I was searching for some free antivirus software, when I finally found out avast4 home edition via download.com.
I’ve read a lot of user’s opinions, and after going through all tht pos/neg stuff abt avast4, I’m actually in a huge dilemma whether to install this software or not. Especially, a lot of users(at download.com) haven’t recommended this software for windows xp professional. I don’t know, but they say tht it actually crashes the system so badly tht you’re not even able to log on to safe mode to take any kind of desired action. You also experience your PC getting freezed every now and then. You can’t even uninstall it, and much more, etc.
The complaints are mostly for windows xp pro. I’m also using xp pro sp1, and hence, extremely confused whether to use it or not. Please, tell me abt avast4 and its reliabilty.
I’m running xp pro sp1 on Intel P3 1 GHZ with 248 MB Ram.
I bet most of the people who had a crashing problem when installing Avast, did not take the time to remove their other AV first. I have been testing Avast for a few weeks, and have installed it on two XP boxs with no issues at all. The install is so easy, that it is a delight. It set up my outlook express mail automatically, and the Avast AV works quite well overall.
Let me just add a little to that. Hatim, since it sounds like you’ve already done a fair bit of exploring through the forums here, you’ve probably heard about problems where Norton was previous installed and (theoretically) uninstalled. I never had to play that game myself, but it sounds like Norton in particular is a real pain to completely clean out of your system.
But fortunately there’s good instructions in a few threads here on how to do that properly, if necessary.
I’m not quite in the same situation as you, am under XP-Home rather than Pro and no previous a-v’s installed. But avast has been quite happy with my system, and vice-versa.
I've read a lot of user's opinions, and after going through all tht pos/neg stuff abt avast4, I'm actually in a huge dilemma whether to install this software or not. Especially, a lot of people at(download.com) haven't recommended this software for windows xp professional. I don't know, but they say tht it usually crashes the system so badly tht you're not even able to log on to safe mode to take any kind of desired action. You can't even uninstall it, and much more, etc.
I've also read a lot on Download.com, but mostly all problems relating to crashes comes from using two anti-virus programs at the same time. Prior to installing Avast I recommend you to uninstall other anti-virus software.
The complaints are mostly for windows xo pro. I'm also using xp pro sp1, and hence, extremely confused whether to use it or not. Please, tell me abt avast4 and its reliabilty.
I'm using Avast Pro on Windows XP Pro 2.4 Ghz and had no problems whatsoever. Further more it has a small footprint, not like Norton or McAfee. ;D
I did however have problems with NIS2004 because after uninstalling Norton it left junk behind in the registry and on my hard disk, so I had to manually remove this. Or I could choose to do a format to get rid of it. Great uninstall >:(
I only would say to try it out for 60 days. It won’t hurt, because the Home version is free. You can also register to get a license key who’s valid for 14 months. After that you’ll have to re-register.
Anytime you have a resident scanner monitoring your system, you may experience some slow down. I have seen no slow down at all on my pc since installing Avast. But then I have a P4 2.8 GHZ, and a gig of Corsair RAM. Also my graphics card loves to push polygons all over the screen. Avast does have more eye candy than most AV’s. All I can say is try it.
I’ve my windows installed on C:\ Should I install it on someother drive? Also, I was reading an issue with javascript in IE6. I usually get some page errors on IE6(I’ve tht persistent one on hotmail). What if I start getting the same pro, with the viewing of such websites??
And, for example, if I want to uninstall it later on, does it go away from the system completely without screwing windows(you guys scared me with Norton)?
I've my windows installed on C:\ Should I install it on someother drive? Also, I was reading an issue with javascript in IE6. I usually get some page errors on IE6(I've tht persistent one on hotmail).
That's fine on C:. Same as mine.
:o Regarding javascript, I don't have a clue. ??? You're still using IE6. I'm always using my Opera and I love it. Only using IE6 for certain sites who don't accept other browsers.
And, for example, if I want to uninstall it later on, does it go away from the system completely(you guys scared me with Norton)?
Well normally you just use the uninstall, but after that you can use the Avast cleaner, somewhere mentionned on this forum, to completely remove leftovers. Eat that, Norton ;D
You should be scared to try Norton, because after installing Avast, the scanner found 1 virus which Norton didn’t. Also their upgrade policy stinks. You’re paying every year a price for the license, They don’t have forums, like this one, only technical webpages. The updates are done once a week as for Avast Home they’re done every 4 hours and for the Pro immediately through the push.
Support in Norton’s case is practically non-existent.
What do you say abt the graphics card issue? Because my card is really old.
??? Don't have a clue, but how can this be related to Avast. Maybe someone higher up can tell you more about this.
Did you check on the website of this graphics card?
::)The only way to know for sure is to install Avast Home and see what it does. If it doesn’t work together, then you can always uninstall Avast or upgrading you graphics card.
