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AR15.COM
10/31/2009 8:45:59 AM EDT
My PC is very slow.  I ran all the spyware stuff I have but it still is loading slow, etc.  Any advice?
10/31/2009 8:55:25 AM EDT
[#1]
Quoted:
My PC is very slow.  I ran all the spyware stuff I have but it still is loading slow, etc.  Any advice?


AVG
10/31/2009 9:04:51 AM EDT
[#2]
Avast .
10/31/2009 9:08:46 AM EDT
[#3]
Quoted:
My PC is very slow.  I ran all the spyware stuff I have but it still is loading slow, etc.  Any advice?


I would not know where to start, to be honest.  But if your running Windows XP, ctrl alt delete to bring up Task Manager(I do not know about vista, but I could probably find out or another poster could inform us).  It will have a bunch of information on the processes running, down at the bottom it will have a number, the number of tasks/exe's running.  Post that number.  Also, later on, you might be able to disable tasks that run at start up that could cause your system to run slow, tweaking what loads up on startup so to speak.

If you have a malware/viruses, you might not be able to bring up task manager.  

You can also go to various anti virus companies sites and have a scan, mcafee, norton, I think microsoft, webroot, etc., all have some type of scan on the homepages/security pages of those companies.
10/31/2009 9:11:12 AM EDT
[#4]
AVira
10/31/2009 9:11:32 AM EDT
[#5]
Run MSCONFIG and go to the startup tab and click "disable all" then go through the list and enable only your antivirus stuff and click "apply"
it will then tell you to restart. Do this and it should help.
10/31/2009 9:13:16 AM EDT
[#6]
AVG
10/31/2009 9:13:52 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:
Quoted:
My PC is very slow.  I ran all the spyware stuff I have but it still is loading slow, etc.  Any advice?


AVG


AVG went Bloatware a while back.  Started becoming a resource sucking pile of crap.    I switched to Avast.  And when it goes that way, I'll switch to something else.   Might go back to Linux on all my systems but I keep a few windoze boxes for some games i'd just rather not fight with on linux.

10/31/2009 9:15:00 AM EDT
[#8]
Try microsoft security essentails. It's new, free, and has worked really well so far.  

http://www.microsoft.com/security  



Edited to add if you PC isjust running slow try defragging your hard drive.  That could help.
10/31/2009 9:15:12 AM EDT
[#9]
Avira
10/31/2009 9:15:44 AM EDT
[#10]
Microsoft Security Essentials





http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?mkt=en-us

 
10/31/2009 9:15:53 AM EDT
[#11]
Snow Leopard.
10/31/2009 9:34:37 AM EDT
[#12]
Quoted:
Snow Leopard.





AVG or Avast and Malware bytes

ETA: I own both mac's and PC's. Buy what you want, don't let someone tell you Mac's wont get viruses. They just aren't popular enough for people to write viruses for, the more popular they become the more viruses that will come out for them.
10/31/2009 9:42:51 AM EDT
[#13]
ESET NOD32 –– it isn't free, but it is fairly inexpensive, very light memory footprint, will run on server platforms too, can hardly tell it is running and it doesn't bombard you with a bunch of messages. Once a day it will flash a small message by the clock saying that is has been updated, but then that is it.
AVG went all bloatware and sucks....





It has been awhile since I tried Avast - but in its early days it wasn't that great.... I hope they improved it.
10/31/2009 9:51:39 AM EDT
[#14]
Avira pissed me off with the ads.

AVG is now bloatware.

Avast is great thus far.



I recommend Avast until something better and faster comes along.
10/31/2009 9:52:31 AM EDT
[#15]
Avast
10/31/2009 9:58:40 AM EDT
[#16]
Quoted:
Microsoft Security Essentials

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?mkt=en-us  

I hope MS's virus detection rate is better than their bug fix response time.

Anyone running this on Windows 7? How does it fare? Any reviews of this out there?
10/31/2009 10:01:37 AM EDT
[#17]
ClamAV
10/31/2009 10:02:26 AM EDT
[#18]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Microsoft Security Essentials

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?mkt=en-us  

I hope MS's virus detection rate is better than their bug fix response time.

Anyone running this on Windows 7? How does it fare? Any reviews of this out there?


we use it at work as one of our tools to scan customer machines. it catches a lot of shit.


i use it on my personal machines at home, and recommend it to customers who cannot afford to buy commercial AV protection
10/31/2009 10:03:14 AM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
Quoted:
My PC is very slow.  I ran all the spyware stuff I have but it still is loading slow, etc.  Any advice?


AVG


AVG is pretty bad. It misses a lot of stuff compared to other programs.

Avira is far better. Just disable the pop ups. I forgot how, but mine doesn't have any. My brother gets them though.

As for online scanner versions (more limited), ESET (NOD32) and Panda Security.


For adaware/spyware, get Super Anti Spyware/adaware and Adaware Free.


