Windows 11 low spec lightweight free antivirus benchmark

<12 free antivirus products tested today>

Which antivirus is lighter in Windows 11?

「A lightweight free antivirus? | Antivirus simple benchmark」 Two years have passed since this test, and the laptop hardware in use has also been upgraded. Next Windows Since I plan to use Windows 11 after the next format, I simply tested a lightweight, free antivirus that can be used on Windows 11 instead of Windows Defender(Possibly using the Ghost Specter windows tested in 「Low spec Windows 11 22H2 benchmark」).

Today, we simply tested the impact of anti-virus software on Windows performance with 'PCMark' and 'Photoshop Start Speed' not the anti-virus's malware defense ability. You should not confuse 'malware defense performance' with 'lightness'.

However, as you can see from the list below, most of them are proven products, and this should be a listing of almost all free antivirus software. For reference, we are sorry that Exosphere, a free security program for businesses, could not participate due to installation issues.

<Unfortunately, Exosphere failed to participate in the test due to installation failure>

Test Environment

The test is VMware, and VMware Guest OS is 「Windows 10 vs Windows 11 | Phoenix LiteOS」 test used Phoenix LiteOS 11 – Windows 11 Home v22H2 Build 22621.607.

The free antivirus products that were tested today are:

1. Kaspersky Security Cloud Free
2. V3 Lite
3. Alyac(알약)
4. Huorong Internet Security
5. WiseVector StopX
6. Avira Free Antivirus
7. Panda Free Antivirus
8. AVG AntiVirus FREE
9. Avast Free Antivirus
10. Bitdefender Free Antivirus
11. Comodo Antivirus Free
12. Windows Defender

[Other Test Specifications]

Host Spec: ASUS D515UA-BQ236AMD | AMD Ryzen 3 5300U, 4G+16G, Samsung PM991 M.2 256GB, Windows 10 LTSC 2019

VMware Guest Spec: 3CPU, 4G, Expandable 20G(On TAMMUZ SSD GK600 PRIME 250G), Phoenix LiteOS 11 – Windows 11 Home v22H2 Build 22621.607

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PCMark10

Photoshop CC 2020

How to Completely Delete Defender and Test Photoshop Startup Speed

windows-defender-remover was used as a tool to completely uninstall Windows Defender, and Photoshop startup speed was measured using PC Screen Recording Tool (OCAM) and then using Premiere's timecode effect.

Test1 1: Windows Defender OFF, Removed

First, let's look at the problems with Windows Defender.

As I've said many times, the biggest problem with Windows Defender is not a misdiagnosis, nor is it an inconvenient interface. That is, even when Defender is not used (Defender OFF), Windows resources are still used.

This is evidenced by the difference between the PCMark score when using Kaspersky with Defender OFF and the PCMark score when using Kaspersky with Defender Removed.

It is often thought that installing a third-party antivirus product such as Kaspersky on Windows automatically disables Windows Defender and returns the resources it was using, but this is not the case at all. Defender is taking up resources and slowing Windows down even if you install third-party antivirus software, unless you completely uninstall it.

Therefore, if you are using a separate antivirus/internet security program, you must delete Windows Defender to create a faster Windows environment. As can be seen from the 'App Start-up Score' and 'Photoshop Startup Speed' graphs that measure the experience performance

Test 2: Which of the 12 free antiviruses is the lightest?

Interestingly, Alyac, which was rated as the heaviest antivirus in the last benchmark, was the lightest antivirus software in today's test.

Alyac's PCMark 10 Express score (which has the highest PCMark 10 Express score) is only 65 points lower than when Windows Defender was removed. It's not just PCMark scores. Photoshop CC 2020 startup speed is also second to Alyac (the fastest when I uninstalled Defender).

How was such a reversal possible? Perhaps a certain amount of CPU is required for Alyac to perform properly, and maybe it is compatible with Windows 11 well.

PCMark scores when using Windows Defender alone were slightly below the overall average, and Photoshop Startup Speed was slightly faster than average.

In the case of Huorong Internet Security, which I am using, both PCMark and Photoshop Statup Speed ​​showed slightly better than average performance, and Bitdefender Free Antivirus is the heaviest antivirus when considering both PCMark scores and Photoshop StartUp Speed ​​during today's test.

Finish

Today's test did not take into account the malware defense/blocking ability of security products, only the impact of the product on Windows performance. Just because Alyac is the lightest doesn't mean it's good at protecting against malware. However, the 12 free antivirus software I tested today (in my opinion) are reliable products. Paid products from several brands are also great security products that are always at the top of AV-TEST.

If you're using a high-end PC, a test like today's might not be worth considering when choosing an antivirus product, but those who don't will want lightweight antivirus software with great performance. In the hope that it would be a test that would be of some help to such people, I put a lot of effort into performing a benchmark.