Free antivirus avast

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Free antivirus avast

Avast is one of the most popular antivirus applications, in part because it offers a free version, and its performance is respectable. Available for download for Windows computers, Macs, but also Android or iOS mobile devices (iPhone, iPad).

The simple interface of the software and its ability to guide users in its use make it suitable software both for people who know nothing about it (thanks to advanced features). To use Avast just download it and install it, then launch the application.

What are the features of free antivirus ?

During the first free antivirus start -up invites you to make your first system scanner. This is broken down into four different phases. At the end of each phase, Avast will ask you to make a decision if applicable.

First the software scans your (or your, if you have several) internet browser. This allows him to verify that you have not installed dangerous extensions (voluntarily or without your knowledge) which could disclose your data to third parties. Then Avast will look if your installed applications are up to date. If this is not the case, you will see the list of software concerned appear. Check the ones you want to treat and click on everything, Avast will then start updating the applications update. Then the software will check that your system contains no virus or malware. Finally Avast does an advanced study that warns you of the type of vulnerability of your equipment. To learn more about each vulnerability click on it and an explanation will appear.

If you click on “solve everything” the software will offer you to go to the paid version. We deal with this lower version. To get out of this window, simply click on the cross at the top right. You then find yourself on an information window which tells you that you are starting a free 60 -day Avast Premium Security trial, you can again cancel by clicking on the cross at the top right. Once all this internal advertising information has been passed, you just have to click on “Ignore for the moment”. Avast invites you to plan a scanner once a month, let go and click finished.

Here you are in the main free antivirus interface. On the left is the main menu which includes four entries: State, protection, confidentiality (paid version only), performances. On the right is the information screen (which changes depending on the selected menu). For the time being on the state screen and tells you that your computer is protected. There is also a button that allows you to launch the scanner (smart scan) if you haven’t done it for a long time.

When you go to the Protection menu You can launch five different tools. The first is a antivirus analysis. By default, the Smart Scan performs a simple antivirus analysis. From this menu you can carry out a complete analysis, or the analysis of a particular folder, manage the start of analysis at the same time as the start of Windows (be careful it slows the PC) and even create personalized analyzes.

The second tool is the screen of security agents. There you can choose the agents to use during scans, by default they are all selected. The third tool is the quarantine area. There you can see the list of files that are in quarantine, because Avast detected that they were dangerous. You can also add files manually. In the list check the files you want to process: delete, restore, send for analysis, etc. The fourth tool is the Wi-Fi Inspector. This tool makes it possible to verify the possible vulnerabilities of the network on which you are connected. The last tool is a Ransomware protection agent, It allows you to verify that all your files are well protected by Avast. From this interface you can add folders.

THE Confidentiality menu will not serve you in this free version (see below). In the Performance menu You have access to a single tool and not least since it is the Software Updater, That is to say the tool for updating applications installed on your device. Updating software and applications that you have downloaded and installed on your machine is an essential step in the security of your data. Indeed, computer hackers are known to use flaws in programs to enter computers, so keeping all your programs up to date allows you to have dangerous flaws.

Also note the presence of a mode Do not disturb (accessible via Performance)). Via this screen you can define a number of applications which, if they are in use in full screen mode, prevent notifications from displaying. Ideal to be quiet when watching a film for example.

For people who are very comfortable with the software note the presence at the top right of the interface of a menu that allows you to manage your settings, statistics, etc.

What does the paid version of Avast offer ?

As we have seen in the previous paragraph, some tools from the main menu of Avast are not available in the free version. We will see here what these tools and their usefulness are. The paid version of Avast is called Avast Premium Security and exists in several subscription offers depending on the number of devices you want to protect.

Regarding Protection First, four new tools are available: theagent against remote access (which protects you from the hacking of the office function remotely), the sandbox (which allows you to test a program to verify that it is not dangerous before installing it), firewall (which filters the data that arrives on your computer from the Internet to protect you), and the tool Real site who protects you against counterfeit websites whose purpose is to recover your connection data (as in the case of phishing for example).

With Avast Premium Security you have access to all menu features Confidentiality. Six new tools are therefore entering your protection dashboard: thePassword agent (which serves as a protection for passwords saved in your browser), the file crusher (which allows a final deletion, the files cannot be recovered even with specialized software), the VPN Secureline (a virtual private network to encrypt your Internet browsing), a webcam agent (which protects your cameras from external hacking by malicious people), a AntiTrack (which allows you to hide your online identity so as not to be run by advertisers and their targeted advertisements), and to finish a sensitive data agent (which protects your important personal data and sensitive documents).

And, finally, in the menu Performance, You also add two new tools: the Cleanup Premium (clean your PC, improve performance, etc.), and the Driver Updater (as for software, this tool allows you to keep your drivers up to date). Also note that with this premium version, you can automate updates your software (rather than having to do it manually as in the free version).

If these features interest you Remember that you can test them for free for 60 days (providing a credit card number).

What does the free antivirus cnet team think ?

AVAST acquired its AVG rival in September 2016, and both now use the engine to analyze malware from Avast, but their distinct personalities remain. Here are the strengths of the latest version of Avast.

For the

Easy to use : Avast has four main protective elements: file shield, behavior shield, web shield and mail shield. If, for example, you use the webmail and/or if you find that the Avast web shield interferes with your web browsing, you can deactivate the two protective layers concerned, while keeping other active. Normally, an antivirus application will constantly warn you of reactivating these functions. But if you don’t really need to activate them, you can tell Avast that you want to ignore these warnings, and it will not bother you for these settings.

Solid protection: According to independent laboratories, such as AV-Test and AV-comparatives, Avast Free is not as sharp as sector leaders like Trend Micro or Bitdefender, but it is undoubtedly the best protection that you will find without paying a penny.

