Avast! is probably the best free Anti-Virus software package currently available, as it is one of the only ones to come with an email scanner, messaging shield and P2P shield. I actually prefer Avast! to many of the commercial packages out there due to it’s small footprint and the fact that it doesn’t try to take over your system processes like the big commercial offerings. Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate the past efforts of good software companies like McAffe and Symantec but lately their AV products have got way too large and bloated to be useful anymore. Symantec and McAffe have done what Netscape managed to do… They completely ruined a perfectly viable and decent product by trying to do too much with it. Avast! is simple, easy to use and very efficient. I find the virus definition database to be more complete and accurate than it’s freeware competition, AVG.

Here’s a handy little tutorial to get you up and running with Avast! Anti-Virus.

Avast! is free to use for Home and Non-Commercial use. The initial license is valid for 18 months after which you’ll have to register again. I use it for my personal systems and absolutely recommend it for anyone looking for a free alternative to the bloated commercial offerings that tend to slow down computers and hog system resources.

dixlinx: AVAST.COM

Tags: anti-virus, Networking, Security