Avast 2014

[Jimmy9190]

I just downloaded and installed the latest version of Avast Free tonight. It was released not long ago but I wanted to wait until the bugs were ironed out. So far it works fine and is lighter than the previous version. They even included their software updater in the free version so I was able to remove Secunia PSI. Secunia has had problems here lately. The Avast updater worked great right out of the box, alerted me to a Firefox update and an Adobe update. The new GUI is very good, and to me seems easier to use and navigate. There are only 3 main shields now which is one of the things helping to speed up the program. I think it said the AV updates are faster and more frequent now too. They added some additional touches to the program which I think make it better and more streamlined than the previous version.

Avast is an excellent free AV program, I think it is the best of the free AV available. I don't have a link but if you already have Avast just go to Settings and then Update to get the new version. They even added the option to create a Rescue Disc for free. It used to be you had to pay for that, I think it was $10.00.

I run Avast and MWB Pro, I set exclusions for each program and they work great together. Avast has a link on Facebook to read their blog about upgrading to Avast 2014 prior to upgrading to Windows 8.1. They say prior Avast versions may not work with Windows 8.1. I don't know much about that, I run Windows 7. Another thing I like about Avast is how they put malware updates on Facebook. I don't understand all of it but it is good to be kept informed about the bad guys and bad stuff out there online...

 

[daves87rs]

Having good luck as well with it...

 

[285south]

Another anti-virus program that is out there and much much better is called Linux

 

[Hokiefyd]

I have three machines running Avast 2014 and it works great on all. One is running Windows XP (SFF desktop), one is running Windows 7 (laptop), and one is running Windows 8.1 (SFF desktop).

Avast 2014 takes far fewer resources than Microsoft Security Essentials did, at least on the XP and 7 machines.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

anyone out there.....

I got an email from Avast last night offering the paid version for 19.95. From the sounds if it, both the free and paid versions offer the new three program version.

So what I am paying 19.95 for, that's not included in the free version, other than hands-on support from Avast troubleshooters??

I am currently using ESET Nod 32 free version for thirty days and it is fantastic. Essentially load the free download and forget about it. Hardly uses any resources, in comparison to my former McAfee resource hog.

Until that email, I was considering paying ESET 39.95 for one year. Now I will investigate many antivirus houses first.

 

[Hokiefyd]

http://www.avast.com/en-us/index

Paid versions include other features like firewall, anti-spam filtering, and data shredding.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Avast Internet Security also has the Safe Zone browser, it's a separate browser, looks a lot like Chrome and is used for banking, bill pay, online purchases and other sensitive transactions. It's a hardened browser that works kind of like a sandbox to make it more difficult for the bad guys to steal your info during financial transactions. I tried it in a free trial of AIS not long ago, it worked well but I did not see a need to keep it. The new Safe Zone is said to be even better and easier to use. The firewall in AIS was very confusing to me too, I would have done more harm than good with it. So far the Windows firewall works fine for me. $19.95 for AIS is a great deal.

 

[Drew99GT]

I had to ditch Avast 2014. WAY too buggy. It screws up the power options in Windows 7 and 8, it blocks Disqus comments, it slows web browsing, it makes YouTube video slow and jerky.

I've always liked Avira Antivir so I just bought a year license for it. Love it.

 

[Drew99GT]

Plus, the latest AV Comparitives test is bad for Avast.

http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/avc_fdt_201309_en.pdf

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Your opening post mentioned three shields, the same number offered in the 19.95 email I received last night. .
What are they? I can only find two shields in the provided linked a couple posts upward here. Or are you saying malware, spyware and rootkit are the three shields, despite being listed inside of (1) shield in the link above?

The three shields offered for 19.95 are..
Safe Zone
Firewall
Sandbox

The three I listed don't appear to be free. Now I need to find someone that has the 19.95 version and find out if it's a resource hog like McAfee (offered free by AT-Tuverse).

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I had to ditch Avast 2014. WAY too buggy. It screws up the power options in Windows 7 and 8...


Can you elaborate on this? I said that I'm running Avast 2014 with no issues, but maybe I'm not. Our new Dell Inspiron 660s with 8.1 will not go to sleep on its own. I can press the sleep button on the keyboard, and it goes to sleep and stays asleep. But I have it set to sleep after so many minutes on its own, and it simply will not do it.

Related to Avast 2014?

 

[Drew99GT]

It could be. It screwed up all my power settings and makes it so you can't change, create, or restore defaults. It's a known bug in Avast 2014.

 

[Drew99GT]

I just read that Avast has had problems in the past allowing computers to sleep or hibernate automatically because whenever the streaming updates do their things, it refreshes the "clock" or whatever Windows uses to manage when a computer sleeps or hibernates. If you don't have any other conflicts, just use the sleep button.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
Your opening post mentioned three shields, the same number offered in the 19.95 email I received last night. .
What are they? I can only find two shields in the provided linked a couple posts upward here. Or are you saying malware, spyware and rootkit are the three shields, despite being listed inside of (1) shield in the link above?

The three shields offered for 19.95 are..
Safe Zone
Firewall
Sandbox

The three I listed don't appear to be free. Now I need to find someone that has the 19.95 version and find out if it's a resource hog like McAfee (offered free by AT-Tuverse).


The 3 shields are Email, Web and File System shield. There used to be more shields, some were P2P, IM, Network and Behavior shields, those are all rolled into the main 3 shields now. I would think that is one reason why 2014 is faster and lighter. Safe Zone, the Avast Firewall and Sandbox are not shields, those are premium features found in the paid versions. The shields are just the areas and functions of the computer and browswer that are monitored and scanned for malware.

I have had no problems with power settings or sleep mode. I have had no browser problems either. If anything, my browser speed has increased with 2014. I will check a Youtube video when I get home to be sure about that but so far 2014 is working fine for me. I will update Mrs. Jimmy's Avast on her laptop tonight too. Avast Free is excellent protection. Avast is just as good as the paid AV's. The Safe Zone and other premium features are just icing on the cake, extra features that some users may want and/or need. Mrs. Jimmy put the free Avast mobile app on her new smart phone too, it works very well. I don't use my cell phone very much, so I just use an old school flip phone.

One of the great things about Avast is if you have problems with it, you can email a help request to Avast and they will get right back to you in a reasonable time frame, even though they are located in Czechoslovakia. You can also get help on a nearly instant basis in the Avast forum. I can not say the same for Microsoft or Norton.

 

[Jimmy9190]

I checked last night, You Tube is working fine with Avast 2014. I did have a blue screen (not a BSOD) when I started my computer but a re-boot fixed it and it has not been back since. I had read in the Avast forum some other folks had that problem and re-starting one time was all it took to fix it.