Anti virus choice

Hey all. I've been using Avast free anti virus past 3 years or so with no issues but i just built a new pc and noticed the latest version of avast def has an affect on performance.

What anti virus products apart from MS security essentials (i really dont get on with that) is extremely light on resources? I would prefer if it was free but i am not totaly against paying if the anti virus product im paying for is very good and light on resources also would be handy if it had somekind of free trial i could use to test it.

Any recommendations?

Blackmesa8

GFI VIPRE

This one says F-Secure, Sophos and Kaspersky, while this one gives the best scores to Bit Defender, F-Secure, Norton, and Kaspersky.

Based on those two reviews, I would look at F-Secure v Kaspersky for you own needs. Personally, unless running a full scan, I hardly notice Kaspersky being there. Never tried F-Secure. Compare the best 3 or 4 side by side for features, according to your own needs.

Side note re that test I have a suspicion they tested VIPRE using the default settings which funnily enough are not the recommended settings, that is "Scan all accessed files". With that check box disable it only scans executed files, which I find is perfectly fine.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

it only scans executed files

Just to be clear: "executable"?

i use Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 and happy with it.

Security Essentials is fine. You might already have it if you're running Win8. Being cautious and keeping your system patched is way more Important than choice of AV these days. No need to spend any money, the free products are absolutely fine.

No but admittedly poor wording on my part....

It only scans files if they are being launched/executed by the OS, if they are simply being read or written via other means (i.e., a copy and paste), they are not scanned.

This does reduce security a little bit, but not dramatically imho. I use Windows Defender now but when I was using VIPRE was happy with it on that setting.

Edited by Pipexer (Sat 06-Jul-13 16:10:59)

Thanks for the replies. I was already looking into Kaspersky so i may well try that. I'll see if it has a free trial later. I will also research GFI VIPRE and F-Secure.
I wont touch Nortan used them many years ago and it was an insane system hog back then and i cant imagine its got better.
I've also been recommended by a friend Webroot which is said to be extremely low on system resources, however i am unsure how affective it is in detecting/stopping viruses.

I seem to have quite good luck with not getting viruses i do keep my OS and browser and flash upto date so that has probably helped. So far i've not had anya viruses or any serious malware issues (only tracking cookies and such) in over 4 years.
I see Anti virus as more of an insurance policy there watching my system in the background incase i mess up and launch something dodgy. But i would like that "insurance policy" on protecting my system to have as little affect as possible on my performance.

You can get Kaspersky with Barclays, open up an online savings account insert a £1 and get it for free (well almost, though you can at some future date get your pound back ).