Is Avast a worthy AV?

[tonyseeking]

Anyone recommend avast?

[rOadToIS]

It'll be my last option. Avast has not bad detection rate and removal, but it has horrible heuristic. If you're looking for a rock-solid free antivirus, Avira Antivir free will be the perfect choice.

[firzen771]

avast is a good AV for free, try it out, if you like it, keep using it.

[Pseudo]

Avast is a good anti-virus, both the free and professional edition. There are just a couple things that stop me from using it right now... should be "resolved" in v5.

[bellgamin]

Avast offers top-tier protection, is very stable, has relatively small footprint, is stringently maintained, & has an excellent forum with a friendly/helpful community of users.

[Tarq57]

+1 what Bellgamin said.
Never caused a significant problem for me.

[Makav3l1]

avast! Home Edition (free) has many features and I generally would recommend it over Avira free despite my like for both of them.

[clocks]

I like Avast, and it is worthy. Not my first choice though.

[djohn]

What bellgamin said and then some.:thumb:

[Arup]

Fully agreed with Bellgamin, you won't find a better free offering in the market period and that includes Avira, Avast is the least crippled of all free offerings there and in recent tests has done exceptionally well. It also comes with industry's best GMER anti rootkit module, also has malware url blocking via the network module.

[zfactor]

good overall av but def not my first choice.. actually there are many id take before it.. but its not a bad av... i know people who use it and love it and they have had great success with it

[tonyseeking]

{QUOTE-> It'll be my last option. Avast has not bad detection rate and removal, but it has horrible heuristic. If you're looking for a rock-solid free antivirus, Avira Antivir free will be the perfect choice. <-QUOTE}

I was using Avira Antivir free, but it gives constant problems updating itself so I removed it.

[deanmartin]

Avast is a good choice, I've installed it on many of my freinds PCs + one of mine. And to date there still running trouble free.

[farmerlee]

Its always my first choice whenever i'm setting up a free security solution for a friend.

[icr]

For free AV i think Avast is good i used avast some months back and never encountered any problems:thumb:

[Saraceno]

+1 to bellgamin's comments. :)

[gery]

Avast is the very best free antivirus covering everything for a home user. AV AS antirootkit and so on.It is light and fast. The free version only lacks some features like script blocking and automatic treatment of malware but overall it is very recomanded and useful.:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

[Fuzzfas]

Avast is fine. Just complement it with some other security application and you won't have to worry.

[lodore]

its the only free av i reccomend.
i have reccomended it to two friends and neither of them have had any issues.

[risl]

I use it on my laptop and recommend it always to everyone who asks me for an AV. It's stable, troublefree and works right out of the box without extra configuring. This makes it the ideal free AV since most of the people looking for free solutions aren't experts.

[Makav3l1]

Something that is overlooked in avast free is the removal ratings. Maymoons test shows some of it's ability. Avast is able to remove malware when many other avs have trouble even installing. The boot scanner is also a very useful inclusion. The web shield is very light.

[ance]

I don't like the outdated GUI ... ::)

[risl]

{QUOTE-> I don't like the outdated GUI ... ::) <-QUOTE}

You can download much better custom skins for it from their website

[RejZoR]

Or use skinless design... and wait for few more months for avast! 5.x...

[FastGame]

{QUOTE-> Is Avast a worthy AV? <-QUOTE}

Without a doubt it is !

[Saraceno]

{QUOTE-> Something that is overlooked in avast free is the removal ratings. Maymoons test shows some of it's ability. Avast is able to remove malware when many other avs have trouble even installing. The boot scanner is also a very useful inclusion. The web shield is very light. <-QUOTE}

Good that you mentioned it. There was a lot of 'crud' on that machine, don't even know how it was functioning, but Avast did install properly. Although it didn't remove all of it, and had trouble deleting a few from the 'virus chest', it still brought the system to a functioning standard.

Only one test I know, and another test might show it to be poor. But as another example, I installed it on another friend's system recently, only that and nothing else. He goes through his fair share of 'entertainment sites and downloads', at least a few GB a day. I ran SAS, MBAM, AVZ, cureit, hoping to find something, but all I found was I wasted an hour of my time! :)

Overall, it may not be the best, but for most users along with the $0 price tag, it's a more than decent AV with a support forum that helps users experiencing problems.

[JimIT]

avast! is a great AV. We like it enough to offer it as an option to our customers, and I just installed the managed corporate version in a small police department network. They are delighted with it.

