The best antivirus for a netbook running windows (Dell Duo)?

EdwardTeach · 31 Mar 2011 at 00:59

We just got a Dell Duo, it has a 1.5GHz dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor and 2GB of DDR3 memory.

Like all Dells it came bundled with Mcafee. it is already starting to really **** me off. We have had the Duo for literally 1 day and I am already getting pop ups suggesting I renew my AV subscription, when the bundled licence is for at least a year.

I am presuming there is no logical reason not to get rid of Mcafee?

If so what should I replace it with? I am obviously looking for a AV that will be as light on resources as possible. I was thinking of MSE, would that be ok on a netbook?

SiriusB · 31 Mar 2011 at 01:04

MSE is very resource friendly when used on Windows 7. Whether that extends to Netbooks is a different matter.

V4NT0M · 31 Mar 2011 at 01:05

MikeHunt79 · 31 Mar 2011 at 01:06

SiriusB said:
MSE is very resource friendly when used on Windows 7. Whether that extends to Netbooks is a different matter.

It's poor on my netbook, I found that Comodo uses much less CPU due to it's stateful scanning.

EdwardTeach · 31 Mar 2011 at 01:17

MikeHunt79 said:
It's poor on my netbook, I found that Comodo uses much less CPU due to it's stateful scanning.

It was poor in that it was a resource hog?

what do you mean by stateful scanning?

I should have added that the Duo is primarily for my wife. This means that I am looking for an AV that is as unobtrusive as possible. I was running Comodo on my desktop and my wife didnt like the constant pop ups/quarantine messages etc. MSE just seems to do its thing in the background.

MikeHunt79 · 31 Mar 2011 at 01:39

From the comodo docs:

On Access - Provides the highest level of On Access Scanning and protection. Any file opened will be scanned before it is run and the threats are detected before they are getting a chance to be executed.

Stateful - Not only is Comodo Internet Security one of the most thorough and effective AV solutions available, it is also very fast. CIS employs a feature called Stateful File Inspection (tm) for real time virus scanning to minimize the effects of on-access scanning on the system performance. Selecting the ‘Stateful’ option means CIS scans only files that have not been scanned since the last virus update - greatly improving the speed, relevancy and effectiveness of the scanning.

If you're getting quarantine messages then you have a virus.

Simian · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:17

Avast, AVG or MSE...

xb8browney · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:18

Trend

Deleted member 77746 · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:21

MSE, always.

masterluke · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:25

I have recently noticed MSE to be quite memory intensive on my 1gb netbook. It seems to use 60meg +. I haven't looking into alternatives yet but I will be when I get a chance. I'd probably avoid MSE.

EDIT - Its XP forgot to say

Philtor · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:28

I've found Avast to be very light on system resources.

Cool Breeze · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:46

+1 for avast install it and forget it.