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12 Best Lightweight Antivirus Software for Old PCs

Next, Webroot Secure Anywhere is a web-based antivirus for your old PC.

This antivirus incorporates premium security features in a tiny little package; hence, few computer resources are utilized while providing excellent protection to your old computer.

The tool protects you against web attacks with a strong firewall, as well as web filtering. This stops hackers that try to steal your data.

This antivirus has other impressive Internet security tools, as well as a high detection rate for all sorts of threats including ransomware and malware.

The activation adds a password manager as well. In addition, this tool has very good detection rates for malware and virus threats with anti-phishing features.

Webroot Secure Anywhere

Webroot Secure Anywhere

Give your old PC a modern-day antivirus to protect it. Choose Webroot as your go-to security system!

Avast is a worldwide giant in the antivirus industry with hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

If you want an efficient antivirus for your old PC, look no further with Avast Free Antivirus. Moreover, it is compatible with all Windows OS.

This tool comes with features such as file scanner, Windows Explorer context menu integration, Rescue Disk, password manager, junk file cleaner, Wi-Fi inspector, Game Mode, and browser cleaner.

The Wi-Fi inspector ensures that you have a secure connection even when connecting to a public network.

When you activate the Game mode, certain notifications and pop-ups will be temporarily disabled so you will not be interrupted.

In addition, Avast Free Antivirus comes with web, behavior, and mail shields. You can download the software from the official website.

Avast Free Antivirus

Avast Free Antivirus

Protect your outdated PC with Avast Free Antivirus, one of the best lightweight apps on the market!

Next, we have a tool that has been on the market for a long time. Bitdefender Internet Security is well known for its powerful capabilities to detect, block, and remove cyber threats.

It is built by a strong development team that aims to offer comprehensive protection. Its detection mechanism does not use too many system resources, so it is suitable for older PCs as well.

It uses Bitdefender Photon which is an exclusive technology that makes the software adapt to your system hardware and software configuration. It saves resources and improves performance and speed rates.

Bitdefender uses machine learning to detect suspicious behavior in your system It also has a strong database that is constantly updated with current information about the newest threats.

The tool has a powerful vulnerability assessment feature that can be very useful for users of older PCs. It identifies outdated or unsecured software, missing security patches, and other holes that can lead to infection.

With this antivirus, you get complete protection against all the cyber threats of today. It protects against viruses, malware, ransomware, phishing attacks, fraud attacks, and more.

BitDefender Internet Security

Equip your PC with a powerful security software that protects you on all fronts without requiring too many resources.

AVG is a full-featured antivirus utility. It is capable to offer well-rounded protection against all cyber threats.

This antivirus can detect and remove well-known threats as well as new, emerging ones. It blocks suspicious activity that could signal an infection.

It blocks unsecure downloads and email attachments, ransomware, spyware, viruses, and other types of malware.

If you use an older PC, this antivirus can be of help. Not only is it lightweight, but it also has a performance scanner feature.

It lets you know whether there are any faulty settings or outdated apps that slow down your PC.

AVG performs well on PCs with lower memory, even when scanning or installing updates.

The premium version of the software has added benefits such as an Enhanced Firewall and 24/7 customer support.

AVG

Protect and optimize your PC’s performance with this up-to-date antivirus.

Panda Security is known for its pleasant user experience. It has a simple application with intuitive options.

The tool is light but strong in terms of protection capabilities. It is fast responding with real-time antivirus and anti-malware alerts.

It has low resource usage when running it the background and does not take up too much memory space when scanning either.

The antivirus can block online cyberattacks with its strong Firewall that can run alongside the Windows built-in Firewall.

Along with that, it includes a VPN that enables you to have a more secure online experience. It can help protect sensitive data such as your location, bank information, and identity.

Panda is great if you use older OS versions.It works on Windows operating systems starting with Windows XP 32-bit.

Panda Antivirus

Don’t compromise between security and performance and enjoy real-time protection with minimal system requirements.

This is a web-based antivirus program that combines major antivirus programs together. SecureAPlus is ideal antivirus software for users of old PCs that can decide on an antivirus.

In addition, it gives access to multiple antivirus engines. As it is mostly cloud-based it does not put much stress on your computer’s resources.

SecureAplus gives you the opportunity to test the products with features such as real-time protection, detection ratio, firewall, anti-phishing, scan speed, and resource consumption.

However, SecureAPlus is cloud-based and integrates 12 popular antivirus engines into one with a customizable interface for trusted programs.

The antivirus engines include AVG, Avira, BitDefender, ClamWin, ESET, Emsisoft, McAfee, Microsoft Security Essentials, Norman, Quick Heal, Sophos, and Total Defense.

Get SecureAPlus

Independent tests have shown that BullGuard is capable of detecting a wide variety of malware.

The antivirus relies on virus signatures to detect existing known threats. It also provides behavior analysis that manages to block any suspicious activity from the software running on your computer.

This is part of their multi-layered protection approach. Other layers include a spam filter, backup capabilities, and more.

More proof that Bullguard cares about performance is the addition of Game Booster – an award-winning tool that blocks interruptions.

While you might not be using your computer to play games, it just goes to show that BullGuard is the right choice.

With a clean design, it’s very easy to use and lightweight enough. It requires a minimum of only 1GB RAM and is compatible with Windows 10.

Get Bullguard

Up next we have an open-source antivirus that is capable to run quick scans without impacting PC performance.

It is a cross-platform antivirus software with a very small file. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit builds for Windows.

It is a command-line antivirus, but it also has a dedicated application for Windows users. Both are completely free and open-source.
The benefit of this software is that it gets more frequent updates. This means that it is able to detect and block new threats with high accuracy.

The tool has multiple versions available, you can select your preferred option when you download it.

Clam AV is able to protect your email with built-in support for all email file types. It also scans files and apps and does not let you start them until it’s clear they are secure.

This antivirus is for the most part used for its file scanning and email protection capabilities. 

Despite the fact that it is able to detect and remove PC malware, it specializes in that area.

It can thoroughly scan all major document file formats including PDF, HTML, and DOCX.

Get Clam AV

Do share with us your experience in using any of the antiviruses for old PC which we mentioned above. We do appreciate your feedback when you comment below.

Please keep in mind that these tools are also recommended for the following use cases:

  • Antivirus for very old PC – Some of the tools have such low system requirements, that they qualify as very old computers.
  • Best antivirus for old slow XP PC – Some really old PCs keep using Windows XP. While the OS is not recommended, take a look at antivirus for Windows XP.
  • Best free antivirus for old laptop – Some of the solutions presented also offers a free version that has limited functionality. You could use that before upgrading to the premium edition.

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Fernande Dalal

Update: 2024-06-15