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Avast!’s default interface

An increasing number of digital threats becoming an ever-present danger to home computers have fuelled the growth of the market of counter-measure software. The emergence of many new and effective kinds of antivirus software has chipped away the dominance of the large corporations like Symantec (Norton). There has been an avalanche of software freely distributed over the internet but after careful sifting and selection, only few stand out as trustworthy and effective tools to defend against virus threats. One of the best of them is AVG Anti-Virus (in one of my preview reviews). Yet another good one is AVAST! Antivirus Home Edition.

Basically, all kinds of antivirus software have the same fundamental functions. First, it is to prevent viruses from entering your computer system. Second, it is to search and eliminate any viruses that get through the defenses, undoing any potential harm done. However, there are some intrinsic differences between the features and functions of the various kinds of software.

In the case of AVAST! Antivirus, its preeminent feature is that it offers a boot-up scan function. This is a supremely helpful tool but unfortunately, it is so rare, even on purchased software. Thus, the presence of this tool on a free software is a double plus point for me. The boot-up scan can definitely remove more stubborn viruses that other software might not be able to do, as it can eliminate resuscitators that viruses use to counter removal measures. In my opinion, scanning while booting does a great job of removing viruses during startup, allowing your computer to start on a clean slate.

Another key characteristic is the availability and customizability of the appearance of AVAST! Antivirus. It looks something similar to the Winamp design, and users have the choice of downloading new skins to change the interface to suit their preference. Looks wise, this resembles more of a music player than an antivirus program. The interface is relatively hassle-free and straightforward to operate. AVAST! can be programmed to run in real-time and in the background while the user does other things with the computer. While AVG’s full system scan slowed my computer noticeably, AVAST!’s scan seems to take up less computer resources and does not affect working speed considerably.

AVAST! Antivirus will prompt and request for a boot-up scan (scanning before the operating system loads) every time it detects malicious software or files in the system. However this function is compatible on with Windows NT/2000/XP. Standard email scanning is present as well, and AVAST! can block spam if too many messages are coming through in a short period of time. One thing to note is that AVAST! does not allow the scheduling of regular full system scans like AVG (AVG scans after Windows starts up by default). This function is present, but only in the Professional Edition.

One very useful function on AVAST! is the Virus Recovery Database (VRDB). This basically stores information of a file and saves that information as backup. If this certain file gets infected and becomes beyond repair, VRDB can undo the changes and restore the file back to its previous configuration. This is an extremely helpful tool, especially for backing up documents of paramount importance. The downside of VRDB is that it has a tremendous strain on the computer, taking up a significantly large amount of resources. More often than not, especially so for home users, the VRDB takes up too much system resources to be of a realistic help.

AVAST! Antivirus Home Edition is an all-rounded software that home users can depend on to ensure the security of a computer. It can definitely rival the popular AVG in the freeware market. The boot-up scanning procedure has the potential to transform AVAST! into a premier antivirus software, but regrettably it was quite disappointing. The lack of signatures was the cause of several malicious files getting past the defense system and not the working of the scanning function itself. At this moment, before any improvements are made to AVAST!, I would safely put my bet on AVG instead.

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Every computer needs a functional program to counter threats of viruses and malicious spyware, in both preventive and reactive aspects. Certainly, there is a plethora of quality anti-virus software in the market that a reasonable amount of money can buy. Given this market’s high level of competitiveness, one would be overjoyed if there is software that provides rock-solid protection free-of-charge. Without a shadow of doubt, the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition has indeed brought smiles to faces of millions of users around the globe.

AVG Free Edition is not a new entry into this market; in fact, it has been around for a few years. According to Grisoft (the manufacturers), AVG has a total user count of approximately 60 million worldwide. The software is free to download and offers fundamental protection against modern electronic threats like spyware, Trojans and root kits.

The software allows you to scan your computer selectively, or to scan the entire hard drive, which is the default setting. The Test Centre can be accessed from the basic navigation window. From the Test Centre, updates for the software can be downloaded from the Grisoft server, which is rather redundant, in my opinion, since automatic updates are run every 2 hours by default. The scheduler can be configured manually to arrange for scans every fixed interval, as well as to set the time when you want AVG to update its virus database. The scanner automatically integrates itself in Outlook and becomes the default email-scanner, and with manual configuration, it can work together with other programs as well.

AVG Free Edition also has a very useful Resident Shield, which offers ‘real-time protection’ of your computer and your files. This means that it works as you surf the Internet and open files, it guarantees that your files in your computer would not be infected by any potential harmful viruses that may be transmitted.

In the unfortunate event that a file does get infected and become corrupted, the AVG Free Edition is still fully equipped to handle that eventuality. The infected files are quarantined in the Virus Vault, and can be eliminated from the computer. Of course, system files will not be deleted but secured inside the Vault and access restricted to prevent the virus from triggering.

The basic difference between the paid version (AVG Anti-Virus Professional) and the Free Edition is that in the Pro edition, there is much more advanced options on the scanner, making the scanner a hugely versatile tool. Also, users of Free Edition are lower on the priority list when updating the database as Pro users will take precedence. However, these two issues are not a significant concern - home users do not need more than the basic scanning functions and control for home protection; and the Grisoft server is so fast that it does not make much of a difference, be it Pro or Free.

Holistically, the fundamental features of AVG Free Edition are more than satisfactory, and can definitely provide security against malignant viruses. However, a significant amount of spyware can still get back the Free Edition’s defenses and as such, requires the download of another AVG product - the AVG Anti-Spyware. The Free Trial is available for download and once the trial period expires, some features will be locked but it still remains a functional anti-spyware program. The scanning process is comprehensive enough for domestic use and the Resident Shield is a potent line of defense against viruses. It requires very little computer resources and scanning is very fast compared to scanning on Norton or BitDefender.

What I was disappointed with was that the scanner on AVG could not scan external drives, for example my USB thumb drive. It will detect the virus and prompt you to quarantine files but is unable to get rid of the threat. Also, as mentioned earlier, the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition remains vulnerable to spyware intrusions. Moreover, the nature of an anti-virus software is that it is not stand-alone and it should work hand-in-hand with programs like anti-spyware and firewalls to fully protect a computer from external threats and this means that you would have to purchase or download yet another program like ZoneAlarm.

All in all, it is an easy interface to work with, most functions being self-explanatory and I would highly recommend AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition to all home users who require protection against basic threats.

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