Is Avast a worthy AV?

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by tonyseeking, Dec 17, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2005
    Posts:
    5,554
    Location:
    USA still the best. But barely.
    Yes! First thing I changed on my laptop. Uninstalled Norton360 & put Avast Home on. I always recommend for those wanting a Freeware (registrationware) AV.
     
  2. icr

    icr Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2008
    Posts:
    1,589
    Location:
    UK
    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
     
  3. Nuke

    Nuke Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    Posts:
    134
    Location:
    USA
    Looks like you're right about the heuristics.
     
  4. Vladimyr

    Vladimyr Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 11, 2009
    Posts:
    461
    Location:
    Australia
    avast! 4.8 'Outlook/Exchange' & 'Internet Mail' providers and the anti-rootkit scanner include heuristic analysis. The 'Standard Shield' does not.
     
  5. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

    Joined:
    May 31, 2004
    Posts:
    6,426
    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
     
  6. Zeena

    Zeena Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Posts:
    409
    Location:
    UK
    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! :rolleyes:
    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 :doubt:

    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:
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2009
  7. The Hammer

    The Hammer Registered Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2005
    Posts:
    5,752
    Location:
    Toronto Canada
    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.
     
  8. normishmael

    normishmael Guest

    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
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 24, 2009
  9. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

    Joined:
    May 31, 2004
    Posts:
    6,426
    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.
     
  10. peetk

    peetk Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2006
    Posts:
    18
    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 ?
     
  11. GES/POR

    GES/POR Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2006
    Posts:
    1,490
    Location:
    Armacham
    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
     
  12. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2004
    Posts:
    8,013
    I actually found Avast to have less impact on browsing and overall system performance for one thing. Works very well for me....
     
  13. Antarctica

    Antarctica Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2003
    Posts:
    2,177
    Location:
    Canada
    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%
     
  14. normishmael

    normishmael Guest

    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.
     
  15. 031

    031 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2007
    Posts:
    187
    Location:
    Bangladesh
    Same here ........
     
  16. IceCube1010

    IceCube1010 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Posts:
    963
    Location:
    Earth
    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
     
  17. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

    Joined:
    May 31, 2004
    Posts:
    6,426
    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.
     
  18. Zimzi

    Zimzi Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2005
    Posts:
    289
    Avast's Web Shield works great with no slowdown surfing internet. There is no reason to not use Web Shield.
     
  19. IceCube1010

    IceCube1010 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Posts:
    963
    Location:
    Earth
    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
     
  20. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

    Joined:
    May 31, 2004
    Posts:
    6,426
    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.
     
  21. IceCube1010

    IceCube1010 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Posts:
    963
    Location:
    Earth
    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
     
  22. Zeena

    Zeena Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2008
    Posts:
    409
    Location:
    UK
    Hi Ice :)

    I Totally Agree With - RejZoR

    What AV/AS .. Were you using before Avast?
    Perhaps there are still bits left hanging around.. Causing Problems :doubt:
    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
     
  23. Arup

    Arup Guest

    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.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 26, 2009
  24. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

    Joined:
    May 31, 2004
    Posts:
    6,426
    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.
     
  25. IceCube1010

    IceCube1010 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Posts:
    963
    Location:
    Earth
    One of the best forums IMHO, next to this one!:D

    Ice
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.