/ Will Antispyware Slow Down My Computer?

Will Antispyware Slow Down My Computer?

Does Antispyware software affect my PC Performance

The truth is, any software that you install on your computer will, to a certain extent, slow down your computer. The question is which brand of antispyware you’ve installed, how well it plays together with your existing antivirus software (you are using antivirus software, right?), and whether or not your antispyware software stays resident in your memory, scanning for threats, even when you’re not using it.

Through the years I’ve learned that some brands of antispyware software are well-known to be system resource hogs, using up valuable CPU cycles and RAM without necessarily providing you with the best protection. One particularly notable culprit is the antispyware protection that comes with Norton Internet Security, which takes up a massive amount of system resources and tends to be more trouble than it’s worth.

Others are lean and tight, using the barest minimum of resources required to stay on top of things. Both the free and paid versions of AVG’s Antispyware software run light and clean and integrate easily over preexisting antivirus software. I’m a control freak when it comes to programs running in the background, and AVG has always been my antispyware program of choice.

When it comes to keeping your computer running fast, though, what’s more important than the brand of antispyware software is the presence or lack of “real-time” protection. Antispyware programs that constantly monitor your computer and attempt to stop threats in real time tend to use more system resources. “On-demand” antispyware software, which doesn’t do anything until you remember to run a scan, tends to run much lighter and use up less of your computer’s processing power and memory.

My advice: don’t bother with “real-time” protection for antispyware programs unless you’re truly paranoid or, of course, unless you truly have something to hide. The threats posed by spyware are far less severe than those posed by viruses, and if you can remember to scan your computer for spyware once or twice a week, you should be fine - and, depending on your specs, your computer may run noticeably faster.