Cool things about avast! Home:

Boot time scanner.
Incremental updates (one of the first AV companies to offer this feature, btw),
Anti-rootkit/spyware (other free alternatives don't offer this)
Virus removal tool included,
Skinnable,
No crippled d/l features...the list goes on.

avast! will do a great job for you. 8)

[clocks]

{QUOTE-> Or use skinless design... and wait for few more months for avast! 5.x... <-QUOTE}

I would not be surprised if we see Windows 7 before seeing Avast 5. LOL

[gery]

{QUOTE-> I would not be surprised if we see Windows 7 before seeing Avast 5. LOL <-QUOTE}
it is no big deal if they delay it another year because Avast is a very stable and competitive AV in the present state. So no big hurry for v5

[midway40]

I'm with gery, I rather have stability right now and I am willing to wait. I don't want to go through what NOD32 users did when it went from 2.7 to 3.0.

[normishmael]

The software itself is very good,with many usefull features,
yet, it is the Suport Forum that is in a league of its own.
Simply excellent.

[manOFpeace]

I used Nod32 for 3 or 4 years and defected this year when subscription ran out before I got a chance to renew it.
I started out with Avast free and was very pleased with it. I then went Avast Professional. No regrets. Unable to comment on technical aspects of this AV but it gives me no bother and that is good enough for me. :)

[The Hammer]

{QUOTE-> It'll be my last option. Avast has not bad detection rate and removal, but it has horrible heuristic. If you're looking for a rock-solid free antivirus, Avira Antivir free will be the perfect choice. <-QUOTE} Avira has heuristics then? I'm not trying to make fun. I'm just asking.

[firzen771]

im pretty sure the free Avira does have heuristics. someone correct me if im wrong.

[Kerodo]

{QUOTE-> Anyone recommend avast? <-QUOTE}
Yep, I recommend it, using it here, and have been for years off and on. It just keeps getting better... :thumb:

[sded]

Sure, I have it on 5 machines (2 Vista, 3XP) and wouldn't be without it.

[Someone]

I think Avast is great, but the amount of false positives are a problem for me.

[bellgamin]

{QUOTE-> Avira has heuristics then? <-QUOTE}ALL versions of Avira have heuristics on steroids.

[ance]

{QUOTE-> So no big hurry for v5 <-QUOTE}

Yes, but I hope that v5 has an up-to-date GUI like Avira or AVG ;)

[Page42]

{QUOTE-> Anyone recommend avast? <-QUOTE}Absolutely! Been running avast!4 Home Edition for a year and a half and it's an exceptional program. I haven't experienced very many false positives and I like the different shields and spyware and rootkit detection features. The support forum is excellent. I hear some people complain about the GUI but I don't care if it's pretty or not. It's always at or near the top of detection tests and knowledgeable folks say it has good removal abilities. :thumb:

[rdsu]

avast! is now a top AV, and they are improving a lot on every new release!

They also have a great support, and what other company gives you all these protection and support for free!?

Maybe Comodo, but its AV isn't ready...

[Robin A.]

The avast! forum is very good.
But I have recently had two infections after downloading files from BitTorrent. Sure, in both cases avast! detected at least some of the malware, but to remove it I had to use avast! + MBAM + SUPER. In the first case a problem arose after a reboot, I had to restore an image of the system partition. Now I use Returnil when I download from BitTorrent, and I see avast! mainly as a detector...

[tonyseeking]

Ok thank to everyone who contributed and answered my question.

I am now running Avast :thumb:

[Konata Izumi]

{QUOTE-> It'll be my last option. Avast has not bad detection rate and removal, but it has horrible heuristic. If you're looking for a rock-solid free antivirus, Avira Antivir free will be the perfect choice. <-QUOTE}

I wonder if it was true?

[RejZoR]

So unless you have 3 checkboxes with words like "Heuristics", "Advanced Heuristics" and "Aura Heuristics" (this one actually sounds cool) and bunch of sliders ranging from None to Insane levels, then it's fine (even if it does exactly nothing). But if you have none of it, it automatuically has bad heuristics. Mhm. Ok. Every detection with tag [Cryp] and -gen is technically a heuristic detection. And lets don't forget Rootkit detections that are pretty much all heuristics (or shall i say behavioral) based. And other parts also use heuristic methods of detections, they just don't advertise it as others...

[tiagozt]

I think it's a poor AV with poor detection rates and a lot of false positives. You have better option FREE or paid. Avira, Kaspersky, F-Secure... I don't recommend Avast.

