avast! Free Antivirus review
Avast has got a multiple number of shields, which includes the behavioral shield that monitors everything related to the suspicious behavior occurring in the background, and a file system shield that does the real-time scanning of the executed files. Every one would need the least work on the antivirus and would want it to run in the background, and perform all the activities that can keep their computers safe. There is a honeypot feature that sends a particular file to the Virus lab for additional analysis if it was found risky but not totally infected. I use MS outlook for sending and receiving mails with the attachments, and here the avast plug-in checks for malware in every part of it. The newer version has got better with the SSL communication scan too, where the gmail folders are checked for malware too. The free version, similar to the full version has the powerful shields for protection of files that come in through the P2P programs, and various IM programs. And while
you browse the web, the suspicious and malicious URLs are blocked by the URL blocker feature, and you would be notified about the reason for that.
I used to get pissed off the pop-ups of many antivirus programs that randomly come out from the taskbar when I have some fullscreen applications running, and these pop-ups mess up everything. Avast has this nice mode where it automatically checks whether the user is running some full-screen applications like games or movies, and depending on the level of risk, it decides on whether to pop the window out with the risk notification. That’s appreciable rather than the untimely notifications of the risks, and updates. The speed of scanning of the files too is faster than various other antivirus programs, even comparable to the premium version of a few ones. The reason behind this is the splitting of a large individual file, to get scanned in different cores at the same time.
Of course the free version of Avast antivirus has not got what the premium version provides you, but for someone who does the basic computer operating daily and wants to keep their system clean and risk-free without spending a penny, Avast is the best of them. AVG antivirus gives you similar features in its full version, which the free version of Avast does. Not everyone can afford Norton, and the amount of disk space and memory it uses, it doesn’t fit for usage in a netbook or a low-config notebook.
The multiple guards and shields to block the entry of viruses from every aspect, and the time-saving practices like file split for multi-core scanning, anti-malware engine for files from IM chats, P2P programs (even one of the most vulnerable program i.e. Limewire) and the scheduled scanning are all available in the free version of Avast. The updates happen frequently to fill the engine with the latest virus information and the measures to keep safe from their attacks. The interface is easy-to-use and a first time user won’t be confused too, as every basic action is displayed on the front. The 3rd party scanning system of Avast is far better than that of the ones developed by Microsoft and Symantec. A few features that you won’t see in the free version is the antispam measure, that works on your mail accounts, the testing sandbox and the firewall, but you can’t ask more when you are getting it for free. The free version is good enough, and this is the most recommended free antivirus software for windows.
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