there would be no such lag. The file would just open instantly.
Whenever I opened a file or web browser, there would be a similar 3-5 seconds of lag during which Norton would run its little gnomes through my computer. When I disabled Norton, they opened fast and opening new tabs would cause no delays.
When I browsed through my huge archives of files and folders, my progress would be SUBSTANTIALLY slowed when I had to click through a bunch of folders because Norton was OCD and wanted to touch all of them before continuing. When I disabled Norton, I could just breeze through them instantly.

Now with AVG Free, I'm experiencing similar results. Opening files takes just that tiny bit longer, opening new tabs in firefox causes a little bit more delay, etc etc. It's really quite annoying that I can't just use a **** antivirus or general security program without this buildup of small delays.

I'm on a notebook with XP Pro, Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (2.20GHz), and 2GB of RAM.

Right now, when the only things I have open are firefox and AVG running in the background, I'm using about 600 MB of memory, so I don't think lack of memory is the issue. I don't notice the memory usage going up to any significant margin whenever I do any of these small tasks. I'm confident that even if I had 20GB of RAM and an OS/hardware that could utilize all of it, I would STILL have this issue because whenever Norton/AVG wants to scan something (which is all the time), it stops everything else until it's done scanning. It's just an annoying built-in pause that these antivirus programs use to scan things.

And I mean, maybe a normal person wouldn't even notice these things. But I seriously like to streamline and min/max the performance of my computers as much as possible with their given hardware so this sort of thing really irritates me to no end.

So my question is, WHAT CAN I DO? I'm open to all suggestions. Are there antivirus programs that WONT do this? I'm switching to Vista very soon, so will my experience be different at all? Is there a function to just disable this constant scanning in Norton or AVG? Anything!?

Thanks in advance NBR :]

 

no, they are all the same in that they need to scan files, that's the point of running it in auto-protect, no? That's like asking an air filter to not reduce air flow yet remove anything in the air. It has to get in the way to do it's work. Unfortunatley for you, I guess.

 

avast is really good.. and no slowdowns

 

NOD32, you won't notice any lag at all. Avast is the best of the Free AV when it comes to any lag.

 

Eset Smart Security 3.0.669.0 with NodLogin 9.7 for unlimited updates.
This is simply the best AV i have used, its only 20mb

 

Aright I'll give Avast a try and if that doesn't work I'll look into Eset products.
Thanks for the info

 

I got avast as well and never had a problem.

 

I use Avira and it doesn't slow anything down. Uses very low resources

 

I use NIS2008, haven't noticed any slowdown.
I do run a notebook with higher specs than yours, so that could be the reason.

 

Avira doesn't slow anything for me.

 

I haven't noticed any slow downs either. Scanning files is quick.

avagent.exe 1138k peak 54,780
avguard.exe 2984k peak 72,936

2GB RAM

 

+1 for Avira...its light and unintrusive....though unlike Avast it does not scan emails but it does scan any files that you may open from emails...works for me...updates daily...some say it has an annoying pop up reminder (to upgrade to pro version) which is really a non issue - it can either be disabled or its just a matter of one click...It also is said to score well on AV tests as reported at various instances on various threads on this forum.

Cheers!

 

It does have that annoying pop-up thing, at least on the two computers I've installed it on instead of Norton's. On my main notebook, I have to use Norton's so I don't crazy from the full screen "UPGRADE" pop-ups.

 

Yes it does...there are ways to get rid of it...and if you don't its just a matter of one click! But then again, your mileage may vary!

 

I've used the NODLogin 9.7 crack, and now I'm having a 'I own you, Bitc*! pop-up all over my screen...
Does anyone know what the 'I own you, Bit*h!' rootkit does?....
Is the NodLogin 9.7 crack bad?
Why am I gettin' warnings about a trojan?
Why is my bank account emptied?
Why is my credit rating below zero?

Sigh....

 

One word:


Kaspersky

 

Of the free ones Avira is the lightest.

 

All the warnings go unheeded....

Even in my signiture

Cant do more than that.

A fool is always a fool..Cannot change that.

 

Haha, I've been tempted to do that, but then just went with Avira. When I got my 1530, it came with Norton's, and I'm digging it.

 

I would give AVG another shot, options:
. disable the link scanner functionality in the configuration or
. uninstall it and re.install it, only this time make sure that you disable the built-in linkscanner option at the command line BEFORE the installation. AVG homepage shows how to do this

cheers ...