All the programs I listed above are free.

AVG and Avira install on your PC and work fine together, so get both. Get both the two spyware/adware programs I listed. Every once in a while, scan with the two online scanners I posted above. Never use one program, especially if it is freeware.


Also, go to start - Msconfig. Look at all the programs coming on at start up. Disable everything you don't want. Do this every time you install a new program. Often times they will turn on at start up without letting you know. This will speed up your PC a lot.

Also defrag your hard drive every now and then.
10/31/2009 10:19:28 AM EDT
[#20]



Quoted:


Avast .






 
10/31/2009 10:38:00 AM EDT
[#21]



Quoted:



Quoted:


Quoted:

My PC is very slow.  I ran all the spyware stuff I have but it still is loading slow, etc.  Any advice?




AVG




AVG is pretty bad. It misses a lot of stuff compared to other programs.



Avira is far better. Just disable the pop ups. I forgot how, but mine doesn't have any. My brother gets them though.



As for online scanner versions (more limited), ESET (NOD32) and Panda Security.





For adaware/spyware, get Super Anti Spyware/adaware and Adaware Free.





All the programs I listed above are free.



AVG and Avira install on your PC and work fine together, so get both. Get both the two spyware/adware programs I listed. Every once in a while, scan with the two online scanners I posted above. Never use one program, especially if it is freeware.





Also, go to start - Msconfig. Look at all the programs coming on at start up. Disable everything you don't want. Do this every time you install a new program. Often times they will turn on at start up without letting you know. This will speed up your PC a lot.



Also defrag your hard drive every now and then.


NOD32 is an installable version - I didn't know they had an online version... hmm... that could come in handy sometime.



 
10/31/2009 10:54:42 AM EDT
[#22]
I doubt it's a virus, if the computer is running slow, do as the folks above have posted.



Run msconfig, go to the startup tab and start disabling stuff you dont use.




10/31/2009 11:05:37 AM EDT
[#23]



Quoted:


ESET NOD32 –– it isn't free, but it is fairly inexpensive, very light memory footprint, will run on server platforms too, can hardly tell it is running and it doesn't bombard you with a bunch of messages. Once a day it will flash a small message by the clock saying that is has been updated, but then that is it.
AVG went all bloatware and sucks....





It has been awhile since I tried Avast - but in its early days it wasn't that great.... I hope they improved it.


+1 to all.  



My parents are running  my old AMD Athlon 2200 w/ 1GB of RAM.  Avast pulls a HELL of a lot of CPU time.  Seems like 25-50%



+1000 to NOD32.  I find it detects better than the popular bloatware like Norton, McAfee, etc  AND its cheaper AND it's not bloatware.



 
10/31/2009 11:08:46 AM EDT
[#24]
I dumped free avg for MSE on all my virtual machines.

So far, so good.
10/31/2009 11:12:58 AM EDT
[#25]
AVast takes less CPU cycles than AVG. Try an online check from TrendMicro or similar. Run SpyBot.
I got the new Norton from Buy.com on a deal - it was rated the lower user of CPU cycles.
10/31/2009 11:13:44 AM EDT
[#26]



Quoted:



Quoted:

Microsoft Security Essentials



http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?mkt=en-us  


I hope MS's virus detection rate is better than their bug fix response time.




Anyone running this on Windows 7? How does it fare? Any reviews of this out there?


Running on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate without any trouble.  I highly recommend this A/V.





 
10/31/2009 1:24:01 PM EDT
[#27]
Quoted:

Quoted:
Quoted:
Microsoft Security Essentials

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?mkt=en-us  

I hope MS's virus detection rate is better than their bug fix response time.

Anyone running this on Windows 7? How does it fare? Any reviews of this out there?

Running on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate without any trouble.  I highly recommend this A/V.

 


+1
10/31/2009 2:47:27 PM EDT
[#28]
Quoted:
Quoted:

Quoted:
Quoted:
Microsoft Security Essentials

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/?mkt=en-us  

I hope MS's virus detection rate is better than their bug fix response time.

Anyone running this on Windows 7? How does it fare? Any reviews of this out there?

Running on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate without any trouble.  I highly recommend this A/V.

 


+1

Hmmm, seems it doesn't use heuristics.
10/31/2009 4:19:49 PM EDT
[#29]
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate is the Ultimate A/V?  


10/31/2009 4:24:22 PM EDT
[#30]
They all have their faults.

http://www.virustotal.com/estadisticas.html

10/31/2009 4:54:15 PM EDT
[#31]
Avast.  I used to would have said AVG but mine quit updating so I changed over.
10/31/2009 6:26:13 PM EDT
[#32]
I've picked up a couple of things with AVG previous version and the new version seems bloated.   I'd go with Avira or Avast for a free AV solution.

(MalwareBytes and Spybot Search & Destroy for the malware/spyware)