Avast Free Antivirus 32-bit or 64-bit?

[REDACTED]

I have installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit on a new machine and installing Avast Free Antivirus has badly slowed down the startup. It seems all the 32-bit apps are very slow to start and Avast has a *32 next to it in Task Manager. So there are two part to my question: Is there a 64-bit version of Avast Free Antivirus (I can't find it)? And why are all the 32-bit apps running slow?

[Pondus]

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=173564.0

[REDACTED]

Okay, thanks. I did look but couldn't easily find that info about Avast.
I have noticed two things:
1. A machine that took 15 seconds to start, takes over a minute after installing Avast Free Antivirus. It didn't do that to my 32-bit Win7 machine.
2. Some other 32-bit apps are extremely slow to start.

[Pondus]

What other stuff is installed / start up?

Any other security software installed?

[REDACTED]

I also have Comodo Firewall but the slowdown happened after installing Avast. There is not much else there. Firefox and Capture NX2. I uninstalled NX2 and another 32-bit app because they were taking minutes to start.

[schmidthouse]

I also have Comodo Firewall but the slowdown happened after installing Avast. There is not much else there. Firefox and Capture NX2. I uninstalled NX2 and another 32-bit app because they were taking minutes to start.

Go to Control Pane/ Programs&Features/Avast and then click/ scroll to select "Change"
Review all the modules in the middle Column(TOOLS) and DE-SELECT all those components you don't want and/or don't know what they do!
Reboot
SEE Screenshot
Any faster?

[REDACTED]

I just uninstalled Avast and startup is all fast again. Thanks. I'll reinstall and try disabling some of those features.

[schmidthouse]

Let us know how it works out.

[REDACTED]

According to the latest AV-Comparatives test, Avast is the lightest Antivirus out there:

http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php?chart=chart4&year=2015&month=5&sort=1

With that said though, when I install it, I always choose a custom install and don't install avast Remote assistance nor Browser Protection nor Avast VPN or Grime Fighter, just the antivirus. Don't need all that bloat.

[jvidal]

Be careful not to install "Secure virtual machines". It will slow down your PC down to a crawl, use a TON of RAM and it's pretty useless anyway.
Also disable "deepscreen", another useless feature that will slow down your PC.

[REDACTED]

Thank you so much for that advice!
I rolled my system back, removed some other stuff, timed startup and then reinstalled Avast and established that it added about 30 seconds to startup. Removing those components actually added another 20seconds to startup. I added them back and startup was back down to 45 seconds. Strange. Maybe it has something to do with the restore point it creates but I'm doing two restarts and timing the second because I assume the first involves some system changes.

Anyway, it's way better now than what I was getting when I first hit this snag.

[schmidthouse]

Thank you so much for that advice!
I rolled my system back, removed some other stuff, timed startup and then reinstalled Avast and established that it added about 30 seconds to startup. Removing those components actually added another 20seconds to startup. I added them back and startup was back down to 45 seconds. Strange. Maybe it has something to do with the restore point it creates but I'm doing two restarts and timing the second because I assume the first involves some system changes.

Anyway, it's way better now than what I was getting when I first hit this snag.

Good to hear.

[REDACTED]

More good news: I eventually figured out that there was actually something wrong with my Win7 installation and started from scratch (I had a good excuse when my new SSD arrived today). I have now reinstalled the OS and Avast, and Avast made no perceptible difference to startup. If it's a 2 second hit then it's a lot. Good on you, AVAST!
Thanks for the advice everyone!

[schmidthouse]

You're welcome.