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Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: prr on September 24, 2008, 02:23:15 AM

Title: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on September 24, 2008, 02:23:15 AM
I have used AVG and F-Secure on my desktop and laptop for the last few years, and after switching both over to Avast a few months ago, I've noticed that programs take a lot longer to load than they did before.  This happens for web browsers, MS Office programs, pretty much anything that I try to run. I can see the A-ball in the system tray spinning, so I'm assuming that it is scanning the program to see if it is malware or not.  This is a good idea in theory, but I'm wondering if there isn't a more efficient way to do this, as this never seemed to be a problem before.  I'm assumign that these other av programs either didn't scan these other programs, or did it much more quickly.  Is there something I can safely do, to mimimize the startup time--please note that I am not talking about Windows startup, but the startup of pretty much any program on the computer. I'm noticing it on both, so I don't think its just one setting on one computer that is causing this.
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: CharleyO on September 24, 2008, 08:54:39 PM
***

Did you remove AVG & F-secure from your compiter?

If so, how did you remove them?


***
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on September 25, 2008, 03:56:15 AM
Yes I removed them both. I believe it was through Control Panel for F-Secure, most likely for AVG as well. 
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Kilia on September 25, 2008, 08:15:36 AM
On a related note, how does one shut off program scanning.
I don't really need it and it is an imposition.

Thanks,
Kilia
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: alanrf on September 25, 2008, 08:21:54 AM
Kilia

avast is not designed to be an on demand scanner - so the simplest way is to uninstall avast and find an on-demand scanner better suited to your needs.

Alternatively you can look at the options provided in "Customize" option of the Standard Shield and de-select the recommended option to "Scan executed programs".
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: alanrf on September 25, 2008, 08:29:02 AM
prr

In an attempt to see the problem you are reporting I just uninstalled avast on my system (Win XP SP3).  Were we experiencing the same issue with avast I would expect to see a noticeable improvement in the start of programs on my system.

I must be honest and say that I do notice a very slight improvement in the start time of programs but it that is really is only just about discernible - it is very far from anything dramatic.  If your situation demonstrates a significant difference, as your post suggests, then I think another contributor may well be in play.
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: CharleyO on September 25, 2008, 09:22:42 AM
***

Which us why I asked how he removed the other av's.
Most likely, there are remains of the other 2 av's that are causing interference.
Using the Control Panel Add/remove programs function is not enough.

AVG removal tool ... http://www.avg.com/download-tools

F-secure removal tool ... http://support.f-secure.com/enu/corporate/downloads/removeav.shtml

Use these tools and the post back to let us know the results.


***
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: olddog on September 25, 2008, 10:26:31 AM
...I must be honest and say that I do notice a very slight improvement in the start time of programs but it that is really is only just about discernible - it is very far from anything dramatic.

alanrf,
I would expect start up time to increase slightly when any AV is monitoring file opening, because you can't get something (in this case protection) for nothing, but I personally have never considered Avast to be at all slow in this regard. I have done some experiments using Process Monitor to see whether it could be quantatised at all. For the experiment I chose to monitor the start up of Notepad. It's start up time on my particular PC with no AV present averaged over a number of tests was 143.3 milliseconds. With Avast present and it's standard shield on Normal the average startup time increased to 168.0 milliseconds. OK, on paper this is around a 17% increase, but I would have a hard time noticing the difference of 24.7 milliseconds. Results will be affected by lots of factors and I guess if a platform is slow or memory starved in the first place it might become more noticable.
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: YoKenny on September 25, 2008, 11:32:04 AM
Yes I removed them both. I believe it was through Control Panel for F-Secure, most likely for AVG as well. 
After you have totally removed AVG and F-Secure do you still notice program loading delays?

What is the operating system and Service pack level and have you done a defrag lately?

What are the CPU type, speed and RAM amounts?
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: YoKenny on September 25, 2008, 11:44:10 AM
***

Which us why I asked how he removed the other av's.
Most likely, there are remains of the other 2 av's that are causing interference.
Using the Control Panel Add/remove programs function is not enough.

AVG removal tool ... http://www.avg.com/download-tools

F-secure removal tool ... http://support.f-secure.com/enu/corporate/downloads/removeav.shtml

Use these tools and the post back to let us know the results.
***
Maybe this should become a sticky as this seems to be a common problem?
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: ProgrammerGuy on September 25, 2008, 03:23:02 PM
Just my opinion; but I agree whole-heartedly with "YoKenny"; this would make an excellent subject for a 'sticky'...

People need to know BEFORE they install Avast! that if they have another AV installed they're most likely gonna have conflicts...

Whether they read it or not is another story but at least there'd be a place to refer new users... 8)
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on September 25, 2008, 04:58:46 PM
I am running XP SP3, with an AMD Turion 64 dual-core 1.6 GHz processor; a gig of RAM. I do monthly defrags with Contig.

