Suddenly can't browse web with antivirus on

[mfh6375]

My specs are in sig. I know my computer is ancient, but lately I have only been using it for web browsing and youtube/ netflix etc. Everything was flawless until about a week ago. Browsing speed has slowed to a crawl, and youtube barely plays at 144p. if I turn off Avast web shields, then everything runs great again.

I tried uninstalling Avast and reinstalling. Didn't help. I tried uninstalling Avast and installing AVG. Still didn't help. I've run scans with Avast, AVG, Spybot, and Malwarebytes. Everything appears ok.

My computer runs great with no active antivirus, but pretty much dies if I turn it on. This was not an issue until about a week ago. I normally run Chrome, even though I know it is no longer supporting Vista. But, I have also tried Firefox and IE and got the same results. Any ideas?

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you're going to be running a resident anti-virus software, my guess is that you need to have more than 4GB of RAM in there. I've seen anti-viruses take 2-3GB of RAM all for themselves, and then you have precious little for the OS, and web browsers these days are getting especially RAM-heavy.

You don't list your motherboard. Is it DDR2, or DDR3, or both? How many DIMM slots does it have?

If you can't add more RAM, and upgrade to a quad-core (Core2Quad are pretty cheap on ebay), then you might just need a whole-rig upgrade. Consider a G4560 or G4600, and 8GB of DDR4, or 16GB if you can afford it, since RAM prices are going to go up soon, due to Micron "mishap".

The G4560 is way faster than your E8500, and has HyperThreading, which can take care of the overhead of the anti-virus software.

Or get a Ryzen rig. That's the best solution. At least six cores, twelve threads.

 

[mfh6375]

If you're going to be running a resident anti-virus software, my guess is that you need to have more than 4GB of RAM in there. I've seen anti-viruses take 2-3GB of RAM all for themselves, and then you have precious little for the OS, and web browsers these days are getting especially RAM-heavy.

You don't list your motherboard. Is it DDR2, or DDR3, or both? How many DIMM slots does it have?

If you can't add more RAM, and upgrade to a quad-core (Core2Quad are pretty cheap on ebay), then you might just need a whole-rig upgrade. Consider a G4560 or G4600, and 8GB of DDR4, or 16GB if you can afford it, since RAM prices are going to go up soon, due to Micron "mishap".

The G4560 is way faster than your E8500, and has HyperThreading, which can take care of the overhead of the anti-virus software.

Or get a Ryzen rig. That's the best solution. At least six cores, twelve threads.

My motherboard is listed in sig. It is an EVGA 750i FTW. It is DDR2 with four DIMM slots. I believe it can only go up to 8gb RAM. Everything ran great up until a week ago, so I'm not sure it is a hardware problem.

Also, I am planning on building a whole new rig soon. So, I don't really want to be spending money on upgrades for this old thing.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, monitor your RAM usage and Commit Charge with Task Manager. If RAM usage hits 3.5GB, and Commit Charge starts to go over that amount, then you need more RAM.

Also, check if your CPU is overheating. CoreTemp is a good one for that, but remember to always select the slightly-hidden "more downloads" link, and download the ZIP file version. The EXE installer has crapware in it. (Or did, last time I noticed.)

RealTemp is another one, but that hasn't been actively updated much.

Edit: Are you actually still running Vista? With AntiVirus on 4GB of RAM? Seriously?

 

[Pick2]

"Vista Ultimate 64"
Really ? Install Linux and it will run like a top ! Really !
More serious , how old is your HDD and how full is it ? Have you run a defrag (?) lately ? ( Do they even do that with Vista / Windows any more ? )
I've not touched windows since 98SE

 

[VirtualLarry]

Good point, I didn't see his storage / OS drive listed in his sig either. If it's a HDD, and ti's the same vintage as the other parts, then maybe it's going south a bit. That's one thing that HDDs do before they fail completely, they tend to slow down quite a bit.

You can download CrystalDiskInfo, and look at the SMART status / health for the HDD, also note the POH (Power-On Hours), it should give you a "friendly" display of them in days or years.

If the HDD has been in operation for over three years worth of POH, and it's not a WD Black or Enterprise HDD, then it may well need to be replaced, if it's "slowing down", even if SMART isn't indicating imminent failure.

Try downloading and installing HDTune as well, and do a disk benchmark, and post the graph here. Also post a CDI screenshot. We can tell you if it looks like the drive is failing.

Anything higher than a zero RAW value, for "Reallocated Sectors" or "Pending Sectors", is cause for concern with a HDD as well.

 

[mfh6375]

Edit: Are you actually still running Vista? With AntiVirus on 4GB of RAM? Seriously?

Yes. I know it's old. But, honestly, it was running browsing/ streaming perfectly until now. Last week=1080p with no buffering pauses. This week=tons of pauses even at 144p. Maybe the antivirus got an update that makes it more demanding now?

