Antivirus is one of the first things most people install on a new PC. After all, nobody wants malware ruining their PC or, worse, stealing their data. And to be fair, most popular antivirus suites do a decent job of protecting your PC. But the problem is, they aren’t exactly optimized to be lean or lightweight. And things have become even worse ever since antivirus suites have started bundling extras like VPNs, parental controls, and browser add-ons.
All of this leaves the apps and games you actually use with fewer resources, which causes frequent slowdowns and even lag. So the uncomfortable irony is that the software meant to protect your PC ends up being the very thing holding it back.
How antivirus software can slow down your PC
When constant protection becomes constant pressure
Miker Rivero/MakeUseOf/TippaPatt/ShutterstockRawpixel/ShutterstockCredit: Miker Rivero/MakeUseOf/TippaPatt/Rawpixel/Shutterstock
Antivirus softwares love to present themselves as silent protectors. Always watching, always keeping you safe, and never getting in your way. Sure enough, part of this is true. They work in the background, but it’s not without any impact.
Antivirus programs work by scanning files as they are opened, downloaded, copied, or modified. That means every app you launch and every document you touch triggers a quick inspection. There are also the scheduled scans, which often run when you least expect them. So if your PC has ever felt slow, even when you’ve got nothing running, it’s probably the antivirus program combing through your files in the background.
Now, the performance hit isn’t the same every time. During light, routine scans, the impact can be minimal, anywhere from 0 to 20 percent. However, during full or partial scans, this can rise up to as high as 50 percent. The impact also varies depending on the antivirus program you’re using. Some are lightweight and efficient, while others are far more demanding.
Most of the time, you may not even notice this slowdown. But as soon as you start gaming, editing videos, or running any resource-intensive apps, the story will change. That’s when both your app or game and antivirus program start to compete for the same system resources, and the performance takes a hit.
To make matters worse, modern antivirus rarely sticks to just antivirus duties. Most of them come bundled with all sorts of extras, like VPNs, password managers, and system optimizers. All of these extras run separate processes. So yes, it’s not just one program you’re dealing with. Your PC is actually running multiple different software under a single name.
You can verify if the antivirus is the bottleneck
Be sure before you act
Tashreef Shareef/MakeUseOf
Before you start blaming your antivirus program, tweaking its settings, or getting rid of it altogether, it’s worth confirming if it’s actually the culprit. And thankfully, that’s quite easy to do. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager and head to the Processes tab. Here, it will show you exactly how much impact your antivirus program is making at any given point.
If your antivirus program is often at the top of this list, chewing up RAM and CPU in double digits, then that’s probably the reason for the frequent slowdowns you’re experiencing.
To be extra sure, you can simply turn off your antivirus program temporarily and disable it from running on boot. Then, restart your system and fire up a game or a few apps. If everything runs smoother and more responsive, you have your answer.
Turning your antivirus program to reduce impact
Make it less intrusive
If your antivirus turns out to be the bottleneck, uninstalling it isn’t your only option. You can fine-tune your antivirus program settings to reduce the slowdown while keeping the protection.
Many antivirus programs often run full system scans during the day. And if that usually happens when you’re working or gaming, you can reschedule these scans. Change them to run late at night or when your PC is usually idle. This simple change alone will save your PC from sudden slowdowns at the worst possible time.
Another thing you can do is review all the extra features that came with your antivirus and disable the ones you don’t need. This could be VPNs, proxy services, password managers, and even browser add-ons. The same goes for the built-in system optimizer feature if your antivirus suite has one. This might feel counterintuitive, but Windows actually doesn’t need any extra help to manage system resources. In most cases, these “optimizers” create more problems than they solve.
Finally, most antivirus programs also offer features like gaming mode or performance mode that you can count on. These usually pause scans and background activity to free up system resources, which can be handy when you’re running games or demanding software.
Windows already has you covered anyway
Here’s a kicker. Your Windows PC actually doesn’t need an antivirus program. Yes, really.
Over the years, Microsoft has made several improvements to the built-in Windows Security, and you don’t have to take their word for it. According to AV-TEST, which is one of the most trusted antivirus testing organizations, Microsoft Defender has regularly scored near-perfect scores in protection, performance, and usability.
And the biggest advantage of Microsoft Defender is how well it’s integrated into Windows. This allows it to offer the same level of protection many paid antivirus suites promise, without hurting the performance or costing you a dime.
