Secure Computing: Free Virus Protection With Avast Home Edition
Earlier this week we took a look at free anti-virus application AntiVir which received great comments from everyone. Continuing with our series on free anti-virus tools, today we will take a look at Avast Home Edition.
Avast Home Edition offers great virus protection along with Spyware and Rootkit detection, and even has an interesting skinning ability.
Using Avast
The first time you run Avast after installing you will be greeted with a quick user guide to some features available.
Remember to update the database right away after installing so everything is up to date.
After the initial update I was prompted to restart Vista. I hope this isn’t the case with every update. Anyone who is a veteran user of Avast please leave your comments about this!
Avast offers real-time scanning with Resident Scanner. You can set the protection normal, high, or custom. If you are a “set it and forget it” user just keep the default settings.
Depending on the application sometimes real-time protection can bog down your system. Avast Home Edition does not seem to eat up too many resources which is always good.
If you are a person like myself and need to tinker with everything, there is a cool Custom Setting mode. Here you can set the different protection components to your liking. For those who share files with your peers there is even a real time component for that!
The main menu is the command center where you can access all of the features of the home edition. As with most anti-virus utilities, Avast integrates into Explorer so you can right click and scan a file.
Going into settings allows you to change and customize how Avast behaves on your system. I am a big fan of this because I can decide how alerts and notifications are presented. This is also where you can configure scanning reports and set Avast to automatically check for updates.
The scanning time in Avast is about the same as in AntiVir. Unfortunately scheduled scans is not a feature available in the free Home Edition. Scheduled scans are only a feature in the professional version which will cost you 39.95 after a 60 day free trial.
If a virus is detected it will be moved to the Virus Chest. From here you can delete the virus, restore a file in the event of a false positive, and also email virus information on a virus to Alwil software. Looks like my computer has no infected files!
Another cool feature of Avast is the ability to Skin it. The default skin reminds me of a media player, who knew computer security could be so fun!
There are a bunch of skins for Avast on their webpage. I thought this Atomic Arch was pretty cool.
So far out of the three big free anti-virus applications (AntiVir, Avast, and AVG), Avast is the only one that does not include a scan scheduler which seems a bit odd. Otherwise it is a solid application and will do a good job protecting your system.
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I'm an Avast! user. The restart after the initial update is the only one you'll need to do. After that it's not required. I put this antivirus on all my PC's. I've used other free one's like AVG and Antivir and I like this one the best.
I've used Avast! for several years now, and you need have no concern about continual restarts. As Robert says, after the initial installation, definition updates will occur automatically and seamlessly. The only time you WILL need to restart is after a new version of the program core is released and downloaded - every few months I find.
Like you, I'd wondered about the lack of scheduled scans, but the real-time protection seems to be so good that I've never caught anything on a scan anyway - except after installing Avast! on friends' machines
In contrast, AVG, for instance, in the days when I used that, did occasionally find stuff during scans that it had presumably let past the real-time shield, so it needed its scheduled scans.
Avast doesn't include a scan scheduler because it constantly scans your computer in the background. It uses slightly more system resources as a result, but it is also likely to find any potential problems much sooner.
Since long time I used Nod32, but just a few days back, I switched myself to Avast.. Its quite cool that it consumes less resources and does not take more time to load…
I used Avast in the past and liked it, but recently I've been trying others. When my brother bought a new laptop, I recommended Avast to him. Avast kept finding "traces" of infections that were not really there. The scans would turn up HTML files in temporary internet files, or TMP files in %TEMP% but nothing in the startup locations. He knows enough not to visit strange websites, or open strange emails/attachments. This got to be so annoying we had to uninstall it. He's using OneCare Live and so far he's happy. I don't think any AV product is perfect, but if it annoys you 2 or 3 times a week then it's time to switch.
I had a local computer shop install Avast! after my disk drive blew up, and i didn't have the tools to recover myself. I loved it while i had it, but had a case of nerves when i bought a new laptop and subscribed to Norton. Norton has become so intrusive and so resource-intensive that when this subscription term expires, i'll be going back to Avast! on my home systems, and i carry a copy on my flash drive with me which has helped me to recover several infected systems (and has also screamed in panic when it was plugged into systems too badly infected for it to protect itself, tho' i have been pleased never to have unplugged it and found it infected.) I've also installed it for *my* customers, both as the free home version and in licensed forms, and i have found Alwil very easy to deal with. The *only* downside: it announces "Virus definitions have been updated" in a *very* loud voice whenever it completes an update. I learned to turn my sound off on the rare occasion i would leave my computer powered on at night.
I used Avast for a very long time, but it kept flagging one file as a virus, when it clearly isn't (It's a widely used Media Center plugin), and I couldn't find any way to exclude that file from its scanning. I'm trying Avira right now to see if it's more to my liking.
