Author Topic: question?????  (Read 4591 times)

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brockey01

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question?????
« on: January 30, 2004, 09:42:32 PM »
im thinking about useing avast and what im wondering is how much system resources does it use? im running windows ME, 667MhZ, 63ram

also i used it about 3 month ago i had 2 uninstall it and do a system restore because for some reason avast messed up my display i only had 16 colors vs. 256 display. after uninstalled it it never happened again.

thanks for you help vary much and nice product thanks again

Brock

Culpeper

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Re:question?????
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2004, 09:51:09 PM »
It depends on your system but at start up Avast footprint starts off at about 20mb and reduces as other programs are run.  There are many factors involved with memory other than how much memory a program is using at any particular moment.  The amount of RAM you have installed definately needs to be increased.  It is super cheap for older machines these days.  Check out Ebay and so forth to see how cheap it is.

System requirements are here:

http://www.avast.com/i_idt_1323.html
« Last Edit: January 30, 2004, 09:54:04 PM by Culpeper »

brockey01

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Re:question?????
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2004, 10:00:08 PM »
then how come i have 63 megs of ram and the system req. say only 32 how can it run with the low of memory? i have double that i should be fine. but still it runs fast but as i run apps my computer get slow because of avast useing up all my ram

Firstc520

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Re:question?????
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2004, 05:40:20 AM »
you said that avast runs fast when nothing else is running correct?  but when you load up yor other progrmas it seems Avast is using more resources.......i take it you have a resourse monitor to check this...because if not keep in mind that you are using more resources by the progrmas that you are opening up also....so if you open a resourse hop, ie. photoshop, or powerpoint, then they would be sucking up your ram.

I would prolly invest in some more ram as stated earler By Culpeper.

How did avast mess up your sys last time i saw that you had to restore it back to a previous state....did it give you an error....maybe something that the ALWIL  Team didn't know about?

Offline Vlk

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Re:question?????
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2004, 05:42:30 AM »
First, 20M is a bit exagerated, I'd say it's less then 15.
Second, we're talking about virtual memory, not physical, and that's a big difference. Roughly

size of virtual memory  = size of physical memory + size of paging file


Vlk
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Culpeper

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Re:question?????
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2004, 06:41:19 AM »
Thanks for the correction vlk.  15mb estimate is more accurate.  Actually, "in use" memory on windows start up on my machine is about 9mb.

[Current Process Pane]

CMD              = "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashserv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4
PID/Parent PID    = FFFFB12B / FFFF479B
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
Data KB*          = 6,480  in mem = 3,608  in use = 2,376
Code KB**          = 11,348  in mem = 3,072  in use = 2,556
Handles Count    = 111
Windows          = 4


[Current Process Pane]

CMD              = "C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\AVAST4\ashmaisv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\
PID/Parent PID    = FFFC588B / FFFEEED7
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
Data KB*          = 4,064  in mem = 1,940  in use = 1,396
Code KB**          = 11,184  in mem = 3,148  in use = 2,404
Handles Count    = 64
Windows          = 1

=====================================

*Data KB
Amount of memory used for data by current process (in kilobytes): total amount, in mem – in physical memory and in use – recently used. Available under Windows 9x (95/98/ME) only.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2004, 06:43:36 AM by Culpeper »

Culpeper

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Re:question?????
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2004, 07:06:06 AM »
then how come i have 63 megs of ram and the system req. say only 32 how can it run with the low of memory? i have double that i should be fine. but still it runs fast but as i run apps my computer get slow because of avast useing up all my ram

This is an old tired argument that all AV programs are attacked with.  Actually, Windows manages your machine's  memory usages.  As RAM gets low, more and more "physical memory" is allocated to virtual memory, which is actually stored on the hard drive until needed.  How much available "RAM" is available on your machine right after boot up and Windows has started?

My old machine with W98 has 392mb of physical memory installed.  After Windows starts up I have approx. 245mb of physical memory available.  I can start several application programs and run down available "RAM" rather quickly.  It is not unusual for me to get down to below 20mb of available RAM.  I can then check Avast memory in use and find that it has been reduced to almost nothing because it has all been allocated to "virtual memory" until needed.  It's not just your AV that is slowing down your machine.  However, you installed a program to monitor file activity on your machine for safety purposes.  That, in itself, takes resources.  Resources that you would rather have your applications programs use but sacrifice for safety.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm in your camp.  We use McAfee at work.  Ever try to load MS Office Help Files with McAfee on board?  It takes forever if it doesn't hang up the machine first.

Your right, Avast requires a minimum of 32mb of RAM to run.  But you should understand that with low physical memory to begin with your Windows is going to utilize the slower virtual memory much sooner and thus slow down your resources.

But I'm blowing hot air because your main complaint is Avast slowing down your system.  I don't have a major slowdown due to Avast even with low memory.  In fact, as described above, Avast begins to decrease it use of physical memory as other applications running take priority.  Perhaps setting CPU priority so that applications in the foreground take priority will give you a little boost in performance.