Why chose Avast over others such as Avira?

[Texas-Hansen]

I've been trying out Avast for about a month now...first the free Home edition and now the Professional version for the last few days.  I must admit I really like it and I'm leaning very heavily toward buying the Professional edition.   But, I have to ask a question and I ask this with the idea of starting a serious discussion to gather information and opinion, why chose Avast's Professional edition for anti-virus protection; why is it better than the others such as Avira's version of the same pay-for product (which has also received high accolades)?

[wyrmrider]

Lots of reasons  tm:)
Avast has this neat forum  and it really is much better than any other AV forum
Avast has incremental updates  no multi megabyte updates
avast has the e-mail real time monitor and some other neat features
others will allow crapware to be downloaded and not catch it till it runs- like a Zombie or Spam server
avast works well with certain p2p and IM
 
lots of reasons   tm:)
nice balanced product

[PiCo]

It has that boot scan thingy too!

[rbeane]

I use it because it doesn't seem as heavy on the system, especially if compared to some of the more popular brands.  It has modules that can be easily turned off when not needed.  I turn off Internet mail, netshield, p2p since I don't need them.  It provides antirootkit, antispyware, bootscans, reasonable updates.  Performs well.  Free for home users.  This forums is extremely helpful.  Users actually try to help other users to allow the devs to do what they do best, develop.  The software is updated frequently to remain current probably because of the great user based to help others with support.  Just my 2 cents. 

[wyrmrider]

Let's try and find a negative about AVAST

does it work well as an on-demand scanner?

Avast does not work well when installed with Norton Internet Security
(according to a recent poster this is a known bug and should be fixed immediately)

[MiguelAngelXP]

Three months ago, I installed Avira to test it, when Avast had the antirootkit issue version 4.8.1169 and .1178, so I gave it a try to Avira...

1. It doesn't has a email checker (only the paid one)
2. A weekend without updates, that's not a issue it's security threat
3. The forum, an awful mix of German and English topics, very confusing

Kindly regards
MiguelAngelXP 

[Chim]

#1  Because it still supports Windows 98 / SE while Avira and AVG do NOT.

#2  avast! is NOT Bloated like AVG.

#3  I have never had Avira or AVG, but in the many Anti-Virus Reviews I have read, the consensus is that Avira and AVG are problematic with Virus Signature Updates.  avast!'s are smooth and problem-free.

[Chim]

Let's try and find a negative about AVAST

does it work well as an on-demand scanner?

Avast does not work well when installed with Norton Internet Security
(according to a recent poster this is a known bug and should be fixed immediately)

   Ahhh, That!  YES, I have to echo and reiterate your point from your other post that this Neat Forum does have a lot of knowledgeable people regarding avast!  And when questions are asked respectfully, the odds increase exponentially that someone ... more people here will be willing to help.

[normishmael]

These are all valid points.
Why didn't anyone happen to note that AVAST beats the crap out of Avira in detection,and the AV comparative tests?
It does doesn't it?
And of course without a email scanner Avira will just let you open the infected email
and leave you hanging,Right? I mean it does not detect it does it?
And most important of all how easy it is to set up a Scheduled Scan in Avast.
About an hour or so with the Windows scheduler and your home free,
where as with Avira you have to fill in the times for the scans. (all that Thirteen- hundred,zero two thirty military time stuff..ugh!)
If you really like AVAST that alone is reason enough to run it.
If you start looking for an objective reason,that is something else.

Three months ago, I installed Avira to test it, when Avast had the antirootkit issue version 4.8.1169 and .1178, so I gave it a try to Avira...

1. It doesn't has a email checker (only the paid one)
2. A weekend without updates, that's not a issue it's security threat
3. The forum, an awful mix of German and English topics, very confusing

Kindly regards
MiguelAngelXP 

[RejZoR]

Well detection wise AVIRA is still better. Anyone not blindly worshiping one antivirus knows that. As a whole product, avast! might be a better choice. Well, at least when comparing FREE editions. For payable ones, the differences get much smaller.
Donno, i had a chance to use full AVIRA for 6 months free, but i probably used it for like two weeks and then switched back to avast! Home. It worked well till now, i have great communication with developers (something that means a lot to me) and i've also taken a small part in developement of the program so it's partially made exacly for my needs. And it hasn't let mi down so far in quiet few ayears now.
So why change right? It was like this for years. No matter what i tried i always, i mean really always returned to avast! and i've tried pretty much all antiviruses there are. Probably because of above reasons...

[YoKenny]

#2  avast! is NOT Bloated like AVG.

I got my venerable old Pentium 500MHZ PIII 512MB RAM system back from the PC repair shop because I wanted it updated with more RAM so that I could run XP but its performance was abysmal.

I un-installed AVG 8.0 then made sure its droppings were removed from the registry with Regseeker then installed avast! with only the 4 important protection modules.

It is still slow but the performance is vastly improved and quite adequate for my senior friend that wants to learn the Internet.

[Chim]

#2  avast! is NOT Bloated like AVG.

I got my venerable old Pentium 500MHZ PIII 512MB RAM system back from the PC repair shop because I wanted it updated with more RAM so that I could run XP but its performance was abysmal.

I un-installed AVG 8.0 then made sure its droppings were removed from the registry with Regseeker then installed avast! with only the 4 important protection modules.

It is still slow but the performance is vastly improved and quite adequate for my senior friend that wants to learn the Internet.

Since you brought up you having ONLY the 4 important protection modules, let me ask this.  So, with each Protection Module ACTIVE, even if NOT in use, is it actively loaded in RAM from the get go at Bootup?

Let's take MY case.  The Web Shield is never gonna work for me with my current computer.  That was proven already.
I don't Instant Message.  The entire World, sans 1 Internet Buddyette is Blocked from IM-ing me.  And we haven't even IMed in probably 2 years.
My AOL Mail is obviously NOT covered by avast!  AOL checks my E-mail with McAfee.
I don't do Outlook Exchange or P2P.  I don't even KNOW what P2P is, but it sounds like something I don't do.     Isn't it some IM-ish activity?

Sooo, with the above points, could I Disable ALL Protection Modules except for leaving the Standard Shield Enabled?  That would still give me the Full-fledged Real Time On Access Protection PLUS Full-fledged On Demand Manual Scan ability, right?  And if I did this, WOULD a Leaner / Meaner avast! be loaded every time?  Not that avast! isn't lean.     COULD I free up a chunk of RAM by doing the above?

Or am I misunderstanding how all these Protection Modules work?

[wyrmrider]

I have P2p and outlook disabled
you could check and see how much resources they use in your case might make a difference
ps
I still have NSW 2001 installed
the last one with CleanSweep

[cimmind]

  I think u have mixed up your postings wrymrider. I was talking abt NSW in the thread i started. (Chim is a senior member, this is only my 3rd post!)
I am sure u werent running NSW + WinXp on a 128MB RAM as i was!!
Do u still feel the need for NSW? I believe CCleaner or such, are good liteweight replacements for cleansweep. 

By the way, i wonder comp security issues are getting so complex these days. One of my professors forwarded me a warning mail about a "olympic torch invitation" email virus, supposedly a very dangerous one.
I did a google search, and found that the warning itself is a hoax.  http://www.sophos.com/pressoffice/news/articles/2006/02/olympictorch.html
Imagine, the warning mail itself becomes a tool in spreading panic and creating nuisance generally.. no need to actually create a virus!!

[YoKenny]

Imagine, the warning mail itself becomes a tool in spreading panic and creating nuisance generally.. no need to actually create a virus!!

I bet you have a friend like this
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/klaxon.htm