[dw426]

{QUOTE-> I think it's a poor AV with poor detection rates and a lot of false positives. You have better option FREE or paid. Avira, Kaspersky, F-Secure... I don't recommend Avast. <-QUOTE}

Tests seem to shoot down that opinion. Is it top of the line? No. Is it more than an adequate AV? Tests show very much so, yes. Here's something some people don't think about, quite a lot of FPs come from programs that change a deep system setting, such as a TCP patch and things of that nature. A lot of these types of programs ACT like a malicious program would, so the AV flags it. The AV is doing its job, that's not a sign of poorness.

Avira in my case flagged things bad much more often than Avast has, but I don't consider that a bad thing, it's merely more "aggressive". Avast may not have always been the best in the world, and may still not be, but they have and are still coming a LONG way.

[ance]

Does Avast catch the test exploit (http://www.explabs.com/test/)? ???

[emperordarius]

{QUOTE-> Does Avast catch the test exploit (http://www.explabs.com/test/)? ??? <-QUOTE}

That's only for LinkScanner.

[ance]

Do you know another test page? :P

[emperordarius]

{QUOTE-> Do you know another test page? :P <-QUOTE}

I can't post malware links, so what remains is www.eicar.com ;D

[ance]

Ok, thank you ;)

[tipo]

{QUOTE-> Anyone recommend avast? <-QUOTE}
i tried & tried all of the antiviruses out there (including avast) & my conclusion is this: avast is a good av with high detection rate but if somethin gets in, is very difficult for avast to get it out...heuristics??? none!!! it detects only what it already knows...i have a 2.4 Ghz proc and when i open a folder with lots of .exe my proc freezes...this is not happening with nod32, avira, kaspersky, bitdefender. hope this helps you 8)

[Tarq57]

Well, tipo, your experience may well be in the minority.
There was an interesting test report (Russian) conducted on an AV's ability to remove infections, discussed here, (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=223616) and Avast did rather well.
My own experience with Avast is that it does a very good job of protection, but I'm not a tester, nor do I go to the "dark side", and that system freexes do not happen. (I have a few folders filled with execs, too.)
Avast is rather intolerant of the presence of another AV, either installed, or recently installed but not completely removed, so I wonder, since you've tried a lot, if that was the case on your PC.

[RejZoR]

{QUOTE-> i tried & tried all of the antiviruses out there (including avast) & my conclusion is this: avast is a good av with high detection rate but if somethin gets in, is very difficult for avast to get it out...heuristics??? none!!! it detects only what it already knows...i have a 2.4 Ghz proc and when i open a folder with lots of .exe my proc freezes...this is not happening with nod32, avira, kaspersky, bitdefender. hope this helps you 8) <-QUOTE}

In fact avast! is one of few AVs that offer thorough cleaning through boot-scan.

Heuristics. Ppl just have to see loads of checkboxes with Heuristics string on it and they're happy. Even if AV doesn't have any what so ever.
avast! has plenty of proactive mechanisms. Emulator, generic detection, Network Shield, Web Shield, heuristics in Internet mail provider.

As for the lockups on EXE files, i recommend you turn to avast! forums or their tech support. Been running it on different lower end configurations with no such problems.

[JerryM]

In looking at AV Comparatives tests Avast was one of the better ones. I think that the detection rates of the free and paid are the same. Correct me if I am wrong here.

Avast has always been the AV I go to when I want a free one, or do not know what to put on my computer. It has always been satisfactory, and I have never had an infection.
I have put the free version on several friend's computers and they have seen no reason to change.

When my subscriptions run out in 2010 I may just go back to Avast Free.

Regards,
Jerry

[RejZoR]

Pro version offers scheduling, faster updating, predefined actions on malware detection and much more control over each provider.
There is also script blocker provider which should give yous ome edge if you're using Internet Explorer. But yeah, in general detection rate by the engine itself is identical for both.

[risl]

avast! is just a very solid package without any clear weaknesses, though it doesn't have a reputation for being the best in some specific area. Excellent choise for those who want something well functioning and free. I might even concider buying the pro version if something unexpected happens with Dr.Web, avast! is definently the second choise.

[ance]

{QUOTE-> Web Shield <-QUOTE}

Does it work with Opera? *puppy*

[firzen771]

{QUOTE-> Does it work with Opera? *puppy* <-QUOTE}

why wouldnt it? i dont think it works dependent on a browser, but scans web traffic.

[tradetime]

{QUOTE-> Does it work with Opera? *puppy* <-QUOTE}
Yes it works with Opera, I've had one or two alerts to something when browsing with Opera, one on this site a while back in a thread where folks were discussing some sort of virus threat, obviously that particular one was a FP, can't remember what someone had posted that avast didn't like, think it was to do with Killdisk.

[fblais]

On-demand scan is quite slow though, compared to, for instance, Avira or NOD32.

