Is it normal for an anti-virus to use 30-80% CPU when it is scanning? It fluctuations quite a bit but generally, it seems to use a lot of CPU. When it is idle, it uses <1% CPU. I use Kaspersky Internet Security 2015. However, it does finish a full scan in about 15 minutes which is very quick.
RAM usage is pretty normal, it only uses 2-3% more than normal when scanning.
Re: Is it normal for anti-virus to use 30-80% CPU when scann
I would not say that's normal. Lol. I am currently running a full system scan using Avast Premier and my CPU has yet to go above 20. My ram doesn't move much, like you said.
I would not say it's as fast as Kaspersky, however considering Kaspersky is using that much CPU I would hope it scans pretty quickly.
So I would say that's not normal, but then again look at the speed you get your scans. I never timed mine until now so I'll let you know how long mine takes, just to compare.
-- June 5th, 2015, 10:11 am --
Update: It took me just about 40 minutes to finish mine and it still never went above 20CPU.Are there settings in Kaspersky to restrict how much CPU it can take?
No, there isn't but you can change the security level. I changed my security level from recommended to low and then tried to scan. This CPU it used is 5-60% CPU, again fluctuated quite a low. I guess it used less but also only scanned about 500,000 files whereas with the recommended, it scanned about 1,500,000. It used 7 minutes to finish the scan for low security.
Is 15 minutes for around 1,500,000 files fast? My computer is still usable when it scans but I am rather concerned that it used so much CPU.
Re: Is it normal for anti-virus to use 30-80% CPU when scann
I guess it all depends on the machine and the anti virus software. A virus scan has taken my computer to its knees before, and sometimes I've run a scan and it hasn't. 😛 I wouldn't be worried or anything.
