Review of Avast AntiVirus Home Edition - Anti-virus : Free software reviews and downloads by ReviewSaurus

AVAST ANTIVIRUS HOME EDITION – Free and effective!

Oct 18, 2007

Many people carry the notion that Free anti-virus softwares can’t match the dexterity of licensed ones. To some extent even I thought the same and therefore decided to test a few of these free guards and pit them against the paid ones. The first of the series, Alwil’s Avast Antivirus Home Edition is here for you.

Prima Facie, you will be struck by its slick looks. The media player like looks is quite refreshing. It comprises of almost every functionality offered by its commercial counterparts and being being free, is a users delight.

PROS

1. Good scanning speed
Waiting hours for a full system scan to complete is something I totally hate. In that respect Avast pleased me with its decent scanning speed while carrying a full system scan which is about 20% faster than one of its commercial counterparts that I’ve previously used.

2. Skin-able Interface
Looks do matter! You don’t have to see the same banal interface every time you turn it on. With an option to start with a random interface in every session and a myriad of skins available online, it treats you with some excellent interfaces.

3. Low Memory Consumption
While running in the background its resident scanner consumes less than 15 MB of memory and thus puts no load on the system performance at all.

4. Offers Boot Time Scanning

CONS

1. Relatively inferior detection
When compared to the AVG Free edition, it failed to detect a few files as malware which were tagged so by AVG.

2. Scheduling not offered
It doesn’t offer scheduling of a normal scan. The feature is available in its professional version though.

Some people might crib about its default skin and find it a bit confusing in case they are not used to media player interfaces but for them the software offers other skins like its Mac style skin or the Vista Skin which are neat and organized by any standards.

Bottom Line
Changed my perspective about free anti-virus. Although a feature or two may be lacking, it is a comprehensive solution to those in need of a free anti-virus.

Software Details
Version: 4.7 Home edition Build Sep2007(4.7.1043)
License: Free
Homepage: www.avast.com
OS Requirements:Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista

Rating

4 Dinos

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Posted by Shashank | Categories: Software Reviews |

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39210 Responses2007-10-18+08%3A00%3A54Shashank so far | Have Your Say!

Doug Woodall
October 18th, 2007 at 5:58 pm #

I used Avast for years with great results. Recently Ive been trying Bitdefender. Its my first all-in-one. I like it so far.
Great Article!
Steven Snell
October 18th, 2007 at 9:53 pm #

Thanks. I’ll have to give this one a shot. I have tried several different products before, but none that I’ve really stuck with.
doug m
October 18th, 2007 at 11:40 pm #

i found that while using AVG a few years back it had a hard time removing some items it found. i haven’t found this problem with Avast. i recommend it to a lot of people and haven’t heard any complaints
Nirmal
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:23 am #

Avast free edition is a good software, I too had included it in my free AV list.
Protect Your PC From Viruses, spyware and other threats : A Beginner's Guide!
October 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm #

[...] Install 2nd level of Anti-virus : Download Avast free anti-virus however, ensure that you disable its real time scanner. Disable each and every option of automatic [...]
nwonyi emeka
November 1st, 2007 at 8:45 am #

want a free version of your software
ReviewSaurus
November 1st, 2007 at 12:02 pm #

@ nwonyi emeka : Well, you can go on http://www.avast.com and you can download the free version of the software without any problem :)
sylvester
October 5th, 2008 at 10:11 pm #

please help me to slove it
anita
November 28th, 2008 at 4:18 am #

i was not impressed with avast home adition ive had to have all my computer wiped cause once i had downloaded the free download it wouldnt let me do anything not impressed at all all my files that i had have now gone they couldnt be saved either all because of this download i will not be recommending you to anybody very unhappy
רשלנות רפואית
November 1st, 2009 at 10:39 pm #

I have been using it for several years. The only free antivirus software that works on Windows 98.