[Page42]

I'd say avast! and Avira scan times are quite comparable. I might check them both and post back. ;)

Edit In: I concur. The avast! scan, at 17 minutes, took about 3 minutes longer than the Avira scan. One note, however... avast! is my on-access, resident AV and as such, it has all sensitivity levels set to high and it scans for spyware whereas Avira scanner on my machines are on-demand only and without the Guard component running, there is no anti-spyware capability. Not sure if that in anyway accounts for the quicker Avira scan time.

[Makav3l1]

Avast! is a very well rounded security application.

[Zimzi]

What would you highlight in Avast? What is Avast's strongest side in your opinion (I ask all those who discuss the topic)?

Edit: bad English as usual.

[Tarq57]

{QUOTE-> What would you specifically opt-out of Avast? What is Avast's strongest side of your opinion (I ask all those who discuss the topic)? <-QUOTE}
I'm not sure what you are asking.
Its strong points are:
-Stability
-Fairly low resource usage (except sometimes for a minute or so during some updates)
-Good all round protection
-The forum
-Boot scan
-Removal capability.
"What would you specifically opt-out" I don't understand.

[Page42]

{QUOTE->
Its strong points are:
-Stability
-Fairly low resource usage (except sometimes for a minute or so during some updates)
-Good all round protection
-The forum
-Boot scan
-Removal capability <-QUOTE}
Add to that:
-Affordability (free) ;)
-Very few false positives
-Frequent updates
:thumb:

[gery]

What about script blocking? is it a big loss in the free or something not really necessary

[Kerodo]

Yep, I think it rates especially high on stability and reliability. Few bugs, etc. Performs well, continues to improve with age. Good feature set, well rounded in all respects. Just overall very good.

[Page42]

{QUOTE-> What about script blocking? is it a big loss in the free or something not really necessary <-QUOTE}
It is my understanding from reading their forum that the Standard Shield and Web Shield provide this kind of protection as well.

[Kerodo]

{QUOTE-> It is my understanding from reading their forum that the Standard Shield and Web Shield provide this kind of protection as well. <-QUOTE}
Script blocking is an exclusive feature of the Pro version....

[LoneWolf]

Avast is definantly a fine AV.
And a 60-day trial period of their pro version is pretty much unheard of anywhere else.

[firzen771]

{QUOTE-> Avast is definantly a fine AV.
And a 60-day trial period of their pro version is pretty much unheard of anywhere else. <-QUOTE}

except for Twister's 90 day trial ;D

[gery]

someone please answer my question

[LoneWolf]

{QUOTE-> except for Twister's 90 day trial ;D <-QUOTE}

I stand corrected. ;D
But 60 days is still very generus.

[firzen771]

{QUOTE-> someone please answer my question <-QUOTE}

script blocking is a nice additional protection, not completely ground breaking if you dont have it, but its a nice addition.

[LoneWolf]

{QUOTE-> script blocking is a nice additional protection, not completely ground breaking if you dont have it, but its a nice addition. <-QUOTE}

Absolutly agree.

[Zimzi]

{QUOTE-> I'm not sure what you are asking. <-QUOTE}

I apologize for unclear question. I meant what is the strongest part of Avast in your opinion. Is Avast in something particularly good or the best? Thanks for your answers.

[firzen771]

{QUOTE-> I apologize for unclear question. I meant what is the strongest part of Avast in your opinion. Is Avast in something particularly good or the best? Thanks for your answers. <-QUOTE}

to me Avast is like the all around good player, not the best at a certain thing, but does everything decently well. so i dont think Avast has a strongest part of it, i think it pretty good all around.

[Tarq57]

I'd agree with firzen771, except to say that I think it's very good all-round (rather than pretty good).
Because of that, overall, it's best, for me.
Never given me a reason to consider changing.
If the absence of the features missing in the free version were of significance to me, I'd probably pay for the pro, rather than looking for an alternative freeware version.

[renegade08]

{QUOTE-> What about script blocking? is it a big loss in the free or something not really necessary <-QUOTE}


If you use Firefox, you can use NoScript extension.

With this, you will get excellent script protection.

[IceCube1010]

I try different free anti-virus's and I always seem to come back to Avast. Less FP's, less errors, always seems to update, very good all around.

Ice

[RejZoR]

Same here. The closest second that i liked a lot was actually Comodo Internet Security. But still avast! is simply better.

[Arup]

Avast offers full fledged protection with a good anti rootkit and network module, all for free with minimal system impact and drama, can't be beat there.

[Nuke]

I was having some updating issues with AVG, so now I am trying Avast, and so far I like it.

