Avast antivirus 4.8 home edition-(for Avast users)

[Andavari]

The nag screen on updates is simple to get rid of.

The problem in AntiVir v7 was disabling the nag screen also disabled the ability to get virus information. I don't know if the same problem exists in AntiVir v8 or not, however even if it does it's better than seeing that nag screen everyday.

[Anthony A]

The problem in AntiVir v7 was disabling the nag screen also disabled the ability to get virus information. I don't know if the same problem exists in AntiVir v8 or not, however even if it does it's better than seeing that nag screen everyday.

 

 

I will have to try that out if and when I ever get a detection to check out. There is always Google

[YoKenny]

avast! antivirus 4.8 Home Edition

REVIEW DATE: 04.10.08

 

by Neil J. Rubenking

 

When the version number of a new software release is just 0.1 higher than the old one, I expect a ho-hum incremental update. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that avast! antivirus 4.8 Home Edition adds significant functionality: It now protects against spyware, rootkits, and other forms of nonvirus malicious software. Best of all, it's free for personal use.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2282704,00.asp

[Anthony A]

I finally got hold of a help file for Avast and looked it over. From what I read there are two GUI. Simple interface and Enhanced. The Simple user Interface looks very basic. The Enhanced User Interface is only available in the paid version according to the help file. So how do you control the settings for the half dozen Shields in Avast? What if you want to turn some off or tweak them? Is it possible in the free version?

[Eli]

I finally got hold of a help file for Avast and looked it over. From what I read there are two GUI. Simple interface and Enhanced. The Simple user Interface looks very basic. The Enhanced User Interface is only available in the paid version according to the help file. So how do you control the settings for the half dozen Shields in Avast? What if you want to turn some off or tweak them? Is it possible in the free version?

Hi Anthony

You have full control of the shield settings in the simple interface(free version) +you can turn on/off any shield. All easily configured following the help file or intuitively.

Good luck

Eli

[Tarun.]

Always been a fan of avast. They also have a rootkit detection software that is based on GMER, though it is in the beta stage.

[tomcatonnet99]

Would be glad to change to Avast but the last time I used it on my WinXP 256MB it seemed to be terribly slow, much slower than my AVG 7.5 !

 

Besides it checks each and every site for every new connection I make to the internet, and on every tab it tends to slow down the connection, AVG 7.5 doesn't really slow down the internet connectivity and page downloads does it??

 

I had all the available options checked in Avast , dunno if that slowed it down but If any of yous have suggestions I'd much appreciate

 

many thanks

[Tarun.]

Windows XP on 256MB of RAM is slow regardless. Doubling the RAM to 512MB will make it feel really smooth.

[DennisD]

I forgot to mention that I sail happily along with 512mb of ram.

 

One of the things you have to think about is whether or not your firewall is slowing things down. Of course this is one of those things where a definitive assessment is hard to make. My system showed some slowdown when I ran Avast with a couple of third party firewalls.

 

Was it the firewalls to blame? Or was it just that Avast and these firewalls didn't run very well together?

 

I have no idea, but by a process of trial and error, I've found that on my system, Avast and Windows Firewall just work well togther.

 

And may it long stay that way.

[Anthony A]

I forgot to mention that I sail happily along with 512mb of ram.

 

One of the things you have to think about is whether or not your firewall is slowing things down. Of course this is one of those things where a definitive assessment is hard to make. My system showed some slowdown when I ran Avast with a couple of third party firewalls.

 

Was it the firewalls to blame? Or was it just that Avast and these firewalls didn't run very well together?

 

I have no idea, but by a process of trial and error, I've found that on my system, Avast and Windows Firewall just work well togther.

 

And may it long stay that way.

 

Dennis, how many processes does Avast have running and how much RAM is it using? With AntiVIr I have 3 processes running and 11MB of RAM being used. Not as good as AVG 7.5 where I have less than 2 MB of RAM being used but a lot better tha AVG 8 which uses about 75-90 MB of RAM.

[Tarun.]

I know avast and Comodo work fine together, as my friend has it on his Vista machine and it flies. Heck, my VMs where I test these things tend to zoom along.

