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1. A review of Avast Free Antivirus In life there are no free lunches but Avast’s Free Antivirus does a fairly decent job of coming close. The free security suite comes with a well-tested browser, a password manager, a Wifi scanner and a gaming mode The good news is that the antivirus is compatible is not only with the computing style of the average user, it also works well with all known recent versions of Windows. However, the negative aspect of Avast’s Free Antivirus is that it comes free with a slight disadvantage in terms of performance when compared against its competitors. The software is prone to going through lengthy scans and the interface is a bit complicated. Another downside to the Antivirus is that it shows too many ads of other products from Avast and also collects and sells the browsing history of the user to third parties. However, there is an opt out option at your disposal. Now that we have given a brief summary of the pros and cons, lets look at each aspect in more detail. What it covers The Avast Free Antivirus is compatible with all Windows release starting from Windows XP (Service Pack 3) all the way to Windows 10. While the free security suite covers many options that have been already mentioned, you can upgrade it to include more features but these do not come free. By moving to a paid feature, you have the option of including a file shredder, file encryption and a firewall. Furthermore, the Avast Internet Security comes equipped with a built in ransomware protection that prepares backup files during a malware attack as adobe photoshop 7.0 free download for windows 64 bit well as a firewall. The package is priced at various options depending on your budget with prices starting from $60 a year for a single PC to $500 for 10 PC’s over a period of three years. The next upgrade is the Premium edition which costs $70 a year and includes the protection along with a spying webcam and a file shredder to get rid of unwanted items. The Ultimate edition is rather pricey at $120 for a single PC compared to its other rivals in the market such as the Bitdefender Total Security Family Pack. The Ultimate edition provides an unlimited subscription to the ‘SecureLine VPN Service’ provided by Hide My Ass which is a subsidiary of Avast. It also includes identity protection features such as system optimizer and premium password manager. When it comes to defence against malware, Avast comes equipped with multiple layers of protection. The first line of protection is the conventional scanning based on scanning against the known malwares. The next line of defence is an ongoing monitoring of code snippets and activity to detect indications of malware attack. The third line of defence is Avast’s cloud lab which receives any confirmed malicious malware and provides a signature against the malware to the 400million users of the company. In addition to this, Avast Free Antivirus is saddled with browser add-ons that are compatible with Firefox and Chrome that are geared towards navigating users away from suspicious pages, protection against dangerous software and email attachments.

2. Performance When it comes to performance, Avast’s malware detection software has received a decent but unspectacular rating from three out of four testing labs and achieved a rating of 98% which matches the performances of its competitors such as Kaspersky Anti-Virus while doing better than Avira Free Security Suite, AVG AntiVirus Free and PandaPanda Dome Essential. There is still room for improvement when it comes to guaranteeing protection against previously unseen malware and there are occasional setbacks on Windows 10, Avast Free Antivirus still provides an overall best bang compared to other free softwares in the market. Security and Privacy Features The SafeZone secure browser which is included in the Free Antivirus is light on your wallet as it reduces add-ons in addition to preventing ads and suspicious sites. At the same time, activating the Bank Mode enables the user to isolates the browser from the rest of the system and insulate it against intruding malware. Avast’s Privacy Policy allows it to sell the browsing history of the user to third parties in addition to redirecting the user to third party sites which is a bit of a nuisance but it can be rectified by voluntarily opting out. Furthermore, the password manager comes equipped with the ability to store a vast amount of data and it is compatible with the most popular browsers such as Chrome and Firefox in addition to Avast’s SafeZone browser. Moreover, the Wifi inspector also protects against weak passwords, outdated softwares and faulty settings. Avast’s Rescue Disk software can be used to restart systems that are lagging and slowing down due to malware. One downside to using Avast Free Antivirus is that it overuses the system resources and waste’s the time of the user during prolonged scanning sessions. Conclusion So there you have it folks; although it may not be state-of-the-art but Avast’s Free Antivirus provides the best overall protection against its competitors for no cost at all. The system does get bogged down at times and the scanning does take time, but these are minor setbacks which are not deal-breakers. If you are willing to loosen the budget strings a bit, the company has advanced features which meet your requirements and needs.