Hm? Those that do not have a performance hit, congrats. Those that do, you MAY be getting a performance hit via Avast.
I, for one, being a former Dell phone tech dealing with both hardware and software issues, having worked on computers before and since, I have a MAJOR performance hit brought on my Avast.
I'm 53 years old, was in the computer industry from 1992 to 2001. As stated, I have been working on computer issues, both HW and SW, since working in the industry.
I had NO performance hit before I installed Avast a couple days ago. I installed Avast and no other new programs, now I have a MAJOR performance hit across the board, ESPECIALLY on Google Chrome, which halts in its normal duties as a web browser (meaning the icon on the tab stops spinning and Chrome gets program unresponsive error for a couple seconds, then continues to run through the same slowdown problems listed, on the same page download (NOT a refresh, the SAME attempt at loading the page). This can occur several times locking up Chrome).
ANY application that tags the internet (Steam and games working through Steam or not, ESPECIALLY MMO games; programs that look for any updates needed; etcetera). Fortunately, the performance hit is not as bad as what Chrome experiences, though some FPS issues occur during gamings, as well as an occasional drop out of game due to server disconnect problems. The FPS and server disconnect problems stop when I shut down Avast. By the way, when having these issues (FPS and server) I check with the manufacturer of the game (I play several different MMO and non-MMO games) to see if they are having issues at there end. 99% of the time they are not.
I have shut down all foreground apps save Chrome when accessing the internet via Chrome. I have shut down all apps save Steam when gaming through Steam, and the performance hit occurs BEFORE I have launched my first game. I have launched other programs, shutting down all foreground apps, and still notice the performance hit. All issues listed in this paragraph, I also had shut down applications that run in the background that have NOTHING to do with the apps listed here, but still, the performance hit is present. I shut down background apps on a second attempt at running the apps listed in this paragraph. Meaning I had done one running though without other foreground apps loaded, THEN a run through with BOTH foreground and background apps shut down.
I have rebooted my system multiple times, with multiple run throughs listed above, with no change in performance.
Shutting down Web Shield does NOTHING. Exiting the Avast application (read turning Avast OFF), the issues listed above, and others I have not listed, STOP! I restart Avast all issues listed above begin again.
To reinforce the slow downs hit: It IS massive and extremely irritating!
I would understand IF the problem occurs on an obscure website, one that Avast has no knowledge of, but sites like Facebook, Google and Google+? Sites that I have gone to that Avast may have no knowledge of several times, Avast does not recognize them. The toolbar apps that Avast installs lists the sites I go to as Safe, and it matters not that I say I have had a positive experience on that site, still the performance hit is present and no change in its severity.
Due to a medical problem I suffer from, I use a Text-To-Speech (TTS) app to aid in reading, with just the app and Chrome running, the speech is garbled at times, something that did not occur before installing Avast. This is annoying.
Now, on to my system hardware and version of Avast:
I am running the latest version of Internet Security 2015.
AMD FX(tm)-6300 Six-Core Processor
16.0 GB RAM
64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor
Windows 8.1 with latest downloads of important and needed updates
So, the hardware and software seem to be working properly, but the inclusion of Avast hits my system with a massive performance degradation.
Do you mind telling me what I have missed?