What makes internet security suites heavy?

carl fish

Level 7
Thread author
Verified
Mar 6, 2012
330
What makes some internet security suites heavy while others are light, I know it does depend on the systems hardware but is there other things that factor into it?
 
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Deleted member 178

RE: What makes an internet security heavy?

yep, your system and the tweaking of the AV.

Since AVs scan files in real-time, more processes you have , more the AV will allows resources to it.

also old drivers may have an impact. It is why i recommend to install every new solutions in a clean system, if possible.

I use Emsisoft IS (known to be "heavy" on some systems) but on mine, it is quite light, i run very few apps/software so few processes.

also most AVs allow you to set their RT scan on "execution", if you don't go to risky website, by setting them on execution will save resources since the scan will be active only if you execute a process/file; opposed to "on read" that scan everything on access.
 

TwinHeadedEagle

Level 41
Verified
Mar 8, 2013
22,627
RE: What makes an internet security heavy?

Probably number of features they have. Or number of drivers installed. Or maybe how good it is programmed.
 

Littlebits

Retired Staff
May 3, 2011
3,893
There are many different reasons:

1. Hardware components (installed RAM, type and size of your hard drive, type of processor, motherboard and graphic video card).

2. Windows OS components (they are many different versions of drivers included with OEM versions compared to just using a custom built system with default Microsoft drivers or installing drivers from the CD that came with your motherboard.)

3. Resources used by the software (number of processes, services and drivers) how much they need to consume to function.

In the past amount of RAM and CPU consumed by the software was the way you could tell if a product was going to run light or heavy. But that no longer applies to many software like security products.

Some products many consume a lot of RAM and CPU and still not effect the system response time while others that used the same amount may effect the system response time much more.

Because the amount of RAM and CPU consumed doesn't always give you an accurate reading if the product will run light or heavy. It all depends on how your system handles the resource usage.

One example of this: on my Windows 8 laptop- Firefox with several add-ons runs lighter than the rest of the browsers that I have tried, even though it still uses more resources than IE10 and Google Chrome.

The only way to know how a product will run on your system is to give it a trial run long enough to tell. Ignore RAM and CPU usage on Task Manager, when you launch a program, Windows Explorer, browsers, etc. pay attention to how long it takes them to start. While they are running notice any lags. If you notice system response time is longer than what it was on your previously install product then you will know that product runs heavier on your system. If the system response time is shorter than your previously installed product then you will know that products runs lighter on your system.

It is best to make sure the products updates are all installed and system has been rebooted several times before testing the response time because some security product take longer to completely setup, some will run scans of your system after installing which will make your system response time much slower. You will not get an accurate reading of response time if your installed product is running scans, updates or system checks.

Enjoy!!:D
 

jamescv7

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
Pretty simple when those components and processes are contributed from a hardware requirements so sometimes on the website stated there are best and minimum meets.

Also CPU usage contributed depends on the task assigned and sometimes could cause leaks problems.

And for positive aspects on having an increased usage performance is to finish the task as possible.
 

McLovin

Level 76
Verified
Honorary Member
Malware Hunter
Apr 17, 2011
9,222
Mainly it comes down to the hardware you have installed.

As an example, Trend will run fine on a computer that has 8GB RAM, Core i7, 2GB Graphics, compared to 512MB RAM, Pentium III, 256 MB Graphics.
 

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