For what its worth, this morning I logged out and logged back in, and noticed that all programs load up very quickly after logging in (at least they did today). After surfing for an hour, however, things were slow again after shutting these programs (Word, Firefox, and Foxit) down.  When I tried to load FF again, I saw the A-ball rotate two or three times TWICE before the browser actually loaded--it took a good 10 seconds to open up, and a couple more (which Avast can't be blamed for) to finish loading.

Anyways, I used the avg uninstaller and I'll report back after rebooting.

I do appreciate the support here.  The AVG support forums (not official support, I know) are worse than worthless....
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Lisandro on September 25, 2008, 05:11:19 PM
Anyways, I used the avg uninstaller and I'll report back after rebooting.
Are you using avast now?

I do appreciate the support here.  The AVG support forums (not official support, I know) are worse than worthless....
Well... there are a lot of ex-AVG users here (including myself) that share this opinion with you.
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Kilia on September 25, 2008, 06:06:52 PM
Kilia

avast is not designed to be an on demand scanner - so the simplest way is to uninstall avast and find an on-demand scanner better suited to your needs.

Alternatively you can look at the options provided in "Customize" option of the Standard Shield and de-select the recommended option to "Scan executed programs".

Now now...I'm not gonna be uninstalling my Avast!.


Carry on now...;D
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: YoKenny on September 26, 2008, 02:15:30 AM
I am running XP SP3, with an AMD Turion 64 dual-core 1.6 GHz processor; a gig of RAM. I do monthly defrags with Contig.

For what its worth, this morning I logged out and logged back in, and noticed that all programs load up very quickly after logging in (at least they did today). After surfing for an hour, however, things were slow again after shutting these programs (Word, Firefox, and Foxit) down.  When I tried to load FF again, I saw the A-ball rotate two or three times TWICE before the browser actually loaded--it took a good 10 seconds to open up, and a couple more (which Avast can't be blamed for) to finish loading.

Anyways, I used the avg uninstaller and I'll report back after rebooting.

I do appreciate the support here.  The AVG support forums (not official support, I know) are worse than worthless....
What amount of RAM is FF gobbling up and what version of FF are you running?

I'm an AVG defector  :)
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on November 03, 2008, 04:34:41 AM
Uninstalling AVG entirely didn't change anything. I'm still noticing the same delays. I'm wondering if this can be changed at all, as I really do like everything else about Avast....
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: ProgrammerGuy on November 03, 2008, 02:21:42 PM
Don't give up on Avast! the guru's here will get things worked out for ya!  :)

Funny thing, I'm running a older O/S and a slower processor and after I 'abandoned' AVG a few months back things got faster...  Go figure!

Do you have any anti-spy software installed and if so, when was the last time you did a thorough scan...  Could be something nasty lurking on your system...  :(

As for the AVG Forum, you comments are correct but additional comment; heaven forbid you get 'rdsok' answering your question... :(
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Lisandro on November 03, 2008, 02:23:51 PM
Uninstalling AVG entirely didn't change anything. I'm still noticing the same delays. I'm wondering if this can be changed at all, as I really do like everything else about Avast....
Without further info it will be difficult to follow what is causing the delays... ::)
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on November 03, 2008, 04:04:27 PM
Uninstalling AVG entirely didn't change anything. I'm still noticing the same delays. I'm wondering if this can be changed at all, as I really do like everything else about Avast....
Without further info it will be difficult to follow what is causing the delays... ::)

Fair enough, but what info do you want me to provide? HJT log?
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Lisandro on November 03, 2008, 09:15:45 PM
- Do you use a firewall? Which one?
- Did you use AVG uninstall tool to complete removing it?
- Any other security programs that could interfere?
- Any other program running in background that could slow the computer?
- Is there any useful information into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Events, specially 'Errors'?
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on November 03, 2008, 09:37:41 PM
I use the Windows Firewall. I did uninstall with the avg remover. I don't have any other security programs running in the background, nor do I know of anything that might be causing this. The event viewer has a lot of errors logged, but I have no idea on how to interpret any of them.
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Lisandro on November 03, 2008, 09:40:46 PM
Let's start with AVG Remover here: http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-tools
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: prr on November 05, 2008, 01:33:20 PM
Let's start with AVG Remover here: http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-tools

As I said before I used the avg uninstaller.
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Lisandro on November 06, 2008, 03:56:31 AM
As I said before I used the avg uninstaller.
Sorry, missed that... Sorry also because I can't guess a cause to the slowness...
Title: Re: Programs start noticeably slower with Avast
Post by: Lisandro on November 06, 2008, 04:01:06 AM
As I said before I used the avg uninstaller.
Sorry, missed that... Sorry also because I can't guess a cause to the slowness...