Online Armor firewall but AVAST anti-virus.  Both free.  IMHO  Has worked without problem for over a year now.

IOBit isn't free...system mechanic isn't freeware. Has very limited usefulness.

I considered online armor, but decided to go for a more complete security suite instead. I figure it should have less impact on system resources, and minimizes the risk of conflicts. Some features *always* seem to overlap between firewall and antimalware software.

IOBit has a free version of SystemCare, which I'm running on the computer. Even though it's limited compared to the pro version, it most definetely does *something*. Time will tell if it does it well. If it doesn't, I'll find something else...

One or more parts of any suite are always weaker than something else that's available.  I use Online Armor paid (OA And Comodo firewalls are both top rated), NOD32 Anti-virus (many consider the best).  I also use SuperAnti-Spyware as an additional scanner.  You should also use a keylogger detector like ICe Sword or Hijack This (on demand scanners only). Of course IMHO

Running OA and NOD32 I have a very reasonable CPU footprint.  I hope you have good luck in your testing and setup of a final security system.

I've used this(formerly Advanced Windows Care) since last January.It not only raised my Windows Experience score two tenths,I saw a marked decrease in memory usage as well as reduced boot-up time.It's light on resource usage and well laid out.Online reports of any problems/repairs are also available.It is very easy to set up and use and I would recommend it to anyone.And yes,it is free.

This experiment got terminated early because the harddrive failed (physically). It worked pretty well up until I got the dreaded "harddrive clicketyclickclockblonk"-noise.

...

...

Just a silent moment in the memory of the old harddrive that was in it...

If anyone would happen to be curious, it's a Western Digital WD1200BB... Dated 18 Aug 2002... I think these had a rep of being a bit unreliable? Can't really fault this particular drive though, it has served me well.

From bits we all came . . . to bits we all shall return . . .

Interesting topic. Right now I'm using AVG Free and I'm unsatisfied with it's memory usage.

I'm really suspicious to everything called "free", since they all have versions that is not free. Every serious test out there is on the commercial packages, not the free ones...

Say what you will about "free" products, but I've been an AVG user since the free version killed some viruses on my father's machine that paid Norton couldn't.

Same here Sole, AVG's been great, where other AV's said thing's couldn't be healed, [thank goodness I didn't delete the files back then as suggested by McAfee] AVG fixed everything.

I understand your reasoning here, but in all honesty a lot of these companies realize they make more money off business licenses and not home user licenses. Also, McAfee and norton are the two huge dominating names in home pc security(and not near the best in my opinion) and by offering near fully functional pieces of software for free, they are able to convert people, and hopefully spread their good name to companies where they will sell more business licenses.

Ya, a lot of the free anti-virus and anti-spyware software are really good. AVG has been awesome for years, but lately I find it slipping a little. Usually the free anti-virus software offers decent protection that is all you really need. Not saying this about all features, but normally when you get the paid version, you get quicker updates(not usually a huge deal) and added features which more often than not are just bloat features that slow thigns down even more.

I think the only type of security software really worth buying is anti-spyware, which has a huge lead on the free versions at the moment.

Hardly... They might make *most* money off business licenses, but I really doubt home user sales are negligible. If they really had realized it, they'd offer the FULL versions of their products free for home use. The whole point with the free versions is to make people realize they need the full blown product to not be significantly crippled.

I disagree. I only use free versions these days because the "paid-for" versions are over-bloated and I've never felt that I was unprotected or had to buy a full version.

Anti-virus software is like a condom.  No one sane runs around with a condom on all the time.  You only need a security suite if you're stupid or engaging in risky behavior.  Don't open attachments from idiots, and stay off the warez/porn sites.  As long as you stay updated, you're good to go.  I've had to clean my system twice in four years of running without a firewall or anti-viral either one.