If I am downloading a rar or zip file that has malware in it, would Avast Free catch it in the download process, pause the download, and alert me before continuing with the download. If it did alert me, would I get choice of ignoring the alert and continuing or stopping the download. Which component of Avast Free would do this?
As rar and zip files are compressed avast! would not know about it on download but if you tried to un-compress the files then File Shield should alert you to the malware.
The web shield will unpack zipped/archive files by default, see image.
If the web shield detects it the only option is Abort Connection, which means the connection and file will be dropped.
Thank you for this most helpful explanation.
You’re welcome.