How can I prove that installed anti-virus/security is slowing down my PC and by how much?

Question

I have a Windows 7 laptop at work and a Windows 7 Desktop computer at home with similar specs.

At home I have no anti-virus software running at all and the machine is super fast.

At work there is a McAfee icon in the toolbar (clicking on it, the 'About' says McAfee Agent/Endpoint Encryption/EEGO).

At work there is a lot of lag ... when starting up, when browsing websites, when launching applications, and especially with reading/writing files.

I figure it's either the McAfee on my work PC, or possibly corporate network lag that's causing the slowness.

I've mentioned to IT people that I think McAfee that's killing the performance of the PC. They say it's fine, that's just how fast the PC runs, and that there's probably network lag.

QUESTION:

Is there a tool (other than the Windows 7 Task Manager) that I can use to prove that the OS is including McAfee in all of its IO tasks?

Alternately, is there a way for me to tell if it really is the network that's causing slowness? (Which doesn't make sense to me because something as simple as copying or ZIP big files is wicked slow.)

Answer 1

You don't need to run anything. I can tell you that yes, the network security software is slowing things down. That's not because the work computers are configured poorly because they have the software, it's because yours is configured for home use and theirs isn't.

More to the point, you don't have an anti-malware suite at all. This means that the periodic real-time scans of your running programs and hard disks, which take up memory and HDD read cycles, aren't happening. Programs aren't being intercepted and sandboxed with limited permissions upon execution, before being dumped into real-world use. Network traffic isn't being scanned as it comes in or goes out, and there's no vigorous firewall setup at home which, from your router, performs its own security tasks. Corporate environments have all of these things, and usually manage it through a central server that does impact network speed. They have to, as they can be held legally liable for misuse of their networks, and they have a whole assortment of things they have to protect to maintain their business.

The reason you both notice and care is because you're used to the unprotected speed. Traffic is just accepted, executables run as long as they pass UAC, and RAM and HDD read cycles aren't used to keep the "shields" up. Unfortunately, like many things in life, the internet is something that if you use it unprotected for long enough, eventually it's going to bite you and you're going to catch something unexpected. You may have already, but you're not seeing it because it's just belting out copies of your keystrokes or monitoring your web behavior and not doing anything to sabotage your computer. Your first sign that it may have happened could be unexpected charges on your bank statement or a credit report showing an account you didn't open.

McAfee isn't the best out there, and yes, it's slower than some of the alternatives, but by being involved in nearly every I/O task your computer performs, its doing its job as it's supposed to do it. Personally, I use Avast!, which does this for home use.

I know the speed difference can be annoying, but the reality is that the decrease in speed at work isn't their systems moving too slow because of their network security. It's that your computer at home is moving too fast for what it is because it doesn't have any. The work machine won't change in speed, but that's the price for security.

As a side note, any corporate suite will still move a little slower than a home one. This is because there are many more points of data transfer, and the security is usually tighter by default. Small network hiccups can, indeed, slow workstation performance. This is redoubled if it's a work-asset computer issued for use outside of the facility.