[Kerodo]

{QUOTE-> I was having some updating issues with AVG, so now I am trying Avast, and so far I like it. <-QUOTE}
You won't be sorry. Avast is a better program in many ways. I use it exclusively when I run Vista. It just keeps getting better.

[IceCube1010]

To be honest with you. I just use Avast's Standard Shield on High along with Sandboxie and I feel secure.

Ice

[Eice]

The only reason I bought NAV2009 was that avast! has poor detection of binaries, otherwise I'd have used it with no nagging doubts.

avast! scores well in tests, but that's on samples that are already weeks or months old and have fallen out of circulation in favor of new variants. On new samples its performance is poor, and adding new samples to the database takes days. A typical update frequency of once per day also doesn't help.

On the plus side, it's the most stable and feature-rich of the free antivirus offerings. If only it did its core task better...

[mercurie]

I had it for awhile just to try...it worked just fine. I think it is a good free one. :)

[Nuke]

{QUOTE-> You won't be sorry. Avast is a better program in many ways. I use it exclusively when I run Vista. It just keeps getting better. <-QUOTE}
I just want my antivirus software to be lightweight, and do a good job. When I use Windows, I am careful where I surf, what I click on, and what I download. If I'm not sure, I use my Mac.

Thanks for the feedback!

ETA: How often does Avast update? I have Avast on my laptop, and I only use it twice a week.

[ance]

Does the Avast Webshield detect/block (PDF) exploits? ::)

[renegade08]

{QUOTE->

ETA: How often does Avast update? I have Avast on my laptop, and I only use it twice a week. <-QUOTE}

I think that in settings the update frequency is set to four hours.

But manually you can update the definitions at any time.

And if you ask for the daily update frequency of Avast, it depends. Several times a day. This information is from the time that i was trying it.

P.S. I don't have it on my PC at this time so i can't answer you correctly.

[llydmissile]

yes , without doubt..

[gery]

sometimes it doesn't update in 24 hours just a week ago it happened twice. I asked at their forum and they said it was something normal and not something to be aware of. But i don't have any idea why they say so. I have seen other AV's update more then 3 times a day

[gery]

I am using the PRO VERSION so no idea about the free

[Kerodo]

{QUOTE-> I am using the PRO VERSION so no idea about the free <-QUOTE}
The free and pro are the same in that regard. I think it defaults to checking every 4 hours, but this is configurable. It actually updates when there are updates to download, which would be as often as necessary.

[ance]

{QUOTE-> Does the Avast Webshield detect/block (PDF) exploits? ::) <-QUOTE}

No idea? ::)

[Tarq57]

I have set Avast to check for updates every hour. Sometimes it doesn't appear to update over the period of a day, more usually it pdates daily or twoce daily, and once I've seen it update in four times in one day.

.PDF is not a file type that's on the default exclusions list for the webshield, I would say it will detect them. That said, I don't know if PDF exploits are common, nor how they actually work. The webshield seems mainly to block pages and sites that have active exploits on them. Something buried in a file hosted on the site that has to be downloaded then run to manifest...I don't know, sorry.

[Nuke]

{QUOTE-> The free and pro are the same in that regard. I think it defaults to checking every 4 hours, but this is configurable. It actually updates when there are updates to download, which would be as often as necessary. <-QUOTE}
if I recall correctly there are hundreds of new viruses that come out every day. I understand that advanced heuristics look for viruslike behavior - so maybe it doesn't need to update everyday.

[normishmael]

I don't thank Avast uses heuristics detection other than in its mailshield.
My last Avast update was 5:28 Pm Feb 21st.
My local time is now 10:03Pm Feb 22nd.

[zapjb]

Yes! First thing I changed on my laptop. Uninstalled Norton360 & put Avast Home on. I always recommend for those wanting a Freeware (registrationware) AV.

[icr]

I tried Avast! Pro on trial a couple of weeks back its good and light and provided good protection:thumb:
I would suggest to try it as it provides demo for 60 days

[Nuke]

{QUOTE-> I don't thank Avast uses heuristics detection other than in its mailshield.
My last Avast update was 5:28 Pm Feb 21st.
My local time is now 10:03Pm Feb 22nd. <-QUOTE}
Looks like you're right about the heuristics.

[Vladimyr]

{QUOTE-> Looks like you're right about the heuristics. <-QUOTE}

avast! 4.8 'Outlook/Exchange' & 'Internet Mail' providers and the anti-rootkit scanner include heuristic analysis. The 'Standard Shield' does not.