After the 60 day free trial, you are encouraged to upgrade to the professional version, but you are not forced to. You have the option to get a free Home Edition Registration Key, which is good for another 14 months. You can tell that they don't want you to do this because they refer to it as "downgrading" but in all reality you are simply keeping the same Home Edition as opposed to upgrading to the payed version. Which is great because the free version is better than most Anti-virus software that you have to pay for!
re: update re start::
only when there is a MAJOR upgrade say from 1.0 to 2.0,that kinda thing. other wise the updates just cause a pop up [ blue square ] and goes away on it's own
you must re register each year [ free ]
7 year user
Michael Bodine, you can turn off/change the sounds in avast! settings
[IMG]http://uploadpsd.com/file/37591.PNG[/IMG]
looks good i will try it out once i can play around with my desktop again
Avast has a sort of scheduled scan: By using the Avast screen saver the Virus Scan visibly moves around the active Screen Saver display listing the file number and if a Virus is discovered a Red Warning box displays. Nice feature!
Here's a good test for realtime scanning:
1. First thing you need is an old test pc(junk computer)
2. A compressed(zipped) virus
3. Install the protection you are scanning
4. See how long it takes for the security program to alert you.
5. Take note of how it handles this issue
In the case of Avast the moment I extracted the file(timing was in ms)alarms went off. I'd have to say Avast did keep me satisfied when I was testing it.
Regarding your comment about the following "After the initial update I was prompted to restart Vista. I hope this isn’t the case with every update".
This isnt the case for every update….
Dan
Hey Geek! I'm glad to see you feature this software! I've been using avast! for about 5 years, and have since been recommending (and sometimes demanding) that my customers use it on their systems. I use it in conjunction with Spybot S&D resident to fully protect every PC that I set up for my clients.
Here's my story: I had a very reputable computer firm tell me that if I was going to run free anti-virus, that I shouldn't use avast! because their updates were very limited. He recommended that I use AVG instead. Following his advice, I made the switch and went about my business. Two days later, my Internet Explorer went haywire! It was popping up windows faster than I could "alt+F4″ them. I HAD A VIRUS! Long story short, I re-installed avast! and it found a cleaned the virus during its "boot-time scan". There will never be another anti-virus on my computer again!
Thanks for the write-up, Geek!
D
"found AND cleaned" sorry for the typo…
I've used primarily AVG and Avast! over the years. Every time a new edition comes out, I download one and test it out. I find AVG 8 to be far superior to its predecessors and think most people who still bash it haven't given the new version a try after bad experiences in the past.
Both have their pros and cons and both have always worked well for me.
Avast is a pretty good scanner, but I really hate the interface with all its fancyness…
When I ran a Windows machine I found Avast after trying a lot of others and was completely satisfied. Aside from the registration key at the end of the 60-day trial period, it was set and forget.
My only problem during the time I used Avast was when the revolving icon suddenly went missing, never to be found again. After un- and then re-installing Avast, my computer still refused to show the icon. Obviously, this was a computer problem and not a problem with Avast, itself.
Now for the good news: Avast also has a home version for Linux converts! Way to go, Avast!!
I have avast anti virus and have been attaked six times by various things.Five times the running scanners stopped it getting on my computer.The only thing that got past avast was a trojan that hopped on board at the same time as a windows update.Coincidence or not i dont know.But that time my p.c.tools free spyware doctor picked it up in minutes.I would recommend avast to anybody as a good anti virus.The p.c.tools spyware doctor i picked up from the google pack,both versions freeware that do a good job.
There is one thing I noticed has not been mentioned.The vrdb or virus recovery data base.This backs up critcal files so when or if you get a virus the vrdb can repair the files.To get this going you right click the second ball in the system tray with a I on it.Then you should get a option pop up and I would advise click back up files now if you have never done it.It may take a couple of hours if you have never backed up before but I went on the net and left it to it.I got this info from a downloaded pdf on how to use avast.This is also well worth having as it puts all avast info in one place.
I've just downloaded Avast… how long will the initial scan take? It's been 4 hours and nowhere near done.
I use Avast! Professional, what's the real difference between those two?
I have the same question, regarding how long it should take to do a scan. I downloaded the free version, for Mac, last night, and it ran all freaking night. This morning I had to stop it, after running somewhere around 12 hours! I've never heard of a scan taking this long! It really ties up my resources and my Mac is a laptop, so it's also causing it to run pretty hot. Is this what's going to happen every time I do a scan?
No one seems to be dropping by with info, so I will just add that I tried scanning my mac panther, twice. Both times it ran and ran and ran for hours, never completing the scan. I would like to reiterate the fact that this tied up resources, as well as running my computer very hot. I finally ditched the Avast virus scan and my computer has not been the same, since. It is sluggish and I am afraid it damaged my pc.
