Is Avast Free good enough to use?

You can't be serious in trying to tell me that antivirus programs will not slow down games...especially some of todays current games...some antivirus programs more than others.

 

Doing the appropriate tests, there are many factors to be considered..


If I wanted to test out simply the impact that AV real-time resident protection has on my system, I would not merely exit out of the GUI, I would disable ALL features offered in the product or better yet, uninstall the software and compare.

 

yes man, I've used it for almost a year. Trust me, I play games on the net, chat with people, get lots of mails, shop. It's very good. Real-time is a good deal for a free AV.

 

Just installed Avast! Home version,
And ran my own tests,
And like every other AV with Real-Time resident protection activated,
I can see some delays regarding program launchings.

And depending on AV Real-Time resident protection and the settings, it can very well interferer and slowdown the operation/functionality of running programs/games. Using as a quick example, I activate ‘Scan all files’ (which is disabled setting by default with many AVs), now I open Look ‘n’ Stop GUI and access ‘Internet Filtering’ screen and simply make rule-name label modification and ‘SAVE’, that very moment a big spike in my resources (which is NOT normal behaviour for Look ‘n’ Stop) and delay (which is NOT normal behaviour for Look ‘n’ Stop) with Look ‘n’ Stop application. I could lists many examples but I don’t think I need to say anymore..


My personal review on Avast! Home version; I only just begin using it, already I’m luving it. I see many things about Avast! Free that I find unique compared to other popular free AVs (like AVG Free). Files/folders exclusion capabilities for Avast! Free Real-Time resident protection alone is part of its uniqueness, something you definitely don’t see in AVG Free.

Considering the things Avast! Free can do, it is yet very speedy in regards to Real-Time resident protection, quite a bit faster than AVG free.

The technical support, well I think Avast! Free does have something, I give it a very low rating however. I sent an E-mail with merely one simple question, this was day(s) ago, and no response as of yet (and yes I just checked the E-mail address I had sent to, and it is the correct E-mail address).. AVG Free, there is absolutely no technical support…

 

Have you heard of the official Avast! forum? http://forum.avast.com

 

Yes, off the official website, and in the Avast! Home About area, shown under “Technical support: support@avast.com”...

 

Avast tech has always replied to my queries via mail or forum and I am using the free version as well for the last two years, pretty good considering I do scan my system with the so called paid AV from time to time and so far, nothing detected so I guess Avast is doing a pretty good job.

 

Well I guess they simply didn’t like my question…

 

Well I have given Avast another try, and must say that this time all is running well. I must have had something else last time I tried that conflicted with it. I must say that I am beginning to like this AV.

 

@Phant0m
Tech support through mail is probably a top priority for Professional users first. So if you use Home you might wait a bit longer. But thats not rule. They might reply to you min matter of hours or even minutes.
If you want instant answer you should ask on their forums.
Me and few other avast! gurus are there almost 24/7 + Alwil team checks in very often. You'll get answers there in matter of minutes usually

 

Yes, Avast! Free is beautiful.


Hey RejZoR

I can understand, and I’m sure they are flooded with E-mails asking all sorts of questions, questions that probably be answered by simply reading over the main website..

I do believe they should improve this aspect, E-mail Technical support for Avast! Home..

I did get my response this morning, so a response is a good response, and better then no response. I hadn’t waited, Avast! seemed so compelling so I installed it anyways, and doing so answered my question that I had sent to the technical support.

 

personally i've had no problems using AVG with dialup - the updates aren't all that big.

anyhoo for those of you privileged to reside in the United Kingdoms of Grande Brittania - the latest edition of PC Pro Magazine (November 2005) includes Avast! 4 Home Edition on it's cover DVD. Useful for dialup users who don't like big downloads.

Hooray! Viva Los Vegas!

 

I believe the statement were directed towards 'AntiVir Classic'

 

AntiVir must have some BIG updates in it's locker, phantom (he did mention AVG for some reason?)

 

I had not used Avast for a year or so, but given the fact that Antivir PE can be difficult to update, particularly for dialup clients, I tried Avast on a few pcs (98 & XP) and found it to be much improved. I personally do not like the main interface, but it is workable and it's very configurable to suit your own protection requirements.
Doing tech support on the side, I have found that Antivir, Avast and AVG are certainly capable of detecting malware that commercial (vs free) software does not. AVG, while capable, seems to have created more problems of late, since the upgrade to v7 - slowness, freezing with defrag etc, forcing you to perform maintenance in safe mode. If you check more than one review / test I think you willl usually find that Antivir and Avast run neck and neck, each having a strength (Antivir for dialers etc) with AVG slightly behind.
From what I have seen, Antivir PE has the smallest footprint / load on the pc.
Regardless, the best advice I can offer is (like many others here) run a realtime scanner and keep it updated. Use heuristics and set the scanner to prompt before action. Install a second scanner (or more) as a standalone (not realtime) and use it to scan the drive independently every week or so.