Avast! Free anti-virus software

[friso 0]

hey,

 

i got avast! since a few days, it's a free anti-virussoftware. it protects against computer viruses, worms and trojan horses. it's free, as long as it's for personal use. if you want it for your company, you gotta pay. it's up-to-date, because it's updated regularly. the newest version is 4.6

you can download it & find more information here: https://www.avast.com/de-de/index

[flippys 0]

Yeah, avast! is the best program. I have used it since version 4.3 or 4.4, and it protect from almost all viruses. But you should also use a anti ad-ware program too, like Ad-Aware.

[friso 0]

yep, you need that too. i use spybot - search & destroy, and am quite happy with it. you can download it here: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ at download.com

[PC Astray 0]

From my personal opinion, you are better off using AntiVir Personal Edition as it has the highest detection rate and uses the least resources among all the freeware antivirus like avast! Home Edition and AVG Antivirus Free Edition. The interface has the Windows Classic look but it does pack the standard solid features of an antivirus. Consider getting another antivirus for on-demand scans too.I think my cousin mentioned this before since we share the same ideas.avast! uses as much resources as Symantec products.It does look professional but it depends on how much memory are you willing to spare.

[flippys 0]

I don't like Searc & destroy... I had it before.It was quite harder to manage than AD-Aware. (That is one of the reasons why i recommend it) And i have used alot of other programs too - like AVG, Norton, and Norman, but Avast! is the best one.

[wedjarl 0]

Its natural for avast to require much resources because it has more featues and a mind blowing gui. it offers six protections (standard, internet mail, instant messaging, outlookand express, p2p file sharing, web shield). updated automatically/frequently, plus a "virus recovery database". To reduce avast's resource consumption, simply disable those protections you dont need.

comparing the performances/rate of detection of mentioned free antivirus softwares here...based on the "lab virus" of Virus Bulletin..Avast! has a good detection rate 11/19.....

+ avast! - https://www.virusbulletin.com/testing/vb100/
+ AVG - https://www.virusbulletin.com/testing/vb100/
+ AntiVir - https://www.virusbulletin.com/testing/vb100/

Antivir is good, but stubbornly updated. It will took them some time to update the virus database of the software, when a new strand of virus appears. (unreliable when you need it the most) AVG on the other hand is good and require lesser resources compared to avast, but crippled with some features.

If you want an antivirus which doesnt consume lots of memory Clamwin is a better option..

http://www.clamwin.com/

Clamwin doesnt offer on access scanning so it doesnt run on the back ground. To be able to detect virus, you have to manually run the scan option. Anyway, if you want a legal copy of AV and dont want spend a single cent for it, avast! is a good option.

[snowcrash 0]

I agree that Avast! is a good AV, and whenever possible it's great to use something that's free.

Although, when it comes to computer security and depending on your surfing/downloading habits (or of others who use your machine), I actually came to the conclusion that paying for an AV is worth it - esp because of the issue of frequency of updates

The leanest in terms of resources/scan speed & probably one of (if not) the best is Nod32 http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

For something more resource heavy, also check out Kaspersky (which is very good for detecting trojans too) http://usa.kaspersky.com/

hth
snowcrash

[k221405241470 0]

Nod32 is absolutly the best and only in my opinion
https://www.virusbulletin.com/testing/vb100/

I've tried Avast and AvG but both weren't so good as NOd32
for example AVg don't know at all the RXBot,Urxbot or ForBot...
Avast i remember can clean up only ForBot and these kind of bot/trojan are more diffucult to stop when you are infected cause it almost impossible to find the owner...

The best way it's LINUX, for server, for desktop on LAptop...i've heard that someone is developing a new generation of trojan which can also infect LinuxBox but it's still a joke i hope

[saxsux 0]

I've heard some pretty good things about Avast!, but at the moment, my Norton AV subscription doesn't expire for ages, so I'm gonna be stuck with it for a while.On the adware/spyware side of things, I use Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta 1 (god knows why microsoft gave it such a long name), which is working pretty well. Norton's meant to pick up threats like spyware and adware, but its rubbish at it...

[Tobias 0]

I also use Avast! My friend that used it recommended it to me, and it's done great! No serious problems have occured since I've had it and it's great because it can automatically update itself. It's user-interface is VERY SIMPLE to use. I recommend it for anyone looking for a free anti-virus.

[mitchellmckain 0]

Well since I was looking for a free replacement for Norton AV since I removed it a week ago, I followed your recomendation and installed avast today. Wow. I am impressed. The initial scan took about an hour, but the number of trojans that it found, that nothing else has found so far blew me away. I am not too crazy about the two programs running in backgroud, although the sound effects are hillarious. I am willing at least to see how it goes. The real test will be to see if interferes with other demanding programs running at the same time. I am not too willing to endure gameplay slowdown for any programs sake. After paying the Norton AV subscription for the last two years, a free program is hard to beat. Regardless, it is clear that Norton AV just plain sucks.

[mitchellmckain 0]

Well I had some trouble with a conflict with ZoneAlarm. Avast detects ZoneAlarm and knows about the conflict after restarting your system for the first time. The problem is that it ask you if you want some sort of invisble proxy for web shield disabled (or something like that). Definitely say Yes. Otherwise it will not allow any cookies at all and web surfing is nil. I couldn't find any way to fix this except by uninstalling Avast and reinstalling (saying no to scheduled scan this time) so that I could give the proper answer of "Yes" to the question about disabling the invisible proxy... whatever. Now surfing seems to work fine.

[PC Astray 0]

I've tried using ZoneAlarm Version 5 and avast! Home Edition 4 last year and ZoneAlarm was unable to detect avast! HE4, AntiVir PE or even AVG Free Edition 6. There were no problems then, only that those two programs were really lagging the entire system badly as it was only running on 128MB of 266MHz RAM with alot of standard Windows XP features disabled. Until two hours ago, I tried using avast! Home Edition 4.6 with my pirated copy of InJoy Personal Firewall with all the features in avast! disabled except for realtime protection and I noticed it still takes up more resources than AntiVir PE (Update module memory used included) and AVG Free Edition 7 (Update module memory excluded) but the results may vary on different computers but to me, I will only trust AntiVir Personal Edition with my computer. avast! is good but I think it's bloated like ZoneAlarm with "extra" features like the stupid alarm notice when a virus is detected.