Looking for a freeware antivirus that does not interfere with AH

[artik]

Till now I used AVG...

1st it had a problem with AH sometimes killing its performance down to 0 so I always fly with AV disabled. And as I use Windows mostly for AH (rest of the time the laptop is booted with Linux) I virtually 90% of the time without AV protection and it isn't good.

2nd it recently "killed" my computer - it crashed it into BSOD on every boot so I could start in safe mode only until I uninstalled AVG.

So I can either try to reinstall AVG and disable it every time I fly and fear of another downtime due to BSOD or search for another AV.

In general AV is real pain in the ... Evey "checkout" in subversion becomes 10 times slower (once in a while I do some development on windows), every operation is slowed down.

My requirements:

1. Minimal interference with OS and AH
2. Can be disabled temporary easily
3. Freeware (or very cheap)

My OS Windows 7 64 bit and I run always behind NAT in some LAN so it is always FW protected.

--------

Also I thought of 2 additional options:

(a) not to use AV at all and open 2nd user without administrative privileges.
(b) install ClamWin/ClamAV - FOSS AV that does not run "on access" scans but rather by user requirements and check every incoming stuff.

What do you think?

[Bizman]

Panda and Avast are both available for free. Adding any AH related to the exceptions list might help. A non-admin account for regular use is also a very good idea. Remember to password protect your admin account because if you don't the dual accounts don't add any protection. For unprotected AH use only you might also want to go to extremities in disabling services to close any potential back doors.

[artik]

Thanks

And between Panda, Avast and AVG which are less annoying and interfering? i.e. for me AV is mostly like placebo i.e. I install it because I have to - as AV is your last circle of defense.

As for me AV mostly causes more problem than fixes - i.e. it never found anything real but did lots of damage on his own.

One thing I remember I struggled making exceptions list in AVG but probably it was long time ago.

[Skuzzy]

Avoid anything from Kaspersky. AVG is also known to interfere with games.

[Bizman]

For what I've heard, AVG is the heaviest of the freebies. I myself use Avast and as I said, adding AH to the exclusions list is a good idea. Some time ago it quarantined totally valid programs which it didn't identify. Also, installing it the custom way allows you to opt out features you don't need such as e-mail shield and most of the tools. http://lifehacker.com/how-to-disable-avasts-annoying-sounds-and-popups-1530732542 has  very good tutorial, applicable to many other programs, too!

Panda uses cloud technology so it's light for your computer. I've heard about an issue from January or so, where an update could break Windows under certain conditions. Of course that was fixed the very next day and didn't affect the majority of their customers. And to be fair, such things happen to every company. Just a year ago Microsoft had a similar issue with their updates.

Avira AntiVir is another good free antivirus program. The reason I forgot it is that it doesn't include a Finnish language pack unlike the two above, a major issue with most of my customers 

A search like https://www.google.fi/search?q=avast+custom+install&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=eFX9VbmsMoSvswG65Z-YDA#q=avast+avg+avira+panda+compare+free+antivirus+2015 should give you lots of information, check for yourself and compare different reviews, weighing with your preferences.

[The Fugitive]

I use Avira. It's free and they took the "pop up" window off (the one reminding you to buy it). It updates well and often enough that I feel safe  It has caught a couple of ad trojans that I stumbled on recently. Small footprint and I can run it in the background WITH AH running with out issue.

[Getback]

Avoid anything from Kaspersky. AVG is also known to interfere with games.

AVG is horrible for the game. It is a resource hog. I can't whole hearted recommend anything, however, So far Windows Defender is doing a good job.

[artik]

Thanks you.

Installed Avast. Time would tell how annoying it is.

[Bizman]

Thanks you.

Installed Avast. Time would tell how annoying it is.

Did you strip it to the bare minimums and add AH to the exceptions as I suggested?

[artik]

Did you strip it to the bare minimums

Yep

... add AH to the exceptions as I suggested?

Not yet. Had virtually no time.

[Bizman]

The stripping was more important. The major issue to avoid by excluding from scans is that a couple of years ago Avast used to silently quarantine some programs, including games. You'd notice if that happened!

[bustr]

Just installed Avast.

It does have a silent/gaming mode, it also try's to install a virtual instance mode service which you can tell it not to if you choose a custom install and drill down in the options to disable it. If you goofed and did anyway, run an uninstall then choose to remove components. You will find the virtual service and it will be uninstalled. It's supposed to be some kind of virtual unconnected sandbox to hold suspicious things in. Might be what was quarantining programs and games in the background.

If you watch online movies, every time a new file segment is streamed, avast grabs it for a few moments. If you do searches for information about removing avast services and try to read articles that are not at Avast's home page. Avast protects you from those pages.....sneaky.