Avast! Antivirus: A No-Cost Alternative

There seems to be a constant supply of new viruses that are created by depraved individuals with way too much time on their hands and the only way to protect your computer from these malcontents is to have a good antivirus program running all the time.

If you are like me, you have tried several antivirus programs on your computer. I have tried programs such as Norton, McAfee, iolo and others that have anything between a steep and a moderate price but I have never been able to find an antivirus that has consistency in all aspects.

Most people do not believe that they can find an antivirus program that works well constantly and have the added bonus of being FREE (for home use only).

Believe it or not, there is! The name of the program is avast! antivirus.

Many years ago, I found a free for home use antivirus program that claimed the kind of protection that you would find in an expensive program. I had a difficult time believing that a free program had the capacity to offer such protection as well as enormous skepticism that in our overly capitalistic society there would be such a program without a price tag.

My skepticism gave way to finances and opportunity and I decided to try avast! because I was short on cash but wanted to have access to the internet, therefore my choice was very limited. I was more worried about connecting to the internet without an anti-virus than I was about trying avast!. I found this program to be very effective. I used the avast! program for three years, keeping it even when my finances allowed me more choice.

I ended my internet service because my computer died prematurely (the mother board fried) and it would take another three years to buy another.

A brand new computer these days comes with an antivirus program installed, usually Norton. My new computer had the Norton program pre-installed and it was not long until I began having problems with it. Norton has always caused my system to lock up, viruses began to get overlooked and general chaos ensued.

I had tried the McAfee program and was wholly dissatisfied so I looked for a different program to use. Research led me to a program from iolo that sounded as if it would suffice but I found out within six months that even the iolo could not keep up with the onslaught of viruses on the internet.

I remembered the avast! program that I used to use and decided to give it another try.

The makers of the avast! Antivirus feel that if they can help prevent viruses on home computers, they can help stop the spread of computer viruses on the internet.

The first section is the Summary that includes your computer’s current status and Statistics. The summary shows you whether all your protection is turned on and if your updates are current. Statistics will show you a graph chart, complete with date and time, of your last few scans.

avast! has multiple Scan Computer settings to help you set up your program the way you want it, from full scans, quick scans, removable media scans or just scan folders. Scans can take a few minutes or several minutes depending on your choice of set up and the scans are shown in progress.

This program also has a Real-Time Shield that is constantly on guard. It includes File System, Mail (scans inbound and outbound email), Web, P2P, IM, Network and Behavior Shields that you can configure to your own specifications.

The Maintenance section contains an Update page to update your engine and virus definitions, along with updating the program. The Registration section allows you to register your program or upgrade your program. The Virus Chest works as a container for suspicious/infected files and isolates these files so they can not do any harm to the rest of your computer. Finally, the About avast! section gives you all of the pertinent information about the program from version number and virus definition version to copyright, to credits.

There is also a button at the top of the avast! window that will take you to the Help Center and a button for your Settings.

The Real-Time protection is just that…avast! blocks viruses and Trojans automatically while you are connected to the internet and on line. A small window will rise on the bottom right corner of your screen and a pleasant female voice tells you what has been blocked. It has been very reassuring over the past week to know that I can search the internet without having to be concerned over someone with malicious intent trying to have a good time at my expense.

I would highly recommend the avast! antivirus program to anyone who is looking for real virus protection. Remember, avast! is free for home use so unless your running a business computer, you can have great protection at no cost!