Got a new system the other week (new to me anyway) and after reading several recomendations here, I installed the free version. I’m not sure if it’s been since I did that, but the PC is running really slow…browser takes forever to load and I keep getting low memory messages. Could that be the reason? The OS is XP Pro.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
How much RAM do you have on the system? The only time I’ve seen AVG significantly slow down a machine is when the thing is starved for memory.
-XT
AVG slows down my computer when the virus scan is running. Otherwise it’s fine and this is not by any means a super up-to-date machine.
All virus scanners are relatively system-intensive. AVG is way less of a RAM hog than say, Norton. Turn off the automatic scan - there is little to no reason that the average user needs to scan daily.
That’s not saying much. 
I recently installed AVG on a new system, just because I like to be able to run a scan every once in a while, even though I’ve never gotten a virus or anything.
Yeah, it definitely gunked up the works a bit. Sad thing is, merely turning off the automatic stuff doesn’t completely keep it from starting up some of it’s processes. You need to get in there with things like MSConfig, Autoruns, and Process Explorer to really make sure nothing’s loading up when you don’t want it to. Granted, for a lot of people, keeping something running might not be a bad idea, but I know what I’m doing, damnit, if I tell you not to run, stop f’ing running until I tell you run again, don’t just pretend to stop running and think I won’t notice. I’m not stupid.:mad:
Too bad, I remember when AVG was a nice, simple little thing. Then again, I remember when Norton products didn’t install crap all over your system, either.
Uninstall AVG and get Avast. While I’ve never noticed any system slowdown due to AVG, it’s far more annoying and intrusive than Avast, and I can’t find anything that says it’s more effective.
Trend Micro is also a decent AV program.
Assuming there is no problem with your RAM, I found AVG was making my machine crawl.
Then I found out why.
Go to -> Overview.
Once you’re there disable link scanner and email scanner.
After I did this, my computer was back to normal. If you think about it, when you have link scanner AVG is scanning EVERY link on each webpage before you view it, for viruses. Imagine on some pages how many links there really are.
It worked for me, hopefully that will help you
Low memory nowadays usually means there’s a memory leak in one of you applications. What does task manager say when you get this message?
AVG is just an antivirus, its no slower or faster than another and its certainly not using enough ram to exhaust ram on a modern 1+gb machine.
I use AVG and have never had any problems. I’ve tried Avast before and it slowed my computer down, but unless AVG is actively scanning my system I don’t have any problems with it.
I’m using AVG on my 1-year-old work laptop with Vista. I don’t see a slowdown at all.
AVG is generally on the slim side, as antivirus programs go. Norton Symantec and Macaffee (spelling?) slow your PC far more than AVG will.
If your PC is slow, perhaps you’ve got TWO antivirus programs running simultaneously (they tend to get in one another’s way), or there’s something else occupying significant amounts of yoru computer memory (Needlessly complicated printer drivers? Yahoo messenger? MSN messenger? Skype? Viruses or other malware?).
Fairly legit “TSR” programs (programs that sit in memory all the time, whether you’re using’em or not) are usually listed in the lower-right side of your PC screen, near the clock. Other legit TSRs are only visible using special software to look at which software is starting up when your PC starts.
“Malware” and viruses can also eat up memory, but of course they’re not likely to advertise their presence. A good antivirus program (Avira free version, for example) AND a good anti-spyware program (Spybot Search & Destroy, for example) are necessary to find and eliminate these baddies.
Other things that can slow down your PC significantly:
Maybe you just don’t have a lot of PC memory to begin with. Go to “control panel” and click on “system”, to see how much memory you’ve got. Anything less than 512 megabytes is probably too little. If you’re running massive accounting spreadsheets or manipulating large photos or videos, consider getting as much PC memory (“RAM”) as your PC will allow, to a meximum of about 4 gigabytes.
Maybe there’s not a lot of “swap space” on your C: drive. When your PC’s memory gets full, it starts treating hard drive space like additional memory. This is a very close analogy to a person’s brain-memory getting full, so he starts writing stuff in a notebook: it radically increases one’s memory, but at the cost of slowing down the “remembering” process significantly.
Ideally, your C: drive should have at least 5 gigabytes, twice your RAM, or 10% of its space unoccupied (whichever number is highest). If less is available, the PC will slow down radically and may even freeze up occasionally.
If you’re using a laptop PC, are you making sure that those air vents are clear? (Running your laptop on a bedspread or chortle actual laptop between hips and knees, for example, would be a significant no-no.)
PCs often monitor their internal temperatures and slow themselves down if the parts get too hot. This is a close analogy to you running slower when your muscles start to ache.
Now, I have an older laptop and only 512MB of RAM and AVG and Avast SIGNIFICANTLY slowed my computer down. And this was after I shut down every single unnecessary option.
Per the advice of someone on this board, I switched to the free version of Avira and have been quite happy with it. The only time I have a slow down is when it’s updating. It doesn’t scan my email, but I don’t open things I’m suspicious of, so it’s not a huge deal.
Forgot to mention: One of my sisters has several computers with 1GB of RAM and AVG was slowing her down when she wasn’t even online. We were trying to create a photo slideshow video late last week and in order to have it run correctly, we had to shut down AVG.
Microsoft has its own AV now. Its free:
I see no need to continue with bloatware like AVG and Avast.