Although I’ve been a big fan of NOD32 for a few years, as my license has expired I thought I’d give Avast Pro a try before making a final purchase decision. Although Avast looks good and has plenty of options and modules, my PC is now notably slower than it was with NOD32 and this is especially noticeable at boot up. Windows churns away for ages until I can actually use it! Are there any settings I should be aware off to improve the system load as I assume Avast is scanning every start-up file??
I have a fast 3.2gb P4, 2gb memory and Win XP SP2 with Lock ‘n’ Stop firewall and Spyware Doctor.
One other thing, whats the main differences between home and pro? I’m sure its on the site somewhere! Many thanks ;D
What sensitivity have you set for Standard Shield, Normal is the default ?
How many files show in the Scanned count: (in the detailed view for standard shield) once the avast icon stops rotating after boot ?
With the sensitivity set to High or Custom could result in a greater number of files scanned on boot. Also an other security applications if running at boot (do you still have NOD32 installed ?).
I had a problem some time ago where my firewall was very active at boot accessing many files (worse when they added an anti-spyware plug-in, now disabled) and because of this avast was also scanning these files, this contributed to slowing the boot time. Now my boot time is much less using Normal sensitivity and the improvements Tech mentioned in the boot scanning by avast. Now my Scanned count: is usually less than 100.
Are you sure David?
When I’ve installed on Vista last week, the default was ‘High’… At least, I’ve done nothing, the computer was very slow, I’ve blamed the beta of Vista… but, the problem were on High sensitivity of avast.
As far as I can recall Normal was the default option on all providers, I doubt that would/should change with Vista. I would think that certainly with Standard Shield Alwil wouldn’t want to have it set to high for possible performance hit in minimal system spec.
“Normal” is the default. It has a slightly different meaning depending on the OS (that is, depending if it’s 9x/ME or NT/2K/XP/Vista), but it should always say “Normal”.
Thanks guys. Dose turning on “Do not scan system libraries” have any major effect on security?
I’ll check how many files are scanned after boot-up tonight and I’m 99% sure its set to normal. NOD32 is completely gone. Are there any known issues with Lock ‘n’ Stop firewall and Spyware Doctor? Do I even still need Spyware Doctor?
Dose turning on "Do not scan system libraries" have any major effect on security?
It’s perfectly safe, and that’s why it’s actually the default.
I'll check how many files are scanned after boot-up tonight
That would definitely be helpful. Maybe there’s a background process that’s scanning your hard drive on system startup, trigerring exhaustive scans by avast. BTW what OS are you using?
Are there any known issues with Lock ‘n’ Stop firewall and Spyware Doctor?
There shouldn’t be any issues.
Do I even still need Spyware Doctor?
That’s a good question. I personality don’t like Spyware Doctor, but maybe it’s just me (I hate their business model - I find it basically a rip-off). But the program can do the job (if you have the paid version, that is).
Are there any known issues with Lock ‘n’ Stop firewall and Spyware Doctor?
As Vlk said there may well be no known issues with these programs, however, does Spyware Doctor start on boot and actively scan files (which I think is very likely), if so avast is also going to scan files that it opens to scan duplicating scans and increasing the overall boot time.
Did a quick test last night. Everything left as it, Avast scans 248 files - if I switch off Stardock launch dock, it scans 209 files, and if I switch on “Do not scan system libraries” it scans 131 - is this about correct?
I personality don’t like Spyware Doctor, but maybe it’s just me (I hate their business model - I find it basically a rip-off). But the program can do the job (if you have the paid version, that is).