Can someone explain what all the Avast! shields do?

[KNRover]

Alwil doesn't provide an online user manual, except for installation. And except for the Web Shield, I can find nothing that describes what the various shields do.  I.e., P2P, Network, Internet Mail, Standard (don't use Outlook or MS Exchange, so don't care about that one). Here are my guesses:

P2P - Active protection for instant messaging.
Network - Active protection for anything coming to your computer over a network. . . which I'm not on, except that I have cable broadband, which is a network of sorts.
Internet Mail - Scans incoming e-mail. Does it apply only to Web mail, which I don't use, or also to a mail client, like Outlook Express?
Standard - I assume this is the "main" background protector; i.e., it monitors file activity for malware.

If I don't use instant messaging, why do I need the P2P shield?  If I have a standalone computer in my home office, why do I need the Network shield?  If the Internet Mail shield only protects against malware from Web mail, but I use Outlook Express, do I need that?
 

[Lisandro]

Instant Message provider is for IM. P2P is for peer-to-peer applications (like emule, for instance).
Network is for malware that acts by the Internet network (not the local network LAN).
Internet Mail is for pop3/smtp email clients like Outlook Express, not for Webmail (there is WebShield for some of them).
Standard Shield is, in fact, the antivirus core.

There is a description of each one on help files

[KNRover]

Thanks for the explanations.  You say "There is a description of each one on help files".  What help files?  I can find no place on the avast! program nor on avast.com that is labeled "Help" regarding an overview of avast! and what everything does.  I'm very new to avast!, so it's possible I've missed it, but if so, it must be buried; i.e., not obvious like it is in most programs where you click on "About . . ." then click "Help".  So where are the help files?

[KNRover]

Never mind.  I discovered how to get to the Help files.  You have to right-click the avast! icon in the systray and select "Start avast! antivirus", then click "Help" on the menubar.  Kludgey, to say the least.  Avast's menus, placement of items, and use of words (like "persist" instead of "make permanent") is strange to say the least.  It's not what I would call user friendly.

[DavidR]

Yes it is a pain in the rear and something I have been saying for years, it should be directly accessible from the avast icon, right click menu.

Or Start, All Programs, avast! Antivirus, Help or C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ENGLISH\HELP\help.chm. Create a desktop shortcut (I did) if you are likely to use it a lot.

[Lisandro]

Yes it is a pain in the rear and something I have been saying for years, it should be directly accessible from the avast icon, right click menu.

I think the same... but they want to keep the context menu shorter...
Look, for instance, in Online Armour: it has a big context menu.

[DavidR]

Easy to keep the context menu shorter, group common functions, in the same way that it does already for Updating, VRDB (if merged), etc.

[Lisandro]

Easy to keep the context menu shorter, group common functions, in the same way that it does already for Updating, VRDB (if merged), etc.

Fully agree, again.