Very low prices: If you decide to order Avast Pro, you can do it from the application, and Avast offers a one -year subscription for a reasonable price if you change your mind, Avast offers you a 60 -day Avast trial Internet Security. Avast Pro claims to add improvements to the security of online banking services and “a test space to verify suspicious applications”. This last function seems to be a sandbox (sandbox), in which you can open an application and investigate its behavior without risking an infection.

A relatively discreet sales speech: Free antivirus applications have the reputation of being rather arrogant with regard to the payment of a subscription, but Avast has been the opposite (and this, for several years). There are a few update buttons on the main console, and a number of features (a firewall, an URL security verifier and a “webcam shield”, among others) which redirect you to a screen order when you click on it, but nothing seems particularly delicate, and the sales speech does not make categorical declarations on what the program can do.

Transparency of data collection: Avast immediately tells you that it wishes to collect anonymous use data, some of which can be used to help the development of the application, but you can deactivate this function in the privacy settings. However, it would be desirable that he explains to you what these “certain” information he wishes to collect.

A multiplatform application: You can download Avast for Windows, Mac, but also Android (smartphone and tablet) and iOS (iPhone, iPad).

Against

Some settings would need more explanations: Avast configuration menus include a number of icons marked with an exclamation mark on which you can click to get more details. But the description of Cybercaputure does not seem very different from what an antivirus already does: it “analyzes unrecognized files, defends and warns you of new threats, and contributes to the safety of your system”. And the hard mode is there “to lock even more the safety of this computer”. But how ?

In conclusion

Although there are some oddities in the interface, Avast is a respectable and respectful antivirus application overall, and the paid version is particularly economical.

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Free antivirus avast

Compatible with Windows, MacOS and Android platforms, Avast Free Antivirus always has serious arguments to assert both in terms of its defensive qualities and its functional richness and its user -friendly interface.

Avast free antivirus is the free solution whose aim is to provide effective protection against viruses, malware and other spy software. This is software accessible on computer (Windows, Mac OS) and in mobile application (Android, iPhone and iPad).

Why use free antivirus ?

Very popular because of its gratuitousness as well as its compatibility with many different platforms, Avast antivirus free is one of the market leaders. In total, this service and its other formulas bring together more than 435 million users worldwide. Launched in the Czech Republic in 1980, Avast Antivirus is now part of the Nortonliflock group since September 2022.

Despite everything, free antivirus Avast remains a service accessible to all, and retains its main features. Thus, the purpose of this software is to analyze all the files of a device, detect malware and clean the operating system of all unwanted files that can cause it.

6 antivirus protection layers

Despite the fact that it is free software, free antivirus Avast offers nice antivirus protection with 6 different layers. First, the service offers access to the Smart Scan, which analyzes a device to detect potential vulnerabilities. It is also possible to automatically send suspicious files to the cloud in order to analyze them, which allows users to protect (Avast calls that cybercomputure). The user is also alternated if one of the applications behaves suspiciously, or if he is about to open a suspicious file (so as not to open it in the event of a problem). Avast also offers access to a quarantine area, in order to store potentially dangerous files and isolate them from the rest of the system. Finally, it is possible to analyze a device even when the system is extinguished thanks to a emergency disc, in order to remove the malware without risk.

The defensive modules offered by Avast Antivirus Free are as follows:

• Antivirus and anti-spyware against viruses and spy software
• Suspicious actions agent: software behavioral analysis module
• File agent: Analysis all added or open files
• Sensitive data agent: identification and protection of sensitive data such as tax or medical files
• Mail agent: blocks malicious email attachments
• Web agent: Way protection against websites and dangerous downloads
• Anti-ransomware
• Anti-spam
• Firewall
• VPN Secureline: VPN service to secure all its exchanges and anonymize the connection (7 days of testing)
• Sandbox: file tests in a secure virtual space
• Real Site: blocks counterfeit sites

An easy interface to be taken in hand

Free antivirus avast offers a friendly interface that makes the service very easy to access, whether you are a veteran user of this type of software or a total novice. As soon as it is launched, Avast offers the user to launch a quick or in -depth verification of their device (in addition to detecting the software that can be updated). If most of the parameters are predefined to provide a complete experience, it is possible to personalize them to benefit from the features that best correspond to the employment that we want to make antivirus.

Many additional features

In addition to its main functions as a virus hunter, Avast Antivirus Free offers access to various features that could be considered original for a tool of this kind. Among them, we think in particular of the integrated password manager in order to connect to all online accounts using a single master password. In the same way, this free version of Avast offers a tool called Wi-Fi Inspector which monitors the connection of the user in order to identify the potential weak points of the network and interception the potential visitors of the latter. If these features are not necessarily expected in antivirus software, they nevertheless take their sense in the fact that they provide additional safety layers to monitoring user data. The goal is indeed to remove most of the security threats that can aim for the latter, whatever their nature. On mobile, the Avast Mobile Free Security application offers a VPN to protect user connection and secure their navigation on the Internet.

It is also important to mention that Aast Antivirus also conducts an anti-phishing module which requires the installation of the Avast Online Secure extension. Many additional options are offered at regular intervals to provide a total level of protection. Be careful however, most of these add-ons are paid, in the form of a subscription.

Thus, among the additional features proposed by Avast Free, we find in particular:

• Password security
• Purchasing protection
• Cleanup Premium: System declinerment tool
• Wi-Fi Inspector: Wi-Fi network surveillance
• Fashion Do not disturb (evolution of the game mode)
• Software Updater: software updates (automatic mode reserved for paid versions)
• File protection
• Webcam agent: Webcam protection
• Control of access to USB keys, mobile hard drives, memory cards
• File crusher