Avast Antivirus 2015

[kendall.a]

I "don't have a dog in this fight" (http://www.usingenglish.com/referenc...his+fight.html)
because I made the decision several months ago to move to a commercial AV product. However, today, if I were to go back to a free AV, it most likely would not be Avast.

I follow a similar conversation over at Wilders and it appears that a lot of people are moving away from Avast. Several recent AV tests have not shown top of the line results for Avast. Yes, I know that we shouldn't base our decision on these tests, but if I remember correctly, it's been multiple tests that have shown the same thing.

It appears from my recent reading that Panda has greatly improved over the past year or so. I've not used it, but it has gotten good reviews from several AV tests. So, if I were to choose a free AV today, it would most likely be Panda.

[torres-no-tan-magnifico]

I couldn't agree more. Avast has a lot of additional programs that aren't really essential and, yes, I know you have choices when installing but this can be confusing, especially to newcomers.
I was a long time user of Avira; however, I gave Avast a try after my Avira licence expired. I am now happily using Panda and I find the whole setup much easier and less intrusive than Avast.

[Anupam]

Quite disappointing to read that about Avast. It's good that now they have removed it.

However, IMO, it's something which can/could be avoided. I don't install most of the tools that are bundled with Avast. I don't need them. On other PCs too, I only install browser clean up tool. I just install the shields, which I feel is enough.

Although I do feel that Avast is unnecessarily increasing the bloat on the antivirus, however, it's good that still they have managed to keep the memory usage low. I also feel that Avast remains a good choice among free antivirus.

The test results are still decent, they are not very bad, like MSE. Avast offers web shield, which I think is an important aspect of protection. It has protected me from bad websites many a times. There is also the boot scanning, which is also another great feature to remove those pesky malware. Script protection is another feature which is unique to Avast. All these make it a good choice for me.

Among other free antivirus, I wouldn't install AVG... it's certainly not lightweight. Wasn't earlier, I don't know the situation now, but somehow I don't like it.

Avira has a good detection rate, but otherwise, it still has its own nitpicks which I don't like. I haven't used it since long time, so can't remember what. It's a good alternative choice though.

I wouldn't go for Panda, because I don't like an antivirus whose major portion is dependent on cloud. Personal preference, but I am not a big fan of cloud based stuff.

Comodo Antivirus seems good and I haven't tried it yet, but again, reading that it is quite hard to uninstall, not going for it. I haven't read up on its test results too.

Haven't tried 360 Total Security too, but with it, there is a trust factor, and I am not ready to trust it yet. Personal choice.

BitDefender Free is unusable for me, as it offers little control.

Avast Antivirus remains a great option for me, and it has continued to work great over the years, and I install it on my PC, and the PCs of my known ones too. Has kept them safe and me too. Will continue to use it, until it shows really major degradation... which I haven't encountered so far. Will still recommend it to others.

However, I can understand Sope's point of view in this. In case of such conflicts, it's better to look for an AV which would work with the setup that he has, rather than changing other things around it.

[Remah]

I'm currently using Avast but will be changing to another soon. Not because of the issues mentioned here but because I use multiple AVs so I can evaluate the products that I might be recommending or not recommending to others.

[Sope]

Yep, it is good news that Avast has chosen to remove that particular feature.
It's certainly not the only software I use which uses "sleight of hand" to get questionable things onto a users PC. If you are aware of the potential traps then they can be successfully avoided. It's not that big a deal to me.

I like the added security of using an AV, but as I routinely use Sandboxie, it's debatable whether there's much advantage in adding the extra overhead and complexity to my system. I can't remember the last time my computer was "saved" by AV software, so under the circumstances I think I'll try going without one for a while.

[Anupam]

Originally Posted by Remah

I'm currently using Avast but will be changing to another soon.

What are your thoughts about Avast, Remah?

[George.J]

Avast 2015 review @ Softpedia

[Remah]

Originally Posted by Anupam

What are your thoughts about Avast, Remah?

I like it. It reminds me of Avira so I'll have to try that again to see if it is similar. I'll also try Comodo. I am reluctant to try 360 given other company practices past and present.

I try AVs primarily for ease of use by basic users. Avast is good for them with features like an easy to follow interface, low resource usage, web browser add-on for searching (I use it in addition to WOT), software updater, voice message when it updates (it helps people to know it is up-to-date), and positive upgrade options for those who want to pay to get more features.

Some of those features are also in my negative list. I don't like the voice message when it updates (it can be irritating), false positives, a couple of missed threats (MBAM picked them up), the difficulty determining exactly what it has detected and removed, and the prompts to enable paid options.

I didn't use Grime Fighter because I prefer CCleaner.

[Anupam]

Thanks for your reply Remah. Agree with most of what you wrote.

Maybe you feel it is similar to Avira because of their latest UI, but it's different. I haven't tried Avira since a long time though.

I am also thinking of trying Comodo, maybe on my laptop, which serves as an experimental base.

I too like Avast for its simplicity, and that it can be used by basic users.
Although it is simple enough for basic users, but I have observed that even with such simplicity, when it comes to handling threats, basic users are at a loss what to do with a malware notification. Most of them have no idea at all. They either click based on their understanding, or click on wrong options, or just close the notification without any action. No security program can help with that.

Looking at this, Bitdefender Free looks like a viable option, which handles things on its own, but lack of control for even for experienced users is just no go.

Well, some protection is better than nothing at all, even if they are not able to handle the notifications properly. Atleast, there is something there to protect them.

I install WOT for myself and others too, so I don't install the webrep plugin from Avast. Don't use the software updater, because frankly, I don't trust any. I trust manual download and installation of software. However yes, that also means that the PCs I install stuff on, are not able to update software by themselves. It's not a big issue IMO though, except for few risky software like Adobe Reader, browsers, etc.. for which I set the automatic update in their settings.

Thankfully, Avast has kept them safe mostly, except sometimes it can miss malware from pen drives, which can happen with any antivirus.

Avast does not have the feature to automatically scan pen drives, which I believe are major source of malware infection. Does anyone know if automatic scan of pen drives is present in other free antivirus or not?
Maybe I should request this feature on their forum. Or, maybe this feature is a part of their commercial versions, will have to check .

[bo.elam]

Originally Posted by Anupam

Does anyone know if automatic scan of pen drives is present in other free antivirus or not?

I believe MSE does that. I remember it giving me a virus alert one time immediately after inserting a USB drive. That was a long time ago with MSE1.

Bo