Microsoft operating systems are susceptible to virus infection. This is known to all. This raises the question of choosing good software to protect your computer. Everyone knows paid products from Kaspersky and ESET Corporation. But they have one significant drawback: they are paid. In addition, they load the computer up great. For their successful use, a fairly powerful machine is required. Whether business - Avast Free Antivirus. Reviews about him are full of laudatory odes. Is he really good? You will find the answer in this material. But first, some general information about the antivirus.
A little bit about the company
Avast company has been developing anti-virus software since 2006. The company's products are multi-platform. They can be used by both owners of personal computers running OS "Windows", and users of "MakOS". The main difference between Avast products is free distribution. Utilities are completely free and do not require any financial transactions. Thus, Avast Antivirus, reviews of which will be considered in this material a little later, is the most optimal product for almost every average user.
The headquarters of Avast is located in the Czech Republic. This is almost the only IT company in this country. Employees of the company learned how to make high-quality software. This is evidenced by the impressive list of awards that Avast antivirus was awarded at various exhibitions. Not to mention the love and respect of users who have the concept of quality programs. Today, every fifth home PC or laptop has an antivirus from Avast. Now consider the structure and main functions of the antivirus.
Functional
Many people think that since the product is free, there will be very few options in it. Fair reasoning. But not about Avast. The program is a set of tools to protect a PC or laptop from hacker attacks and the operation of malicious software. Among the capabilities and modules of the antivirus are things such as the built-in firewall and antispam, permanent data deletion, an anti-virus command line scanner, support for switching the network to fully autonomous mode, a utility for optimizing the system and checking its security, a screen from ransomware, and prohibition of redirecting to unreliable resources, intelligent scanning of selected areas and advanced game mode. Often, more “advanced” paid products cannot boast of such rich functionality. But the Avast antivirus, reviews of which we will analyze later, can easily cope with any task and please the user with a huge set of functions.
Antivirus reviews
Now let's talk about the quality of Avast. User reviews in this regard are supportive. Almost everyone who installed this product for themselves noted the high degree of protection provided by the antivirus. Even when opening seemingly harmless files, Avast managed to find threats. The thing is that the antivirus uses an advanced scanning algorithm that checks not only individual files, but also the RAM section. It is there that they have the property of settling possible security threats. According to users, Avast quickly finds a threat and quickly eliminates it. Product performance in this regard is comparable to the work of software products from the masters of the genre (Kaspersky and ESET).
But sometimes this most advanced threat search algorithm can play a trick. So, for example, there are cases when the antivirus considered the launcher (launch file) of the World of Tanks game as spyware and mercilessly deleted it. Poor users did not know what to do. There was only one way out: add the game folder to the antivirus exceptions. But what about protection then? However, this example was valid for the 2016 version. In the new version, such minor bugs were fixed. In Avast, they value their reputation and are trying hard to keep their audience. And the developer does it well.
Performance Reviews
But what about system resources? How does Avast Free Antivirus use them? Reviews in this regard are even more enthusiastic. Users note that it does not load the operating system even with deep scanning. Also, users say that the game mode helps out well. When starting very heavy games (like World of Tanks) in antivirus, this very mode is activated immediately. It allows you to disable almost all anti-virus software notifications and reduce the consumption of computer resources to a minimum. But even without it, Avast is not particularly voracious. Even owners of relatively weak machines are happy with the antivirus. This is probably the most optimized antivirus on the modern software market.
In addition to the game mode, there is also the so-called work in the background. This is the mode of operation of the antivirus when it almost does not use system resources. In fact, a single firewall works. But he does not require much. This mode is great for owners of old cars that can not boast of performance. It is also useful when launching some resource-intensive applications (Photoshop or Pinnacle). The presence of such a regime is another advantage of Avast products over other antiviruses. Those eat system resources mercilessly, and their developers believe that it should be so.
System Cleanup Reviews
There is such a useful utility in the antivirus as Avast CleanUp. User reviews about this option are positive. People note that the utility works quickly and accurately. Thanks to an advanced algorithm, the program accurately determines which files can be deleted and which ones are best left untouched. Before starting the uninstallation process, the utility issues a list so that the user can make an informed decision and determine whether he needs these files. Thanks to this utility, Avast antivirus becomes similar to products like Auslogics BoostSpeed, which are designed to optimize the system. Users also note that CleanUp has a handy scheduler that helps you set up auto-cleaning. No user action is required at all.
Built-in Firewall Reviews
Another useful Avast Free utility. User reviews in this regard say that this firewall is much better than the standard one that is used in Windows. Many users note an abundance of settings, ease of use and a high degree of protection. There are several modes of using this option: regular (standard), increased security and high security. The latter mode blocks all connections at all. The only way to give any program access to the Network is to configure an exception in the firewall. Especially this option pleases those who have children. You can easily restrict access to inappropriate content (everyone understands this content in their own way). Be that as it may, the Avast built-in firewall works well.
Password Manager Reviews
This is a very important component of Avast. User reviews are mixed. Just few people in real life use this same manager. But those who have been using Avast for a long time (and password manager in particular) note that the speed of its work has increased markedly. Also, developers have improved integration with browsers. Now passwords are automatically read from browser resources and written to the repository. The repository itself is also password protected. This state of affairs pleases those users who consider that their respective structures are closely monitored. However, most users store such important things in this manager as passwords from WebMoney e-wallets. No more. High degree of protection guaranteed.
Antivirus expert reviews
User reviews are of course important. They help to understand whether a particular product is good and how it works in real conditions. So far, everything is fine with Avast. Product reviews from experts - that's what is interesting. What do IT gurus think of this antivirus? Oddly enough, the reviews of most experts in the field of computer network and data protection are positive. Specialists mark an advanced and effective algorithm for searching and eliminating threats. Also praised was the built-in firewall. Experts noted a high level of network security. With such recommendations, users should definitely give preference to this particular antivirus. But along with this product, the notorious experts praise other antiviruses. So it’s not worth it to trust the opinion of such “specialists.” It is better to focus on reviews from real users. They certainly do not have a salary from well-known corporations, because they are not specialists and their opinion is not so important for software companies.
Conclusion
So, we examined the free Avast antivirus. The reviews about this product make it clear that we have high-quality software with an advanced algorithm for protecting and searching for threats, advanced functionality and useful options. Antivirus sparingly uses system resources and has a special game mode. It could very well become the main antivirus for the average user. There are a huge number of operating modes, a built-in firewall and an application for cleaning the operating system of various debris. Such a product is indispensable on a home PC or laptop.