[DennisD]

I've got 4 modules running as listed above, and as Confucious say "a picture is worth etc":

 

 

Not the smallest footprint, but it's worked no worse for me than the other AV's I've tried including Avira. And if you look at Opera there, I'm downloading a few things right at this moment.

 

Avast is the ash*.* processes.

[Anthony A]

I've got 4 modules running as listed above, and as Confucious say "a picture is worth etc":

 

 

Not the smallest footprint, but it's worked no worse for me than the other AV's I've tried including Avira. And if you look at Opera there, I'm downloading a few things right at this moment.

 

Avast is the ash*.* processes.

 

I would assume some of those Avast processes can be disabled if wanted? Are some of those the shields Avast is famous for? Even as it is there in your screen shot it's much lighter than AVG 8.

 

I have never seen Opera get that high in Memory use. I set the memory cache in Opera settings to 60 MB and it keeps memory use low and I notice no problems what so ever. The default setting is "automatic" and when set to that it determines how much RAM it will use based on the amount of RAM you have installed.

[Tarun.]

Actually if you want to reduce avast's memory usage further, simply go under Custom for each shield and untick what you never use.

[Anthony A]

Actually if you want to reduce avast's memory usage further, simply go under Custom for each shield and untick what you never use.

 

That's what I was asking. Those shields don't have to run.

[Tarun.]

I'd still let the ones that you feel you need run. Give me a moment and I'll fire up the VM and install avast.

 

Edit:

Okay, I'm going to base this off my usage (if I used an anti-virus), obviously your uses will vary.

 

Instant Messaging - I uncheck all except gaim (which is Pidgin now). So that frees up a lot of checked items and thus you'll see some benefit.

Internet (Web based) Email - tend to leave alone, since it covers Gmail, Hotmail, etc.

Network - Good if you use a notebook or frequently connect to wireless LANs.

P2P - If I ever use anything, it was in the past and it would be uTorrent, so a lot to uncheck there. Just like IM Shield.

Standard - I leave alone

Web Shield - I leave alone

 

Now if I install this on a clients machine per request, I leave everything at default. But unticking programs you don't use does help.

[DennisD]

Not being technically savvy on AntiVirus software, my criteria has simply been to disable the modules that I know for sure I don't need.

 

It's possible, maybe even probable, that I could trim down even more, so I'm always open to constructive advice, although with the modules I do have running, any further tinkering might not even be noticeable.

 

The old screen shot again:

 

 

These are what I always have running, and they are all set to "high".

 

Maybe I could do without the Network Shield, as I'm not on any form of home or company network, or am I misunderstanding it's function?

 

It's worth saying of course that Avasts module system is pretty flexible with what you need to protect and when.

 

If I dip my toe in the murky waters of p2p, I can activate a module designed to cover that.

[Anthony A]

Well all I have ever ran is the resident shield to give me real time protection. I have always shut off the email scanner because I use Gmail and it's scanned by them besides I am not going to open an attachment from some one I don't know and if I did and it was infected the resident shield would get it. I don't see the need for the web mail shield for the reasons I just stated. The IM shield again I see no use for. The other shields like P2P I would not need either. So If I set Avast to just have the resident shield it looks like it would be very lite.

[Tarun.]

If you're sure you're never going to need a shield you can stop/terminate it. But if you need something from it, customize it so you can lessen what it needs.

[Anthony A]

The old screen shot again:

 

 

That looks like a clean interface. That's not the default one that looks like a little blob of a media player so what is it? Is that a skin or a built in option?

[DennisD]

It's just the default screen for setting up or tinkering with the various modules. Completely seperate from the main Avast GUI.

 

Left click the Systray icon brings it up, right click gets the main menu.

[Tarun.]

If you do a minimal install without skinning, that's the GUI you get.

[DennisD]

Here goes with the 3rd and last screenshot of the day, this is the gui I'm using at the moment.

 

[Anthony A]

Here goes with the 3rd and last screenshot of the day, this is the gui I'm using at the moment.

 

 

Hey you have automatic updates set to off. Go stand in the corner

[Tarun.]

On client machines I set auto updates to work silently and suppress reboots.