Avast 4.x with P2 128MB RAM Win ME laptop - a few questions

I have an IBM Thinkpad 570 laptop which is used for basic internet applications - email , Ebay etc.

The Thinkpad 570 is running Windows ME and works great :slight_smile:

Previously I was using AVG 7.5 but the latest version does not support Win ME - so I have switched to Avast.

I am actually using Avast 4.7 (not 4.8x) but with the latest VPS virus update. This seems to be working OK but I would be grateful for some feedback on the following:

  • Is it OK to use Avast 4.8 with Win ME and only 128MB RAM? I found that I had to install an older Program version of SuperAntiSpyware (with lastest updates) even though it claims to work OK with Win 98/ME - only when you install SAS does it tell you to install a newer version of Windows!!!

  • I used the Custom install and only installed the “Standard Shield” Resident Protection ie. I excluded Instant Messaging , P2P Shield , Internet Mail , Web Shield etc. Is this OK? I know Resident Protection is useful but I think it will slow down my old laptop too much.

  • Even “Standard Shield” Resident Protection slows down internet searches - I am still on 56K dial up - so I tend to disable this. Is it possible to have Resident Protection set to “off” as the default setting - its automatically always on at boot up

  • Anybody have any other tips for using Avast with an old slow laptop.?..and thank you to the Avast team for maintaining support for Win 98/ME !!!

avast 4.8 is much better (even on memory management) than version 4.7.
You need to install WebShield! The other providers won’t take resources if they’re not used. avast providers is a very intelligent way to have an antivirus loading only the necessary and does not taking that much resources. But if you don’t use that programs, well, you could let things in this way (except WebShield and, maybe, email scanners).

I can’t see how you are up to date with the VPS updates as there have been changes to the VPS update process, which I believe will only work with later versions of avast, e.g 4.8.

The Web Shield is one of the best means of preventative protection against internet malware and hacked sites a much more common occurrence now.

I would recommend finding compatible RAM as 128 really is a minimum I wouldn’t recommend adding another 128 or preferably bringing it up to 512MB (2/256MB) of RAM will make a large difference to your overall system performance.

The standard shield should have zero impact on your browsing as it doesn’t scan internet content, but it will scan newly created files on your system (possibly browser cache, depending on the sensitivity you have it set to), to disable avast completely is in a word crazy.

I’m on dial-up and that too shouldn’t impede browsing to the point that you are having to disable avast, your problem is RAM related and the sooner you find some compatible RAM the better your old system will run.

I left the most obvious to the last, yes you should download and install version 4.8, that shouldn’t make that much difference, but your RAM level is a big issue…

Thanks very much for the helpful feedback.

I’ve now installed 192MB of RAM (128+64MB built in) which is the official max for the Thinkpad 570 - although I think it will take 256MB “unofficially”. There is only one RAM slot.

More RAM does help, but ,like you say, I really need more :slight_smile:

The really slow application is Ebay - its starts OK but then really slows down - I think Ebay’s sucking up memory and not releasing it - but maybe its IE6 not working correctly with Ebay? After a few minutes on Ebay, pages take a few minutes to load - I’ve try a flash block utility (TurnFlash) which helps a bit. I guess I probably need at least 256MB RAM for Ebay?

Anyway , I will install Avast 4.8 and make sure I have the Web Shield installed.

What does the “Standard Shield” actualy do - does it provide limited real time protection for all applications where “Web Shield” is purely focused on the internet?

It’s the core of the antivirus. It’s the file shield, it scans files (applications, documents, etc.) in your computer. Yes, WebShield scans http (Internet) traffic.

@ g8tzl2004

Ebay sucks when you are on dial-up, as it is media intensive and this has nothing to do with avast. If you look at my system, you will see it isn’t lacking in either power or RAM the restricting factor is ebay and dial-up.