Friday, March 29

Avast: Don’t Leave Home Without It

By Matthew Estes

avast

What if I told you that you don’t have to pay $100 a year for good virus protection on your computer? You would possibly reply using the old adage “you get what you pay for.”

That is a perfectly logical thing to say, as it is counter-intuitive to think that the most effective antivirus on the market is not, in fact, on the market at all.

The user interface of Avast Antivirus.
The user interface of Avast Antivirus.

Avast Antivirus is, in my experience, the most effective at doing its job of preventing system crippling programs and malware from finding their way onto a computer’s hard drive. I am not alone. Computer geeks the world over use Avast as a simple solution to cleaning their clients infested computers. CNET consistently ranks it as the number one most effective and most downloaded anti-virus. 

The best part is the fact that it is free. While there is a paid version, the average computer user will never need that kind of virtual firepower.

It works by monitoring a user’s computer for virus attacks. When a computer is attacked, that file used to attack a computer is immediately sent to the Avast virus database. The virus database is then updated on the network of Avast-equipped computers on a daily basis. When it’s updated, a voice will announce that the virus database has been updated for that day. It’s a foolproof system, unhindered by the restraints of a program designed only to make money.

Just because Avast is running, however, doesn’t mean a virus will never find its way onto a computer. If that occurs, the program is armed with another powerful program. Boot-time scan will scan your computer before the operating system loads, not allowing the virus to take effect. It will then eliminate any threats on start up.

I have used Avast on my computers for six years, and have never had to deal with the frustrating threat of a virus. I have used Avast to clean out infested computers that I have worked on, and left those computers with an excellent antivirus software in the process. Protect your computer. Use Avast.

You can download Avast Antivirus here.