I used to use a Nvidia TNT2 with only 32 Mb and it worked fine. I now use an ATI Radeon 7000 with 64 Mb and still no problems. As far as eye candy goes, you can change the skins if it is too much for your system, although with 64 Mb on your video card, you should have no problem at all.
There were some problems in the past with memory and shut down times, but the Avast team solved them. These problems were brought to their attention through this forum and with the back and forth discussions, the compatibility and slow shut down are no longer. Try to mention problems to companies like Symantec (Norton) or the other big ones. Forget it. :o
I have tried quite a few antivirus programs and I have concluded Avast to be the best (in my opinion). The updates are quick and constant (no waiting weeks for an update like some other companies), the email checking ability is by far the best I have ever used, and the forum here is great. I enjoy the forum even if I did not use Avast. The folks here are helpful and will help you no matter what. ;D
And like someone else said, if for some reason, Avast does not work on your system or you don’t like it for some reason, it’s easy to uninstall.
I hope that I have answered any questions left about Avast. BTW - My Avast notified me and stopped the MyDoom worm in its tracts before it infected my computer. And I have received more than 600 of this pesty virus since Monday. :o
Don’t stress about your video card, my laptop has an ATI Rage Pro 8MB and this antivirus program doesn’t cause any problems or slowdowns (just for the record AMD Athlon XP 1600+ processor, 256MB RAM, Sony Vaio Model PCG-FXA63) .
I know I’m abusing this program by doing this but, when people ask how good it works I run Kazaa and start a few different downloads and sure enough avast4 finds the virus while it is being downloaded and stops the download of the infected file. ;D
You WILL be pleased with the performance of this antivirus program.
Well, first of all, thx everyone for your guidance. Much appreciated!
I’ve just installed the program, and on the reboot, I did the bootup scan. There was nothing found on C:\windows directory, but it caught TWO infected files on D:\ with Win32: Trojan-gen. :o
I used to perform a free virus scan online(housecall by Trend Micro) from time to time, and it never tracked those infected files present on D:\ But the amazing thing is, even though, the TWO files were infected before(dunno, since how long though), it never gave me any trouble. Normally, when there is a virus, you do feel weird system behaviour, but I’m just so confused here. Everything used to work just fine. ???
Anyway, on detection, it asked me for various actions. I wasn’t sure, what to choose between del/del all, but I chose “delete” option just(pressed 1). Dunno, if I’ve done the right thing or not.
As for now, I’m using it for the very first time, so I don’t know abt the correct/appropraite settings of the program. So, if anyone of you can help me with “settings” then I’ll be very grateful!
I’m so confused right now. When I installed it today, and restarted my system, it asked me to perform the boot scan, so when I scanned it, it caught TWO files infected with the Win32: Trojan-gen. On detection, it presented me with various actions to take… as I’m new to it, I didn’t know, what to choose… so, I chose option 1: “delete.” I deleted the TWO damn files.
Now, after reading your post, it seems tht, you rather repair the damn files instead of deleting them straight. But the infected files have been caught on D:, and my WINDOWS dir is C:.… so, I don’t think tht I’ve deleted any system file.
Nevertheless, the infected file was like tht: D:\System Volume Info_restore{…}\RP73\A0027854.dll
I’ve no idea abt tht file. I ve just various softwares/programs installed on D:\
From the directory information I believe the two infected files were part of the compressed files used for System Restore in Win XP or XP Pro. Some of the newer malware is cleverly hiding there because many antivirus programs have trouble picking them up in those compressed files. If your restores are infected, deletion is the best because you would not want to restore an infected file to you PC. I have seen infections there and deletions never harmed.
I also believe that any reports of crashes at installation come from trying to run two virus scanners resident, Norton resident is a particular problem as others have said. Avast installation warns you 3 times if it finds another antivirus program resident, but I’ve seen people ignore the warning and try to install. The result is a hard crash. To come out of it, you need to reboot into safe mode, then from control panel, add-remove programs, remove Avast. Then you can try to remove the other antivirus program, but you may have to reboot into the normal Win 32 mode and remove, or at minimum disable Norton or whatever else is running. Then you can reinstall Avast and all will be well. It is great that Avast gives three warnings that bad things will happen if you install while another antivirus program is resident, but it might be better if it just flat out refused to install.
On your original question, Avast is the best, least intrusive antivirus program I have seen. I had a subscription to Norton and was going to look at Avast when the subscription expired. But I was planning a trip to install a computer in the home of a retired gentleman in another state. I wanted to become familiar with Avast on my PC before I loaded it on his. I temporarily disabled Norton and put on Avast. It was so far superior to Norton, IMO, that I never went back to NAV. You should have no troubles, and if you do, this forum is the best tech support around. I am trying to gently persuade the college where I teach to buy Avast Pro and drop Norton as the network antivirus software.
Eric
