Why does my PC slow down dramatically when antivirus and anti-spy software is activated? (I have cab

Check to see how much memory you have, and the speed of your CPU. The antivirus software is always running, so it is constantly taking up memory, which means there is less for the other programs, so they run slower. If you can add memory it will help. You should have 512 meg or more. If your PC is more than three years old, its usually cheaper to upgrade the whole computer to a newer faster one.

Why does my PC slow down dramatically when antivirus and anti-spy software is activated? (I have cable modem.)antispam

i have the same problem; apparently because of all the screening it has to do. I just got rid of it and depend XP updates, Ad-aware and the safe sites I use.

Why does my PC slow down dramatically when antivirus and anti-spy software is activated? (I have cable modem.)avast

it could be updating?
Your antivirus is probably actively scanning while you're working......you can disable it if you intend to run the virus scanner at least once every couple of days or so yourself, otherwise you'll have to live with it
If your using Norton or McAfee Antivirus software that could slow your system when activated or not. However I suggest you use ZoneAlarm.

The mantra of any network security expert is "defense in depth," and the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.0 manages to bring this multilayered strategy to the personal desktop without sacrificing system performance or increasing the cost over the previous edition. Unlike the built-in firewall within Windows XP SP2, which blocks only inbound threats, the ZoneAlarm firewall protects against both inbound and outbound attacks. Layered below that is an application- or program-layer firewall, which prevents malicious code from running on your system as legitimate software. New this year, however, is an operating system firewall; ZoneAlarm now protects the Windows core registry and system files from kernel-level malicious attacks. No other desktop firewall can claim that. Also new is ZoneAlarm's homegrown antispyware protection, which when added to the layered firewall, antivirus, and antispam protection, makes ZoneAlarm Internet Security the best desktop security value on the market today.