Is Avast really that good?

Question

I hear it's free, and I keep hearing that it's one of the best antivirus programs out there. Is it really? and before I even think of downloading it, is there anything I need to watch out for?

Answer 1

i used it years ago wasnt bad ... until i came across this with my firewall and firefox ... thats all i needed ... havent even wanted to change up

http://www.download.com/Avira-AntiVir-Pe...

Answer 2

No, the best antivirus is ESET NOD32 Antivirus! http://www.nod32.com.sg/html/44/42/

Why must choose NOD32 Antivirus?

Best Detection:

ESET is the leader in proactive, precise threat protection with more Advanced+ awards for superior threat detection than any other vendor since May 2005. (source AV-Comparatives.org)

Threat Sense™ technology detects more than 75% of new, unknown, threats heuristically - even before a signature update is available (Source AV-Test.org)

ESET Threat Sense is the only antivirus technology that has not missed a single In-the-Wild virus in rigorous Virus Bulletin VB100 testing since May 1998. (Source virusbtn.com)

Low False Positive Rate:

A very low false positive rate ensures that the “good” files on your computer will not be flagged as malware. This is due to the intelligent synergistic use of advanced heuristics and generic signatures. ESET Threat Sense has produced the fewest false positives in its long history of testing with Virus Bulletin.

Fastest Performance:

42 MB/sec average scanning rate on Windows XP SP2 (source: Virus Bulletin).

Up to 34 times faster than the leading brands under Windows XP

Minimal Resource Utilization:

Optimized engine uses approximately 38 MB memory on average.

Uses less than 40M of disk space.

Answer 3

I use to use Avast but I found Avira to be so much faster and detections are incredible. It's by far the best and I like it so much in one year after the trial is finished and you need a new key which they do give you, so it will be free forever, i'm thinking of getting premium version to go along with my windows vista premium.  

Answer 4

Absolutely, and one I would recommend.  I import malware and viruses to ensure that programs do what they state, and Avast has worked extremely well.

Once installed and configured it runs on its own, just register within 60 days and you get a free license for 1 year which you then renew each year....but it remains free.

Avast anti-virus better definitions, anti-spyware and anti-rootkit built in, faster and more reliable:

http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Editi...

Setup Guide:

http://cotojo.wordpress.com/2008/07/15

Anti-spyware, Anti-rootkit, Antivirus kernel, Automatic updates, Integrated Virus Cleaner, International Languages, Network Shield, P2P and IM Shields, Resident protection, Simple User Interface, Strong self-protection, Support for 64-bit Windows Systems, System integration, Virus Chest,

Many will spout how great AVG is, but V8 is less functional, bloated, high resources, low detection rates and still has many problems.

Check these sources:

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-compare-h...

http://free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-anti...

Answer 5

I used avast! on all my machines for a few years. It's a great piece of anti-virus software. I have since started using Avira AntiVir. It scored higher than avast! in a fairly recent test of anti-virus software. I decided to try it, and it's a great piece of software. Although free, it displays a window once a day asking you to purchase their non-free version.

You can't go wrong using avast! or Avira. You'll receive great protection with either product. Whatever you do, NEVER use a Norton/Symantec product for protecting your PC. Viruses/malware slow your computer down, and so does Norton Internet Security.

Answer 6

I have been using it for almost 2 years, along with my Mom & Father-In-Law. We have never had any problems or viruses. I would highly recommend it.

Best wishes...

Answer 7

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.ht...

Answer 8

it's worked better for me than any other antivirus i had to pay for