Way to go Avast!
perhaps we should be on the lookout for newbies...
the following was taken from CloudEight Stationery q & a section for subscribers:
Answer
Thanks for your nice comments Janelle. As often happens in the software industry changes occur which no one could have foreseen. The popularity of AVG sparked by ours and other newsletters of its type, has apparently caused a problem with AVG's servers. As you know an anti-virus program that you cannot update is one which does not offer you good protection. We are changing our recommendation for our #1 choice of free Anti-Virus software from AVG to AVAST. After extensive testing and use of AVAST we've concluded that AVAST has made tremendous strides in making their AV program the very best free (for home-personal use) the best currently available. AVAST has been awarded the Virus Bulletins VB100 Award meaning that it recognized 100% of in-the-wild virus, Trojans, and worms and passed every test successfully. This was done by an independent, not-for-profit, testing company.
Not only does AVAST update automatically but does so whenever a new virus database is made available. We've had it update 3 times in one day: Evidence that this company is very serious about protection and in making its program the best. Additionally, unlike some AV programs, AVAST works silently without causing system conflicts or interfering with the operation of other programs. This is important to us and it should be to you. An Anti-Virus program with long tentacles that pervades every segment of your Operating System for no good reason is one we would choose to avoid.
Before switching from AVG to AVAST you'll need to uninstall AVG and reboot your computer. Please do not try to use both AVG and AVAST. Please click here to learn more about (and download) AVAST free edition (for home users only).