Avast Antivirus Review

The Internet is a portal that not only grants us entry to world's information superhighway but it also brings in some unwanted and harmful elements in the form of virus programs, trojans, worms and other malicious programs. Without a good antivirus software program, your computer data is vulnerable to the nefarious schemes of crackers on the web. There are many free antivirus programs out there to choose from. One of the top 5 best free antivirus software programs available today is 'Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0'. Here I present an Avast antivirus review which includes an evaluation of its most important features.

Free Avast Antivirus Review

As an Avast vs AVG comparison would reveal, these two antivirus programs are the two main players in the free antivirus program market, besides Antivir. Microsoft Security Essentials is another recent entry into this domain. How does the free version of Avast measure up, compared to its rivals? Let's find out by taking a look at the prime features of Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0.

Installation
As any of the review of Avast antivirus will reveal, the free version can only be used for personal or non-commercial tasks. The installation file is about 52.3 MB and can be directly downloaded from the website. Unlike AVG or Antivir, Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 requires registration. It is a free to download anti-spyware and antivirus software program. The product key is mailed to you after registration. Post registration, you can use it for a year.

Without registration, you can use it as a trial version for a fixed period of time (30 days). Before installation, the software creates a system restore point. The Avast installation is quite breezy (took about 3 minutes on my computer) and comes with no extra packaged software like tool bars. A restart is not required and the program is immediately available for use. The redesigned interface is very easy to use with tabbed options displayed on the left.

Scanning Options
Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 provides you with an option to run customized, full or a quick scan. A quick scan will only scan the vital system files while full scan will check almost all files on the hard drive thoroughly. It provides a default facility to scan any file by right clicking and choosing scan option. Avast is light on the computer resources while scanning. It's comparable to AVG and Antivir in terms of the scanning time required. One of the main features that I would like to introduce through this review is the unique boot time scanning option that Avast offers. It scans root kit and hard drive before the computer operating system is loaded. You can schedule it anytime you want.

Features
Let us take a deeper look at the features offered by this program. It offers round the clock real-time protection and detects computer viruses, as well as spyware programs. Almost every action on your laptop or desktop computer is monitored and scrutinized.

As part of real-time scanning, Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 has separate shields for monitoring different programs. All files are scanned when accessed and written and this task is done by the file system shield. The mail shield scans all the incoming and outgoing mail messages for protection. The web shield specifically scans incoming web traffic for any kind of malicious software.

The P2P and IM shield scans the P2P traffic and instant messages. The network shield has been specifically designed as a bulwark against infections that spread via the computer network. In addition, last, but not the least, Avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 has a behavior shield that reports any unusual activities. Updates can be set to be done automatically. Overall, I found the features offered by this program quite wide-ranging and adequate for basic computer security.

To conclude this free Avast antivirus review, I think that this program offers protection if all you need is the bare essentials. It's a good choice to opt for if your computer is restricted to basic Internet usage. It will keep most virus programs at bay, but for complete protection, it is best you switched over to the advanced paid version.