 

[mfh6375]

"Vista Ultimate 64"
Really ? Install Linux and it will run like a top ! Really !
More serious , how old is your HDD and how full is it ? Have you run a defrag (?) lately ? ( Do they even do that with Vista / Windows any more ? )
I've not touched windows since 98SE

My HDD is just as old as the rest of this computer. Yes, I defrag fairly often.

 

[mikeymikec]

OP, have you tried running the avast removal tool?

https://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility

The standard uninstall procedure often doesn't delete everything associated with the product. Which type of anti-virus product are you using (free / av only / internet security)?

Also, after running the removal tool, I would do a custom install of Avast free with only the file system shield and absolutely nothing else and see if you still have problems.

 

[Pick2]

Sounds like your PC might be swaping (ram) to the HDD.

 

[deustroop]

If none of this hardware advice works, and IMHO even if it does, consider getting rid of the anti virus permanently. These apps have always hogged resources better applied elsewhere. One can rather use a layered defence to virus problems . (Now I know you want your system back like it was, but if you cannot figure out the drag on the machine, then eliminating the software is a solution, aside from moving ahead your rebuild schedule.)
For at home systems , safe computing can be the better way. Children have to be educated and sure you need to keep handy internet shortcuts to malware removal apps if required, ( an anti hijack app also ) but once the most common user precautions and remedial steps are in place, one does not need any anti virus running all the time.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Update? Has the OP's HDD crashed?

 

[PeterRoss]

We are not sure yet. Sorry for the late join in the discussion. For what it's worth, I would strongly consider getting an SSD even a smaller one, or a new HDD. Old hardware is obviously unreliable. And when it comes to old, Windows Vista...... Let's just say it is not the newest product around, consider an upgrade in OS as well, will save you a ton of trouble in the long run. Especially, when it comes to security.

 

[bononos]

Yes. I know it's old. But, honestly, it was running browsing/ streaming perfectly until now. Last week=1080p with no buffering pauses. This week=tons of pauses even at 144p. Maybe the antivirus got an update that makes it more demanding now?

Some antivirus programs cause performance issues while windows update is actively updating. Its usually a setting that you could disable (like heristics, real time protection) temporarily until windows update has finished.

 

[Pick2]

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/malwarebytes-for-business-now-replaces-antivirus.2511135/

Oh , never mind ...

 

[mfh6375]

Update? Has the OP's HDD crashed?

Sorry I haven't responded for a few days. I've just been really busy. I currently have web shields turned off. Everything is running great.

I do worry about browsing with protection turned off, though. I only download/ stream from reputable sources. And, I plan on just running periodic scans with my various antivirus/ antimalware software. Is this a bad idea, or am I worrying too much?

I think the bottom line is that my PC is just way too old. I never planned on keeping it this long when I built it, but life happens. Hopefully I can build a replacement in the next couple months or so.

 

[mfh6375]

Some antivirus programs cause performance issues while windows update is actively updating. Its usually a setting that you could disable (like heristics, real time protection) temporarily until windows update has finished.

Yeah, Windows Update started causing me trouble quite some time ago. I turned off automatic updates and just manually look for updates occasionally.

 

[RLGL]

I have had browsing issues for a while, got a chipset driver and an update to the Intel MME, fixed things,
These were released in the last week.

 

[mfh6375]

I have had browsing issues for a while, got a chipset driver and an update to the Intel MME, fixed things,
These were released in the last week.

Were you having issues even with antivirus shields off? My PC runs great with them off. Everything just grinds to a halt if I turn on shields.

 

[Iron Woode]

I have seen this issue before. Mostly on Vista and Win 7. It's the antivirus. For reasons I could never figure out some systems run horribly with an antivirus running.

Perhaps some maintenance is needed. run Ccleaner on it. Do whatever updates need to be done. Maybe try a light weight AV.

If you're not going to shady websites I would suggest using Windows Defender.

 

[VirtualLarry]

If you're not going to shady websites I would suggest using Windows Defender.

This.

And maybe Malwarebytes as a secondary.

 

[mikeymikec]

MSE has been discontinued for Vista... unless you guys really mean the "not AV" Windows Defender for Vista? Is that thing even still supported? I doubt it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I knew MSE was discontinued for XP, but for Vista too? That's actually surprising, as I believe that it is still supported for Windows 7, and both OSes are very similar under the hood. Plus, Vista is NOT YET EOL. It SHOULD still be supported.

Edit: My bad, I didn't realize that April 2017 was the month it went EOL on. So, scratch that, it IS EOL, I guess.

 

[mikeymikec]

I knew MSE was discontinued for XP, but for Vista too? That's actually surprising, as I believe that it is still supported for Windows 7, and both OSes are very similar under the hood. Plus, Vista is NOT YET EOL. It SHOULD still be supported.

Vista reached the end of extended support in April 2017. When that happened, MSE's icon went red.

MSE is still supported on Win7, presumably until 2020 when Win7 stops being supported.

One thing I spotted that was a little odd though - XP's MSE icon went red after Apr 2014, then at some point long after, it went green again.