New Avast user questions

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by Jeleal, Nov 12, 2007.

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  1. Jeleal

    Jeleal Former Poster

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    Being a new user of Avast Home, I have a few questions. How does Avast do so well in the AV Comparitives without heuristics? Also is the Web Shield needed? And last. Would using Online Armor Free and ThreatFire with Avast be a good security set up? Thank you.
     
  2. the Tester

    the Tester Registered Member

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    I used the Web Shield and it didn't slow things noticably.It's up to you but I would use it.
    Heuristics for Avast are in the near future.;)
    I would think OA free + TF + Avast would be good.
     
  3. solcroft

    solcroft Registered Member

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    Kaspersky had utterly crap heuristics until v7 as well. I don't see any universal law that dictates that only antivirus software with heuristics can do well in tests. Do you?

    Get rid of one or the other. They're not both needed... unless you want a firewall, in which case OA comes with one while TF doesn't.

    Actually, on second thought, if you don't know enough about either to know which one you should keep, I'd say keep TF.
     
  4. Jeleal

    Jeleal Former Poster

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    Thank you solcroft. I think I know enough about OA Free to say that it would be the one to keep. However doesn't TF detect malware differently than OA Free, and couldn't both of them be used with Avast? Also thank you the Tester for your response.
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2007
  5. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Well avast! is peforming surprisingly well for signature only antivirus.
    They however put quiet some work on generic signatures that sometimes work as heuristics. However we are all waiting for avast! 5.x with it's uber detection :D
     
  6. the insider

    the insider Registered Member

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    euh.... uber what in Avast! ? Please explain this to me o_O
     
  7. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Über can mean super. Just know that avast 5 will have better detection rates.
     
  8. solcroft

    solcroft Registered Member

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    OA doesn't "detect" malware. It just prompts you when processes try to perform certain actions, regardless of whether that process is legitimate or malicious, and it's up to you to decide.
     
  9. the insider

    the insider Registered Member

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    ok thx but when will it be available ??
     
  10. strangequark

    strangequark Registered Member

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    I wouldn't be turning Web Shield off, as the Tester says it doesn't seem to slow things down in a significant way.
     
  11. benton4

    benton4 Registered Member

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    Avast rocks!!! Other than I believe one test, AV-comparitives has given it an advanced ranking for like the last 3 years. It is a solid product, that combined with Threatfire and Comodo(my personal choice), you've got a good defense started against the bad guys.
     
  12. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Actually...avast has gotten "Advanced" 7 times and "Standard" 7 times too. There was also one gray.
     
  13. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

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    I agree it does rock. I had a nasty and was missed by several other popular paid ones.the ones that where top rated and offer on line scans I wont mention names. I downloaded avast and it nailed it on the boot scan.since then I have been using avast for over a yr virus free.
     
  14. Wordward

    Wordward Former Poster

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    Just curious how well Avast runs with other security software? I haven't used it for a long time, but I was now thinking of trying it out. I would be using it with Webroot Desktop Firewall and DSA, or maybe even Zone Alarm Antispyware since it's free right now.
     
  15. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

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    I use kerio firewall and spyblaster among windows defender these apps play nice together. I am not sure about the others.avast does seem to get along well with many apps
     
  16. FadeAway

    FadeAway Registered Member

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    That can depend on the build. A few months back, I was running avast,
    and when a new build came out, my computer boot time increased by
    about 30 seconds. In playing around, I discovered that uninstalling
    the free version of SAS (no real time), brought my boot times back
    to normal. So I switched to AVG AV temporarily. After avast came out
    with a couple of program updates, the problem vanished, so I'm back
    to avast, which I've been happy with for years.
     
  17. Arup

    Arup Guest

    Avast is one of the most rounded offerings, free or paid, its protection modules like web shield, P2P, mail etc, offered on both free and paid versions give excellent protection, it has network shield that will protect you from viruses and trojans in case your firewall gets compromised. For a novice, I would recommend Avast over other AV.
     
  18. Wordward

    Wordward Former Poster

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    Starting to agree with you Arup. I'm liking it more and more. Trying out a few different Skins and I love the spinning Sys Tray Icon. I'm only running 4 Shields though. Web, Standard, Network, and IM. I don't use Outlook but do use Yahoo which has Norton I think for it's mail scanner. Also I don't go on P2P sites. Anyway because it's running well with ZA Antispyware and ThratFire, for now it's a keeper.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2007
  19. Macstorm

    Macstorm Registered Member

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    Does avast systray icon 'spin'? o_O
     
  20. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    Yes. It spins when scanning.
     
  21. Macstorm

    Macstorm Registered Member

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    Thank you, i didn't know that :thumb:
     
  22. CJsDad

    CJsDad Registered Member

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    You can stop the icon from spinning and you can also remove the icon the from the tray if you want.
     
  23. rhuds13

    rhuds13 Registered Member

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    It works great with SAS Pro.
     
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