[RejZoR]

We have stated numerous times. The line between pure signature detections and heuristics is not like black and white. And checkmark with text Heuristics next to it that does nothing is just as effective as antivirus without so called heuristics. Just look at proactive tests. Sure avast! isn't the top dog but hell, for antivirus without heuristics it's better than half of those that do have some form of heuristics mentioned in settings.
Now, when avast! 5 is out, upgraded engine and behavioral analaysis part will rocket it again next to best AV's on market. It'll take some more time but it'll come :D

[Zeena]

Hi :)

Re : Avast Updates

I have Avast Home on my - Laptop

I find the way Avast updates is refreshingly - Truthful :)

Avast Updates .. When there are updates to be updated with.
In short: avast! detects the connection to the Internet every 40 seconds and looks for new updates every 4 hours.
See Here : http://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=25

I Mean..

I have AVG 8 ( Paid Version ) on my - Desktop Computer

AVG 8 - Paid .. Updates every 4 hours
But It Doesn't Really! ::)
It just checks for updates every 4 hours.
I actually recieve AVG 8 - Definition Updates .. Once or Twice per day
Just The Same As Avast Really! ;D

And Then There Is - NIS 09 :thumbd:
Note : I was using NIS 09 on my laptop .. Until I changed to Avast 2 weeks ago.
These streaming Updates .. Every 5 Minutes
I'm Sorry!
But I just dont think this is necessary.
Actually!
I'm not even convinced that these updates are real :-\

Whatever Antivirus we use... We only need updating when there are new updates to give us.

And from comparing when I actually do recieve AVG 8 definition updates .. To ... When I recieve Avast definition updates.
They apear to be about the same time intervals.
So I'd Say...
Avast Updates Are Perfectly Acceptable :thumb:

[The Hammer]

{QUOTE-> Hi :)



And Then There Is - NIS 09 :thumbd:
Note : I was using NIS 09 on my laptop .. Until I changed to Avast 2 weeks ago.
These streaming Updates .. Every 5 Minutes
I'm Sorry!
But I just dont think this is necessary.
Actually!
I'm not even convinced that these updates are real :-\

<-QUOTE}The frequency of NIS mini updates have been reported in some tests. So they are most likely real. But I'm glad your happy with Avast.

[normishmael]

{QUOTE-> We have stated numerous times. The line between pure signature detections and heuristics is not like black and white. And checkmark with text Heuristics next to it that does nothing is just as effective as antivirus without so called heuristics. Just look at proactive tests. Sure avast! isn't the top dog but hell, for antivirus without heuristics it's better than half of those that do have some form of heuristics mentioned in settings.
Now, when avast! 5 is out, upgraded engine and behavioral analaysis part will rocket it again next to best AV's on market. It'll take some more time but it'll come :D <-QUOTE}

Ok....
I just said Avast! does not use heuristics other than its MailShield.
Now I see also in Internet Mail and the Microsoft email thing.
Thats all.
No insult/disrespect intended.No Avast attack.
Sorry about BOClean.

When Avast 5 comes out?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_2UScthu6Q

[RejZoR]

Actually it just states heuristic features are included in those providers.
Standard Shield doesn't mention it anywhere but the scan engine still uses many proactive features. For example Win32:Virtualizer [Cryp] runs the files in emulator and if it finds any kind of known anti-emulation features, it marks the file as malicious/suspicious. All those with -gen tag use generic detections that can be classified as heuristics to some degree. And many detections that don't have any special tags use similar detection techniques. Like Win32:WMF. It has no special tags but it covers several variants of this malware.

[peetk]

I'm one of those poor souls who have been bitten by NOD32 version 3 and am now looking for an alternative, unless I revert back to NOD32 version 2.7. How does Avast compare to NOD32 ?

[GES/POR]

{QUOTE-> I'm one of those poor souls who have been bitten by NOD32 version 3 and am now looking for an alternative, unless I revert back to NOD32 version 2.7. How does Avast compare to NOD32 ? <-QUOTE}

Avast supposedly is nice, has descent detection, good support, good removal of nasties, frequent updates, lots of neat n handy features such as boottime scan so id say it compres rather well

[Kerodo]

{QUOTE-> I'm one of those poor souls who have been bitten by NOD32 version 3 and am now looking for an alternative, unless I revert back to NOD32 version 2.7. How does Avast compare to NOD32 ? <-QUOTE}
I actually found Avast to have less impact on browsing and overall system performance for one thing. Works very well for me....

[siberianwolf]

amongst the freebies, only avira is worth a try. avast is A-WASTE.

