slow computer

[Jellybean]

Heres my computer stuff:256 ram 40 GB hardrive 1.3hz speed prossecer... I Installed Pc tools antivirus but my computer runs slower and slow startup can anyone tell me why my computer runs slow with this antivirus and thx for helping.

[Support]

Jellybean,

Sorry to hear that your computer is slower.

Sometimes it is not just the hardware specs of your computer, alot of times we find it has to do with what other program you have running in addition to PC Tools Antivirus.

Do you have any other system utility program that's monitoring in the background ? Like other anti-virus program or other anti-spyware product.

We find alot of times a customer would be using 3 or 4 different programs and computer becomes really slow as all these programs are trying to perform the same actions as you are using the computer.

Please ensure you do not have another antivirus software installed as this will result in taking up a lot of your computer's CPU/resources thus slowing down the performance of your computer.

If you require further assistance, please reply to this email.

Kind Regards,

PC Tools Support

[josy1982]

Yes Pctools Antivirus slowdown my machine too.

I have nothing other stuff in Startup or as a service running only Pctools Antivirus and PCtools Antivirus Firewall.

So the pctools Dev team must improve our products in speed and overall.

I have changed the FileGuard to scan "Fast" (as default "Normal") ok have a little bit effect but....only a little bit.

Iam using here Intel Celeron D 64 Bit 3.2 Ghz (on windows 2000) and 2GB Dual Channel Memory DDR400 i think when my machine it's too slow fpr Pctools Antivirus than i don't know what can i say anymore.

[Support]

Hi Josy1982,

I will pass this to the testers/developers to investigate this further.

Thanks for the information.

Kind Regards,

PC Tools Support

[PC-Pete]

Hi jellybean & josy1982

Some thoughts re your PCs being "too slow" for PCTAV.

I have PCTAV 3.1.0.14 on 2 machines:
XP Pro SP2, AMD Athlon XP 2600+, 448MB RAM (512 less 64MB for graphics), UDMA 100
XP Pro SP2, AMD K6-2 500mHz, 320MB RAM, UDMA 33
Note: Neither of these machines have Microsoft Update installed because it really slows them down while churning through and comparing files for all the MS Office stuff.

I use the Athlon XP machine all the time. It has PCTFW+ and PCTAV with all guards ON. There is probably some slowing but I'm not acutely aware of or annoyed by it.

The K6-2 has no firewall, PCTAV http & ftp guards are OFF. It's a bit slow to start-up with PCTAV installed (but then it's slow anyway!) but in use it seems no slower than with the other AVs it had previously (CA Antivirus, AVG Pro).

Now your observations are equally valid as mine so while I too would welcome any improvements by PCT, I can't help thinking there must be something peculiar to your setups that's causing the extreme slowdown.

Pete

[tom.tdw]

try using task manager to set the prosses's priority to low. scans will take longer but other programs will run quicker

[inflxshn]

Bottom line, there are a probably lot of programs out there that may not slow your machine down. It sound like your saying your machine in it's entirety slowed down after installing AV. If I'm incorrect feel free to clarify. Scanning on the other hand usually slows even the stoutest of PCs.


A few years back when I was first becoming aware of the dire implications of skumware I spent about the next year downloading and comparison testing each piece of software in a hierarchical fashion; testing each one against the other spotting which ones detected what violations and moving them to the top accordingly. At one point I had 23 antispyware programs on an old 500 Mhz third party machine with a 100 Mhz FSB, many of which were in the boot up. It NEVER slowed down.

If the mere installation of a program slows the entire machine, then rather than entering an endless world of tweeks and fixes or worse, registry tinkering, just remove the program to see if the machine returns to it's prior speed. Usually I've found if a program slows a machine immediately it is often due to inferior code or a bad beta (same thing) and will often begin slowly shredding your Operating System. If uninstalling the software returns your machine to it's normal speed, then it resides in the hands of the vendor to explain why. Unfortunately they will often place the blame on your system.

It's not your responsibility to adjust your configuration so a software program does whats expected of it out of the box.

The sad part is, one of the programs I spotted as one of the most reliable in finding skumware that other programs couldn't was SD; in the following years it was talked about in every PC mag and review around. Too bad this has happened.

Kroenig