WXPPro, FAT32, 15GB HD, Celeron- only @250MB free (and that’s after cleaning it up!).
Hi Folks-
First time Avast user, heard good things about it from the Ccleaner and Techarena forums.
I put Avast Free “slim” version on a laptop I was working on (SP3 crash/trash, DNS & WGA probs, etc.) and it installed @70MB, :o almost twice the size of NIS2009 and AVGF8! (AVG loaded w/o linkscanner). The laptop has 40GB, so that’s OK for now.
This desktop I’m working on now doesn’t have that kind of space. I need something in the 20ish range, like the old (soon to be gone) AVGF7.5 (@15MB). What’s the barebones I can use? Can I install only the AV and Update modules (and maybe spyware if it’s small enough). I don’t think this thing’s online much, mostly used for some photo and music stuff. No SP3 for this one!
Thanks.
First suggestion.
Stop or delay loading any other unnecessary startups / TSR / tray icons that are not necessary from loading using WinPatrol (it’s free). Do the full avast! installation and just don’t worry about it. 
But… avast! is extremely user-configurable. You can custom install any combination of avast! modules, e.g. just the Standard Shield (anout 20MB I think) and email scanner. You can also customise the the on-access scanner (Standard Shield) e.g. unchecking scanning of Windows dll files at startup will speed up booting. Of course, any avast! component you stop or don’t install will slightly reduce protection
Just a note re AVG 7.5 RAM use. The AVG on-access scanner is actually inside the Windows kernel. It adds about 20-22MB so the total RAM footprint would be about 35-37MB
Hi Vladimyr-
Thanks for your reply and the info.
Avast- Good to know that I can trim it down quite a bit.
WinPatrol- I didn’t know it was free! I don’t feel so bad about losing it while having to reformat the laptop (it crashed again-ugly!). I liked that dog… (Yes, I have to reload Avast, now.)
AVG- so AVGF8 probably is the same way, and that would push it up in the 50-60MB range? (Higher with pesky Linkscanner). Wow. I’ve been lyin’ to people… 
Thanks again for your help. ;D
Glad it was helpful. I was in a bit of a hurry and working from memory.
Re AVG 8.0 RAM footprint. It’s not partly in the kernel like 7.5 so you haven’t been “lyin’”
Norton keeps the mass of it’s files in folders other than those in Program Files. So actual size is bigger actually. Don’t know about AVG8, i never used it for long.
Old Panda Antivirus 2007 and 2008 are small…but not free
http://www.pandasoftware.no/downloads/old_versions.asp
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panda-Antivirus-2008-User-License/dp/B000VJD0AM
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panda-Software-Antivirus-2007-PC/dp/B000JLNQPG/ref=pd_sim_sw_h__5
Hi,
A simple solution might be to move say, 500 MB of your least used pictures/music to a CD.
My understanding (perhaps incorrectly) is that it is best to have some 10 % of free space (i.e. 1.5 GB in your case). If this is correct then it might be worth considering substantial transfers to 2 or 3 CDs or a DVD.
My regards
15% is I believe the considered minimum if you wish to use the windows defrag function.
As for recovering some more space the System Volume information folder used by system restore consumes large amounts of HDD space. I have seen that on some systems get to over 1GB.
Personally I would be looking at a 2nd HDD and basically use the primary HDD for a windows only (including Program Files) partition and the 2nd HDD for the remainder.
Hi RejZor
We were talking about a program’s RAM use and allocation rather than where the files are located but hard disk space is an issue for some people too in choosing an AV.
Yes, but the topic is " I need a REALLY small installation size for an old PC" so RejZoR isn’t wrong as that has got to be a consideration.
However, the same happens with RAM up to a point as those files have to be loaded and may not appear under the AV programs processes but the system. So it could appear that the program doesn’t use much RAM as it isn’t all collated against the parent application. So this isn’t hard to quantify for any AV.
How about getting an external hard drive & put a lot of your documents, pictures & videos on it on it so you will have room for avast! & other security programs.
Maybe it was just me :-[ . I should have said “I’ve been talking about a program’s RAM use and allocation…”
Hi again Vladimyr-
I stripped Avast down to the Standard Shield only, and it still loaded @70MB. Must have something to do with the FAT32. I did more cleaning/defragglerin" and now have @5.3GB free. I may go ahead and load Avast “slim”.
Thanks again.
5.3GB free on a 15GB disk sounds like plenty of space to me. The difference between 15MB and 70MB is about a hundredth of the available space. I don’t think you’re going to notice it.