[Antarctica]

{QUOTE-> amongst the freebies, only avira is worth a try. avast is A-WASTE. <-QUOTE}

Anything to backup what you are saying? Or is it just your experience, then you can say the same thing with every AV.Because you probably know that even Avira won't protect you 100%

[normishmael]

This is purely anecdotal,but from my own "tests" (slip-shod,unscientific,etc)
Avast! will alert on such items as Rogue Anti-viri.
While Avira free will let you blissfully download and run them.
I am not going to fall victim to this,and I doubt that any of you would,
but for the less security minded user,Avast anti-spyware detection is a plus.
Really,for all of us it is a plus.
I wonder how the detection tests would come out if only the free versions
of Avast! and Avira were compared?
My guess is the gap would narrow.

[031]

{QUOTE-> I actually found Avast to have less impact on browsing and overall system performance for one thing. Works very well for me.... <-QUOTE}

Same here ........

[siberianwolf]

{QUOTE-> ...Or is it just your experience,... <-QUOTE}
is it even possible to make an inference on this issue without having personal experience, huh?
furthermore, there're lots of trustworthy comparative reviews by expert critics out there, go on and take a look @ them so you can make your own decision.

[IceCube1010]

I've tried many paid and free anti-virus programs over the years. Some I like, some I don't. But one thing is certain, I always come back to Avast. I only use the Standard Shield (high). When friends ask about this anti-virus and that, I always wind up telling them, you'd be better off with Avast. The program has good detection, light on cpu, always updates, very low FP's and the Home version is free. Their forum is great. High marks for Avast. It is a worthy AV.:)

Ice

[RejZoR]

Standard Shield alone is nice, but i'd recommend that you also use Web Shield and Network Shield.
Web Shield scans all HTTP traffic (even inside archives) with nearly no performance hit on connection speed.
Network Shield protects from attacks like the ones by Sasser and MSBlast.
In latest version it also blocks known malware distribution addresses.
All other providers are truly optional and not really necessary.

[Zimzi]

Avast's Web Shield works great with no slowdown surfing internet. There is no reason to not use Web Shield.

[IceCube1010]

{QUOTE-> Standard Shield alone is nice, but i'd recommend that you also use Web Shield and Network Shield.
Web Shield scans all HTTP traffic (even inside archives) with nearly no performance hit on connection speed.
Network Shield protects from attacks like the ones by Sasser and MSBlast.
In latest version it also blocks known malware distribution addresses.
All other providers are truly optional and not really necessary. <-QUOTE}

Funny thing is, I had installed web shield and the network shield on my win xp pro laptop with SBIE and I was getting the BSOD with ashweb.sys I think that was the name. Anyway, I uninstalled the web shield and the network shield because I was at work. You make some good points with the above but using a Sandbox can protect you somewhat while surfing. When I get the time I might revist the BSOD issue.

Ice

[RejZoR]

Well, majority of users have no problems with BSOD's, so i'd say it's more related to problem on your box specific than with avast! itself.

[IceCube1010]

{QUOTE-> Well, majority of users have no problems with BSOD's, so i'd say it's more related to problem on your box specific than with avast! itself. <-QUOTE}

Probably, because I'm sure there are many people using Avast with the shields on and SBIE. I will reseach further and find the culprit!

Ice

[Zeena]

Hi Ice :)

{QUOTE-> Well, majority of users have no problems with BSOD's, so i'd say it's more related to problem on your box specific than with avast! itself. <-QUOTE}

I Totally Agree With - RejZoR

What AV/AS .. Were you using before Avast?
Perhaps there are still bits left hanging around.. Causing Problems :-\
Perhaps a hunt & Kill of old bits of security software .. & .. A clean install of Avast would sort your BSOD issues.

Not Sure!

But I Do Know One Thing...
From reading some of the threads at the Avast forum - Here : http://forum.avast.com/
Almost everyone that visits the forum with a problem.. Seems to leave there - Happy! :D

Very different story over at the Norton forum :thumbd: ;D

[Arup]

Have run Avast for years in different kind of PCs, currently out of 16 PCs at my institute, 7 of them are on Avast, never has one given a BSOD.


Also congratulations to Avast, 75 million happy registered Avast users. They have to be doing something good. Said and done, people like vlk make using Avast and posting at their forum a pleasure.

[RejZoR]

There are others very helpful from ALWIL team who often post there.
vlk, igor, kubecj and Maxx_original are probably the most active ones there.
It's really great to have contact with actual team behind the program.

