Best antivirus for slow (old) PC

[vitinho444]

Hey guys, today i had enough of AVG.. Just could take it anymore.. it was slowing down my pc for the amount of RAM it's using. I have a 1gb RAM, 6-7 year old ASUS and the slowness (does this word exist?) is so painful that i can't even watch a youtube video without firefox or chrome "not responding".

So now im AV free.. i would continue but the pc is not used by me most of the time, it's by my dad.. and he's that kind of person that knows 0.000001% of pcs, basically he knows how to boot it and open IE (Internet Explorer that's right!!) and check his email. So i want to keep him protected from the Internet sh*t. He even installed 2 toolbars yesterday wtf?

What you guys recommend as a "good" and lightweight Antivirus?

PS: It doesn't need to be so lightweight to the point that it's nothing more than a VB.NET program that checks the computer for files called "virus" xD

[a_bertrand]

Microsoft own solution is the one I use since a couple of years and is the one which seems to be the lightest on resources. But all depends on which version of windows you run

[vitinho444]

You mean Windows Defender? I'm using Windows 7 on this pc. It's a bit overkill (not sure if im using the word correctly) since this pc is old, the problem here is the RAM.. Idle it's always on 60% ..

[hallsofvallhalla]

None plain and simple. Using anti virus is like walking around in a bullet proof vest. Unless you are walking around in bad neighborhoods or call shady people bad names then you don't need it. It's hot and cluncky to wear. Stay in safe areas, be nice, and no worries. All of my PCs, including my 6 year olds have been running with no anti virus and there has been no issues. Not even going to knock on wood.

[vitinho444]

Hum, you have a point.. The problem is that my dad has no experience, i know he doesn't download anything.. sometimes i do visit some websites... *cof* piratebay *cof*

Is there any virus that can infect us without any downloads?

PS: When im downloading a jpg file and comes a .exe im not stupid enough to open it, or even to let the download finish.

[hallsofvallhalla]

I use pirate bay all the time. Torrent != illegal. There are tons of legal torrents, but anyways it is all about discipline and being careful. Down't download anything unless you truly know what it is.

[vitinho444]

I know torrent != illegal but most of it is

I only download torrents with lots of seeds, and i prefer those that are uploaded by VIP or Trusted users. But "cracks" may content some kind of rat or trojan horse that sleeps away ..

Not to sound very pirate, but what are the legal things in tpb?

[a_bertrand]

Search for Microsoft Security Essential. It's free for windows 7 and included in windows 8.

BTW torrent even with loads of seed can contain virus or backdoors. Personally I would consider this as an high risk thing.

[vitinho444]

Yeah but the trusted and VIP members usually don't have that.

I will use that windows essentials it should be light as it's a windows "plugin". But halls i 100% feel you..

[Jackolantern]

NOD32 by ESET has the smallest footprint of all anti-virus, using less than 4% of the resources of a modern machine (probably less than 10% of an older machine). It is quite powerful, too!