Sorry if I hurt any feelings :), but I would like to install and evaluate another anti-virus program for a short while. Is it possible to disable avast temporarily for this purpose without uninstalling it completely? Or, if uninstalling is necessary, how do I save the items in my Chest?
Many Thanks
No, disable is not enough for avast (or most other antivirus).
Uninstall it completely. You will delete permanently the files into Chest. Restore them to another folder if you want any of them.
You could start by saying which AV you would like to try, we may be able to save you some time ?
OK, I was looking at Avira AntiVir. Thanks.
OK, I was looking at Avira AntiVir. Thanks.I heard that Avira AntiVir is a good anti virus too and get a high rated for the performance.
Avira, generally has good detections, but they aren’t considerably better than avast, but it doesn’t have the same protection levels as avast, compare the shields has Web Shield, Network Shield, P2P Shield, Internet Mail Shield, Instant Messaging Shield, etc. (new to avast 4.8, anti-rootkit, self-protection). If these are important to you and they don’t appear in the avira features list then any minimal detection differences are outweighed by the loss of functionality.
The boot-time scan is also unique to avast.
Any particular reason for you to move to Avira?
Hi there, 
I love and proud to say I’m using a very good AV and that is AVAST! home/free in my windows XP home, my question is why that avast is still in 3rd place in ranking? in my opinion this the number one in spot
According to their website, http://www.free-av.com/en/products/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html , Avira personal edition lacks the features found in Avast like web shield, antispyware, antispam, anti-adware and much more. It even displays ads in the free edition for you to buy the premium edition.
Stay with avast and be generous to them by buying the pro edition.
avast does not have an antispam module 
Well, as I posted in another topic, when I upgraded to 4.8 my XP windows was hanging at Login: Loading your settings… While I was trying to fix it I tried AntiVir and its on-access detection discovered a Trojan in my system directory. So, it appeared that for some reason AntiVir found something that avast didn’t (although avast did find it later with a full scan). Also I tried quick-scanning an eicar.zip file and avast did not return any reports but AntiVir did.
I am not even close to an expert on these things, I have some technical knowledge but almost no patience so I go with what works when I install. AntiVir didn’t hang at Login, and I don’t use email or instant message programs either so that’s why I’m trying AntiVir for now. Thanks for your help.
I have a feeling you will be back quite soon ;D
I have tried Avira on at least three different occasions. I found it would only start up at boottime about 4 times out of 5, the updates were decidedly dodgy sometimes taking hours to actually work (or not at all until another day) and those bloody nag screens !! >:(