[IceCube1010]

{QUOTE-> There are others very helpful from ALWIL team who often post there.
vlk, igor, kubecj and Maxx_original are probably the most active ones there.
It's really great to have contact with actual team behind the program. <-QUOTE}

One of the best forums IMHO, next to this one!;D

Ice

[Vladimyr]

Over the the past few years, recommending avast! has been good for my reputation but bad for short-term repeat business. ;D

Sometimes people with some knowledge (i.e. enough to get them into trouble) will tell me that all the 'providers' in avast! use so much RAM that it must be a 'resource hog', despite the evidence of the generally fast and smooth-running PC right before their eyes. Avast! seems to be better coded and compiled compared to other, apparently smaller "footprint" programs.

Any software will have design and realization limits. Bugs occur in all software. Bugs in avast! (and there have been very few) are no less annoying when they happen but they just get fixed, usually the same day.

So tomorrow, my sister who's still happily using AVG 7.5 Free, will be forced to change.

Avira is good, but the free version has annoying pop-ups and too many limitations, e.g. spyware, rootkits, it doesn't scan email, web traffic or IM.

AVG 8.0 is just too s l o w and sadly, appears to heading in the wrong direction.

Of the also-rans:
PC Tools AV is promising but not there yet.
Rising needs to rise further and
Comodo CIS, for the non-techie user, is like trying to shave with a cut-throat blade when you've only ever used a safety razor!

avast! Home requires online registration but once we get over that hurdle, get the program installed and she gets used to the quirks - if she wasn't my sister there'd be a good chance I'd never hear from her again! ;D

[andyman35]

There's a lot to like about Avast it's a feature-rich freeware AV.Whenever I've stuck it on a customer's box it's been trouble free and offers good Virus and spyware protection.I especially like the pre-boot scanning option,a nice touch :thumb:

[RejZoR]

@Vladymir
I have avast! installed on my sister's laptop. I've set all providers to Silent Mode so it quarantines infected files automatically and locked it with a password to prevent tempering with avast!. Updates popup is also supressed, so it doesn't annoys her during laptop usage. It just works :)

[Vladimyr]

Thanks RejZor for the comprehensive suggestions.
My ramblings were more about the peculiarities of avast! rather than any particular needs of my sister. (I don't think I'll have to go to such extremes. ;) )

[simisg]

avast is a complete antivirus for free with many shields for everything in windows with high detection an it has web shield and network many years before all the others. avast and nod32 maybe best antivirus ever

[RejZoR]

{QUOTE-> Thanks RejZor for the comprehensive suggestions.
My ramblings were more about the peculiarities of avast! rather than any particular needs of my sister. (I don't think I'll have to go to such extremes. ;) ) <-QUOTE}

Well i teached her quite well but since she's on Facebook and Myspace a lot i just reinforced the system just to be sure.

[Nuke]

Bottom Line: Avast is the best free antivirus program?

[Tarq57]

{QUOTE-> Bottom Line: Avast is the best free antivirus program? <-QUOTE}
Sorry, discussions about "which is best" (or similar) are not allowed, here.;)
But i reckon it is certainly at least one of the best.

[Nuke]

I just read the policy. Sorry. I don't want to start a flame war.

Thanks.

[Tarq57]

I doubt if anyone would have thought you were trying to start a flame war.:D
Fact is, the Avira users very much appreciate their AV's, also, and probably a lot of the others appreciate theirs.

[The Hammer]

Does the Home version update itself with new definitions and can you schedule regular scans or do they have to be triggered manually?

[lodore]

{QUOTE-> Does the Home version update itself with new definitions and can you schedule regular scans or do they have to be triggered manually? <-QUOTE}
you can only do manual scans. schduling is only in the pro version.

avast updates itself once a day but you can do manual updates whenever you like.

[Zeena]

Hi :)

Some days I get Avast definition updates twice in one day :)

Usually...
One when I first boot up .. In the Morning.
And Sometimes .. One at Night :thumb:

I don't mind running a manual scan with Avast.
It only takes a couple of seconds to start a scan.
Click, Click, Click ... & ... Eat my tea while Avast is scanning :D

[nomarjr3]

{QUOTE-> Is Avast a worthy AV? <-QUOTE}
Indeed it is.
AFAIK they have NEVER engaged in any questionable business tactics (*cough* unlike other AV vendor out there *cough*).
And their AV has one of the most (if not the most) comprehensive scanning modules amongst the free AVs.

Only thing they lack is heuristics, which I hope will be implemented in v5.

[Tarq57]

It can easily be set to auto update more frequently. Generally updates appear to be available 1 -3 times daily.
Mine's set to check hourly.

[renegade08]

{QUOTE-> It can easily be set to auto update more frequently. Generally updates appear to be available 1 -3 times daily.
Mine's set to check hourly. <-QUOTE}

Thanks for sharing that tip.

[IAmAsean]

My bad option if I made this my last option. Rock solid so far on my 3 machines.