Avast (free)

[inspiron]

So my mcafee trial that came on my laptop finally ran out, and I just downloaded the free avast!

I have to say I am liking avast more then mcafee more so far... why?

mostly one reason...

Faster virus scans!! When doing a virus scan on avast it takes about 2 minutes top, and on mcafee it could take about 2 hours tops... I do not see how there can be this big of a difference.

On mcafee I would get about 1mb/s and on avast i'm getting 250mb/s

So is avast the best FREE virus protection out there? I heard that AVG slows the hell out of your computer.

 

[lxskllr]

I like Avira. Many like MSE, but it gave me some problems, and it isn't as friendly for more advanced users.

 

[inspiron]

My father has avast and recommended it to me, and I love it. Are there any known problems with avast?

 

[tzdk]

Check their forum for problems but usually Avast is very stable. You can make it even more stable by not using all those shields. I only use File System and Network Shield and last one only because it blocks malware domains. That feature is not critical but I like it If you feel browsing is crap then disable webshield. If crap mean hopeless and not just a sense of more latency then probably a conflict with a firewall. Behavior shield I don't think work on 64bit but new feature so possible troublemaker.

Secret to Avast new speedy file scanning you see when clicking Expert settings under File System Shield. Then Advanced. With old version you had to disable stuff, like don't scan on read etc. Sacrificing protection for speed basically. Now you can use default and still get way faster scan time. Actually Avast 5 could be slower than Avast 4, you only notice during the first fulll scan. Once files are known it feels very fast and light.

Would be cool if MS would copy this "intelligent" scan policy to MSE. That one behaves very differently to say the least.

 

[Ultralight]

I have Avast free on two laptops and a second PC and love it. Plus it works very well with Superantispyware free and Online Armor free.

Great combination.

 

[inspiron]

I am using avast free with windows defender is that ok?

 

[Ultralight]

I am using avast free with windows defender is that ok?

Sure. Can't see why not. I also have Malwarebytes free but not running as resident protection. I only periodically manually scan.

 

[lxskllr]

My father has avast and recommended it to me, and I love it. Are there any known problems with avast?

I think Avira has better detections, but you also get more false positives :shrugs: I'd consider using Avast; it's certainly a decent A/V. I stick with Avira because I like the way it works, and I'm used to it.

For your later question... Defender should play nice with just about any A/V. I've considered uninstalling it due to my HD getting hammered every time it updates, but that's really the only time it gives me issues. AFAIK it's never protected me from anything, but who knows, it might some day. That's why I keep it :^D

 

[Lemon law]

As lxskllr somewhat points out, Avast has never been the best AV, but has always been very competitive in the freeware AV class, and for that matter just a hair away from being better than any AV in the payware class.

But I think its fair to say that above assessment more applies to the previous 4.8 version, and its too early to tell if version 5 will be all that better. But if given a choice between freeware Avast and freeware Avira, it may be one of those it depends. I use Avira on my computer, but my wife, who has far more incoming emails, needs the incoming email prescanning Avast has and Avira personal lacks.

And this has been OUR AV strategy for about a decade, with my other security layers geared mainly towards prevention, and both Avira and Avast have kept our computers 100% virus free.

 

[inspiron]

I don't really do that much email on my laptop, but I do download a lot of different stuff... Like music, game patches, and free games. I do not use limewire, because I am pretty sure that destroyed my last desktop.

For music I am using beemp3 and it has not given me one problem yet, and I have heard no bad things about beemp3.

My laptop, did not come with microsoft word... Is there any good free word processors out there that has spell check, and is compatible with microsoft word and vice versa? (sorry a different question)

 

[lxskllr]

Abiword for word processing only, and Open Office for a full office suite. I use Open Office.

 

[Pantlegz]

I've been using avast home for years and never had any issues with it. I reccomend it and spybot to everyone I know.

 

[Marinski]

i tried Avast and didn't like it, too many shields and things going on. For the free av's i prefer Avira. But, i change every year so who knows.

 

[inspiron]

Abiword for word processing only, and Open Office for a full office suite. I use Open Office.

Does open office work with microsoft word? like if i did a document on open office>saved on flashdrive>brought to school>would I be able to open with microsoft word? thanks for your input by the way.

 

[lxskllr]

Does open office work with microsoft word? like if i did a document on open office>saved on flashdrive>brought to school>would I be able to open with microsoft word? thanks for your input by the way.

If you're gonna do that, it's best to save it to one of the older Word formats(BUT NOT 2003!!!). I think I usually use Word 97. You can also run the portable version of Open Office, and take the suite with you on a thumb drive. That'll let you use it on any computer that'll allow thumb drive access. Finally, I think there's also a plugin that'll allow Word to use .odt documents, but you can't count on that with foreign computers.

If there's more general software questions, I'd suggest taking it to the Windows software forum, so you can get more eyes :^)

 

[ultimatebob]

I liked Avast 5 so much, I uninstalled Symantec Anti-virus and installed it to all of our production systems! It uses a hell of a lot less memory than Symantec, and seems to be more stable so far.

 

[inspiron]

Indeed, Avast is proving it's usefulness. I haven't had it pop up anytime saying theirs a virus though... That might be a good thing though, and maybe I just haven't gotten one yet.

If, and when I do I want to be ready!

 

[jadinolf]

I have avast!5 on 5 computers and am very satisfied with it.

 

[Frank Broughton]

Avast 5 is nice. I have used Avast on 10 computers I manage and have for some time (years) with great success. I have installed it many tens of times an other peoples 'puters. I highly recommend it. I even have pro versions on some (5) of my systems.

 

[inspiron]

yeah I am sticking with it! hope its doing its job because it hasnt detected ANY viruses yet.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I switched from MSE to Avast a few hours ago. Primary reason was MSE slowing down Explorer whenever I opened a folder with a bunch of executables in it. There was always a noticeable pause before it would display the icons/tiles. This is on an i5/5850/4GB machine, no SSD but a bunch of Seagate 7200.11/7200.12 drives. Should it really take that long? Avira wasn't very good in this regard either.

I know your AV of choice should be based on something a bit more substantial like detection rates but Avast isn't exactly chopped liver either. I'm happy. Nice GUI as well.

 

[hypn05]

Avast free for real time protection + Malwarebytes for additional scanning.
It's a good combination.

Don't forget to add Firewall.

 

[inspiron]

Avast free for real time protection + Malwarebytes for additional scanning.
It's a good combination.

Don't forget to add Firewall.

would avast free + windows defender suffice?

 

[lxskllr]

would avast free + windows defender suffice?

Sure. Malwarebytes is nice if you suspect a problem, or want to run the occasional scan. I use SpyBot S&D, and Spywareblaster also. SpyBot isn't the best scanner, but it has passive protections that are nice. Spywareblaster is passive only.