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    Which software for older lappy on XP?

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by pbc, Jan 10, 2009.

  1. pbc

    pbc Notebook Evangelist

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    Wondering what Spyware/virus/firewall combination uses up the least amount of resources?

    Updating my father-in-law's old HP 5615CA which has an Intel Celeron 2.8ghz processor. Upgraded it to 1 gig of ram (the max it can take was two 512mb sticks), and it has a Radeon IGP 345 card, running on XP SP 3.

    He was using an old version of AVG, but for some reason that would grind the laptop to a halt at start up (v7.5). Have removed it. Was going to download possibly Avast, SuperAntiSpyware, and maybe Comodo.

    But was wondering if there was another recco for a laptop that isn't that fast to not slow it down too much?

    Thanks guys!!
     
    pbc, Jan 10, 2009
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  2. pbc

    pbc Notebook Evangelist

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    Actually, didn't realize that AVAST had its own antispyware embedded. Aside from "extra" security, would just AVAST and Comodo be even better for an older laptop that has resource constraints?

    TX
     
    pbc, Jan 10, 2009
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  3. Baserk

    Baserk Notebook user

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    That would be an excellent setup.
    If your father-in-law is using the notebook, the free version of OnlineArmor Firewall is probably a bit easier to use.
    It offers strong protection also (albeit a bit less than Comodo) but it's a tad easier to use.
     
    Baserk, Jan 10, 2009
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  4. pbc

    pbc Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah, I'm debating on the firewall. Think all the pop-ups would freak him out.

    I ended up just putting on AVAST since it says it comes with a spyware utility?

    Unfortunately his old Pentium Centrino 2.8GHz processor is so slow. Startup is painful, have removed just about everything, run BootVis, TuneXP, CCCleaner, etc. Seems the prefetch in particular is incredibly large, 35 seconds at startup compared to about 10 seconds on my old Dell C640 (same era). Grrr.

    Thanks!
     
    pbc, Jan 10, 2009
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  5. purplegreendave

    purplegreendave Has a notebook.

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    Avast! and Threatfire should suffice. I run SAS for peace of mind
    Although, that's far from slow - I'm running XP on a 1Ghz proc, 320MB RAM and an ancient 128MB graphics card.

    Have you done a clean install?
    It (mine) is actually quite snappy.
     
    purplegreendave, Jan 10, 2009
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  6. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I would second doing a clean reinstallation. I've got a 1.3GHz celeron running XPSP3, with only 768MB of PC-2700 RAM (what can I say, it's 6 y.o. by now :eek: ), and also - no laughing here! - running McAfee (which is not up to snuff, and is kludgy, to boot, according to the genii on the forum here, 'though it generally suffices), and I don't have any particularly bad problems with performance (the system is, generally, slower than most, but not to the point where it's unusable, even for some complicated stuff).
     
    Shyster1, Jan 11, 2009
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  7. stick09

    stick09 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Have you tryed buying norton internet security 2009 its £25 in our money from pcworld

    i have just installed it on my laptop as i did have avg free

    my cpu is only a 1.8GHz and my laptop runs fine
     
    stick09, Jan 12, 2009
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  8. pbc

    pbc Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah, was going to do a clean install. But didn't have time. Supposedly my sis-in-law's bf did a new install of Windows XP when he installed a new 5400rpm drive.

    Must have done something wrong, as it is horribly slow.
     
    pbc, Jan 12, 2009
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  9. stick09

    stick09 Notebook Enthusiast

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    might need to defrag it then clean it up abit.

    what programs do you have running when you are useing the laptop?
     
    stick09, Jan 12, 2009
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  10. Cin'

    Cin' Anathema

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    What about RevoUninstaller? I use this on my XP work's just fine :D


    Cin ;) :)
     
    Cin', Jan 13, 2009
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  11. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Just to add:
    On an old Medion - 1,6GHz Pentium M nowadays 1GB RAM too, Kaspersky Internet Security 7 - 2009 seems faster to me on my Vista laptop though.

    i.e. I'd recommend Kaspersky Internet Security 2009
     
    DetlevCM, Jan 13, 2009
    #11