Avast! – Very effective anti-virus software
Posted on August 3, 2008 at 5:06 am
In my previous post, I presented Avast! as the Anti-Virus component of a low footprint security software setup. As Avast! was the only piece of software that wasn’t actually produced by Microsoft and integrated into the Windows OS, I decided I needed to quantify my choice of Anti-Virus software more fully. There seems to have been no full review of Avast! here yet, so here we go!
I only started using Avast! in the last couple of months, until this time I had been a huge fan of AVG Free Edition. However, when Grisoft pushed AVG 8.0 live, I decided they had gone too far with the feature set. I have mentioned several times in the past that I have a very slow Internet connection, and I found the new link scanner, which was part of the new version 8.0 product, was seriously slowing down my browsing.
I disabled this function, and this left the status icon in my system tray with a big red X through it at all times, which meant that I could not tell easily if there were other problems with my AV software, such as needing updates, This in turn, annoyed the hell out of me as I had to keep checking everything was running properly, eventually I decided it was time for AVG to go and started looking for another solution.
I looked around and found Avast!, and I am so glad I did, this is a piece of AV software that does exactly what I want, with absolutely no requirement for me to do anything. The feature set of Avast! is purely Anti-Virus focused, which is a breath of fresh air in a world full of hybrid security suites. Included in the package is the resident file scanner, a P2P file sharing scanner, two different types of email scanner, along with both a web and network scanner. Avast! like to keep everything simple and no further configuration of these functions was needed after the install.
I have to say I love the Outlook/Exchange scanner, this has been especially developed for those of us who use Microsoft Outlook alongside Microsoft Exchange, it integrates fully into my mail client and works perfectly. For people using a more traditional email setup, the standard mail scanner will check POP3, IMAP and SMTP mail protocols.
Another nice inclusion is the P2P file sharing scanner, P2P is possibly the largest security hole for the average PC user, a huge percentage of all virus attacks can be traced back to an infected file received across a P2P network. It has settings for all of the major P2P clients, along with many of the lesser known ones. Even though I seldom use torrents or P2P style fie sharing, it is nice to know I am protected for the occasional times I do.
My second favourite feature of Avast! is the web scanner, this function has proven to me time and time again in the last few weeks that my previous AV solution was not up to scratch. Whenever I visit a site that may contain malware or other harmful web based content, I actually get a popup telling me about it, asking what I want to do. AVG never did this, I am much more comfortable knowing my AV software is actually working.
Overall, Avast! has been an excellent choice for me, I know I can trust it, I never have to worry that I am not protected. Automatic updates are actually automatic, unlike AVG which used to bomb out on an update and neglect to inform me, Avast! simply waits for an Internet connection and updates itself, I even like the voice which tells me that the update has happened (It is the voice of Data from Star Trek I believe).
So if you are looking for some really Anti-Virus software, I suggest you take Avast! for a test drive, I have found it to be an exceptional product in every way.
» Filed Under Free Software Downloads, Software Reviews
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I have to agree with you about Avast!
I have been using it for about 2.5 years now and have always been impressed with how well it works. Other than when you first turn the computer on and it checks for and downloads the updates, you aren’t aware its even there unless you need it. The updates are regular, usually daily and yes, even though the voice telling you it has updated should be annoying, it isn’t.
Ian
Nice article..I agree, Avast is excellent!
Does Avast have a scheduling component, allowing times to be chosen when hard drive(s) scan is done? Does Avast allow user to select the specific drives and/or folders to be scanned on scheduled basis?
If you upgrade from the free ‘Home’ version to the not free, but still reasonably priced, ‘Professional’ version you can schedule scans.
i agree that avast is a fine product and i use it on one of my computers … on the other i use avg , i also dont use some of its features , and all i had to do was tell it to ignore the faulty state of those features with one click and the red x’s never come back again for those features that im not using …
avast is great as long as you dont mind all of the false positives ….. i had been using a program for four years then one day avast decided it was a virus and removed it … four other online scans didnt find the file to be a problem , including symantec , trend micro , microsoft , and one other that i cant remember
Is Avast compatible with PC Tools Spyware Doctor or AVG as I have both running on my laptop presently? Is it better to just run Avast without additional Virus/Spyware programs?
Mine is just another unqualified endorsement of AVAST AV software. I have been totally pleased with its thoroughness and ease of use. Although still running a costly license of Norton Internet Security on one of my PCs, I will be seeking the tools needed to remove it when my subscription expires, and will go to AVAST on all the PCs I am responsible for maintaining.