Sudden shutdown with AVG-was suggested try Avast, less demand and less overheat. Ran all night to scan computer, don't know how long scan was but computer did not shut down from overheat. Found 5 viruses not found by AVG. Seems to be a good system.
D
As to the length of a scan—–if it's the initial scan done at install, it shouldn't take more than 1.5 hours (give or take depending on the size of ya drive. If this initial scan takes longer than 2 hours (w a 60GB Drive) and seams to have frozen up then it's got nothing to do with "avast!" but the problem is in the "install". It happens–you got a bad install. Just uninstall it (i recommend "Revo Uninstaller") then reinstall it n ya good to go.
If your talking about the online or the offline scan it all depends on the size of ya drive and the options set. My 60GB depending on settings can take as little as 10min or as long as 4hours.
Online vs. Offline scan with "avast!". As you may or may not know "Windows" locks certain "System Files" during bootup–preventing them from being scanned—-hmmmm, then just how does a virus infect these files—-with the superiority of "avast!" real time scanner an online, user induced scan really isn't necessary—-but every two weeks i do an offline scan.
B4 switching to avast! i was getting lots Lots LOTS of "malware" (ya ya i know it's my own fault 4 going2 those questionable web sites) but with "avast!" it stops them cold from GETTING IN2 my laptop. Since switching to "avast!" i haven't gotten even 1(one) infection and it's been over 2 years now.
**** avast! R O C K S B A B Y
Re how long does it take Avast to scan.I use Avast and scanning in normal mode and also adding files and folders to the scan would take about a hour on average.Anyone who is having problems should visit the forums.Avast Forums.They are a friendly helpful bunch.Anyone who is scanning for hours must not be doing a mormal scan but a deep scan.This is not realy necessary unless you know you are infected.A normal scan would pick up most problems.Advice to person that ditched Avast.Deleting a AV and installing another is a well known way to get a problem if not done right as any leftovers will cause conflicts with new anti virus setup.You should allways seek AV manufacturers advice on uninstalling as they often have a special tool to do this.
I have tested a lot of spy ware , avg spy ware doctor etc . None have done the job AVAST has done to
protect my lap top like they have . I even tried norton yea . Avast is simple to use and takes care of
it self , updating etc. It has stopped everything in it's tracks saved me more than 4 or 5 times .
AVAST DOSE ROCK Thanks Geek .
I have used Avast for at least 5 years. Prior to that I used AVG.
I would like to clarify some of the comments above that are not accurate. Avast does not use a lot of resources and it does not scan your computer for viruses while you are using it. It does begin scanning when your screen saver turns on. So when you are not using your computer, it is scanning. No scheduling required.
The second thing is the need to reboot after updates. You will not need to reboot after the virus database is updated (daily - blue box acknowledgment) however you most likely will have to reboot after the virus engine is updated (Green box acknowledgment).
Having said that, in 5 years I have never had a virus with Avast. Unlike others, it integrates with Outlook or Outlook Express and automatically scans email as it's downloaded. I also like the boot scanner which scans for viruses before Windows loads. I have yet to find a better anti-virus program.
I have used AVAST! for approximately 7 years. Never had an issue prior to that i used AVG, Norton etc.
I like the fact that it uses real time scanning. It has prevented viruses, malware etc from entering my system. I recommend it to everyone. A very good product in my book.
I can not experiencing use like what you said but now i know thanks for the information about you posted this article.
The people behind the product is what makes alot of the difference between a good product and an,almost good program.This Anti-Virus program has intelligence going on in the back-ground and,they have put together probally the all-around best Anti-Virus Program there is.You have to try it to understand.
Love Avast, Boot scan lasted an hour on Windows Vista Home Computer. Had problems with Norton and Windows Live Care when I used them, kept getting knocked out. No problems with Avast. Love Avast and Love the forum. Learning alot about computers and appreciate the support and direction the "forum" people give regardless of one's "computer" knowledge. THANKS AVAST!!!!!!
I like that even though it is a free product, it functions better than the pay products that I've had. It blows Norton and McAfee out of the galaxy [mine and my mother's experiences]. Also had AVG Free which was a good product but had to do manual scans and updates. I like avast!'s auto updates and auto scanning for constant protection, and that all of the processes are relatively quick. Since getting this product, I had attempted to enter 2 new sites when a large pop up appeared with an alarm like a submarine diving giving a virus alert, so I was able to avoid the sites and the danger. Just received my first alert that the product was about to expire and that I had to renew, which is why I'm writing this review. Excellent product!
Hi, I just downloaded avast! and it's doing the initial boot scan on my other computer as we speak. It's at the blue screen where it shows me a infected file and it's location then a list of options for what to do…press 1 to delete..2 to delete all..etc. When I press anything, even pressing Esc to bypass scan it does nothing! How do I tell the difference between whether it's avast! scanning or if the program froze? Thanks.