One of the programs that should always be running on our computer is the antivirus. This is the essential security software that every PC should have, especially if it is connected to the Internet. The antivirus is responsible for analyzing the connections and all the files that reach our PC in order to detect, and eliminate, any possible threat that could endanger us. The problem with having security software running in the background is that it is constantly using the CPU and wasting memory. And that translates, above all, into a loss of performance. Therefore, when choosing a program to protect ourselves from malware, it is necessary to choose one that consumes the fewer resources the better.
We can always analyze the different antivirus on the market ourselves. However, this is not exactly an efficient or precise practice. The best we can do is resort to specialized platforms, such as AV-Comparatives, that allow us to know in detail the impact of a certain security software on our PC.
Recently, this company has published its new security reports for the most popular antivirus on the market. Thanks to them we will be able to know which AVs consume the most resources, and make our PC go slower, and which ones work best on our computer. Next, we are going to see them in detail.
Antivirus analyzed and tests
This security firm has taken the main antivirus programs on the market to test their performance in the same environment. The company has chosen for testing an Intel i7 system with 8 GB of RAM and SSD with Windows 10 version 1909 64-bit. And the security programs that it has analyzed have been the following:
- Avast Free AV20.8
- AVG Free Antivirus 20.8
- Avira AV Pro 15.0
- Bitdefender Internet Security 25.0
- ESET Internet Security 14.0
- F-Secure SAFE 17.8
- G DATA Internet Security 25.5
- K7 Total Security 16.0
- Kaspersky Internet Security 21.1
- McAfee Total Protection 23.4
- Microsoft Windows Defender 4.18
- NortonLifeLock Norton 360 Deluxe 22.20
- Panda Free Antivirus 20.0
- Total AV Pro 5.8
- Total Defense Essential Antivirus 12.0
- Trend Micro Internet Security 17.0
- VIPRE Advanced Security 11.0
And the tests that have been carried out, measuring the results of each one, have been:
- Copy files.
- Archive / Unarchive.
- Install / Uninstall programs.
- Run programs.
- Download files.
- Browse websites.
- PC Mark 10.
Results: What security software slows down my PC?
In general, nowadays all antivirus are very well optimized . The impact on the performance of the PC is minimal, so the safest thing is that we do not have any type of problem when using the computer. However, is this really the case for everyone?
Most of the antivirus that have been analyzed by AV-Comparatives meet the performance standards without problem; the impact is minimal. Except, specifically, three antivirus.
Norton and Total Defense are the two security software that, although they do not have much impact, they have lagged behind the others, especially in the most basic tasks such as copying files and archiving data.
However, the one with the worst score has been Windows Defender , Microsoft‘s free antivirus that is installed by default in Windows 10. Its performance data leaves much to be desired, especially when working with all types of files. This should make us wonder if this free antivirus is really worth it or, to this day, it still makes sense to opt for third-party security software.
The truth is that the tests have been done on a version of Windows from a year ago, something that can influence the results. But we didn’t expect to see Microsoft’s antivirus drop that low. We hope that the company will put the batteries and reinforce the Achilles heel of this software.
We can see the results obtained by each of the antivirus in more detail from here .