Oli at The PC Spy has done some interesting research into how software slows Windows down. Here's an extract from the results:
| Sofware | % Boot Delay | % CPU Delay | % Disk Delay |
| Norton Internet Security 2006 | 46 | 20 | 2369 |
| McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8 | 7 | 20 | 2246 |
| Norton Internet Security 2007 | 45 | 8 | 1515 |
| Trend Micro PC-cillin AV 2006 | 2 | 0 | 1288 |
| ZoneAlarm ISS | 16 | 0 | 992 |
| Norton Antivirus 2002 | 11 | 8 | 658 |
| Windows Live OneCare | 11 | 8 | 512 |
| Webroot Spy Sweeper | 6 | 8 | 369 |
| Nod32 v2.5 | 7 | 8 | 177 |
| avast! 4.7 Home | 4 | 8 | 115 |
| Windows Defender | 5 | 8 | 54 |
| Panda Antivirus 2007 | 20 | 4 | 15 |
| AVG 7.1 Free | 15 | 0 | 19 |
That's right - the latest version of Norton Antivirus slows down your machine by a factor of 16! And that's why I use AVG...
So if your PC is running slow, check how many of the programs on this list you are running. If you're running multiple virus scanners (often multiple are installed by default by over-zealous hardware companies), then you get what you deserve.
Hat Tip: Coding Horror
Comments
The name is Oli, not Oil =)
Thanks for the link.
My apologies for that - all sorted now.