Avast version 4 has been out for a while.  In fact, I have been using the software for at least 5 years.  This is not necessarily a disadvantage rather it indicates Avast has been developed into complete antivirus solution.   The software includes 7 modules.  All of the modules are also completely controllable and its pretty amazing that this type of functionality is included in a free edition.

Instant Message Scanning Module.

This module scans all incoming and out bound messages for viruses.  This could prove extremely useful because I am constantly getting viruses that send me a link to “fun stuff .org” or go to this site which are almost always malicious.  The module supports all mainstream instant messaging clients such MSN, AIM, Yahoo, IRC, Google Talk etc.  Surprisingly, there is even support for more obscure clients such as Pidgin (GAIM) and QQ.

Internet Mail and Outlook scanning Module.

This is a feature I haven’t seen in other antivirus products. The Customizable features are truly amazing.  You can fine tweak the heuristic analysis of this module.  The highest level will check a message for 30 seconds. You can also create a whitelist of your trusted URL’s. Unlike, Free AVG the Avast Scanning module did an excellent job in tests.

Network Shield Module IDS (Intrusion Detection System) and Web Shield
Why,  is this included on a free product let alone a free antivirus?  This module will scan all incoming traffic for viruses and attempt to neutralize them.  This feature would normally only be included server antivirus.

P2P Shield

Free Avast also offers robust support for most P2P clients.  To my knowledge this is the only main stream antivirus let alone free antivirus that supports P2P traffic.  There is even support for popular clients like uTorrent.

Avast Installation, Scanning, and Performance.

Free Avast was really convenient to download.  The initial download was only 300 kilobytes.  While the software downloaded the rest of the program, which was several megabytes, this form of delivery is still convenient for people who main not have the fastest connection.  The installation went smoothly.  The only downside is that you have to register to get a free key for the Home Edition.  This is kind of annoying and will take you about 5 minutes to complete because you have to register your email address.

Avast scanning performance is pretty abysmal.  The scanning maybe even slower than Free AVG and will easily take an hour and a half for a 55 gigabytes operating system partition. While scanning, the program needs about 44 megabytes of memory but surprisingly doesn’t need a lot of cpu power.  However, while idle the software only uses about 1 megabyte of memory.  According to the installation ReadMe,  Avast can even be installed on 486 PC.  I’m not aware of any mainstream product that supports that low of computing requirement.

The efficacy of the scanning engine may also be a concern.   According to the, av-comparatives.org, an antivirus comparison testing website, Avast had many false positive detections. The product was only awarded a “Standard” rating for detection which is below the “Advanced” and “Advanced+” rating. This rating was the same as the AVG scanning engine.  However, in my experience Avast was able to quickly detect viruses and neutralize them.  Even when traveling abroad the software was easily capable of detecting  non well known viruses.

Free Avast Standout Features

Upon installation, the user will be prompted that the “VRDB” or Virus Recovery Database has been activated.  The VRDB software will take a snapshot of all of the programs on a computer and only activate during idle operation. The database will allow Free Avast to quickly recover any lost files from viruses attacks or deletion. This feature is clearly unique to Avast.

Another cool feature is Avast’s screen saver scanner.  The screen saver can be activated in the Windows Screen Saver menu and will scan the computer when the screen saver is activated.  This is a great way to have extra virus protection when a computer is not in use.  This feature is excellent for mission critical computers.

Conclusion

Free Avast has the most features of all of the free anvirus downloads that I have tested.  While the scanning is average it is still comparable to Free AVG’s detection.  Therefore, Avast will be a great free antivirus program for any computer.

Pros:

• An intuitive full featured free antivirus
• Screen Saver Scanner and VRDB virus recovery database
• Low system requirements

Cons:

• Not the most effective scanning engine
• Long system scans
• A somewhat dated user interface