BleepingComputer.com: Avast Anti-Virus

OK so i just reinstalled my OS because I was having alot of virus problems that seemed unsolvable.

Anyway, now that i'm fresh, i downloaded Avast to protect my computer.

But after downloading, it seems different then most others and i'm not familiar whatsoever.

It has Internet shield, p2p shield, standard shield, network shield, instant messaging, web shield etc you get the point especially since you probably use it.

Anyway, when you click on any of them it pretty much shows the same thing with sensitivity at the top then results of scanning?

Are all these different features doing seperate scans?

Most of them just say 0 besides Web Shield, Standard Shield, and Network shield.

Are these constantly scanning?

Network Shield looks like its scanning my Blizzard downloader constantly since im downloading a patch? so that must scan everything im currently downloading?
Web shield is scanning this website, i guess since im using it..

lol i think im starting to understand it all as im writing this.

ha well, should i be using Avast? seems like a good program. Alot of people reccomend it.

And also what firewall should i get? I'd really appreciate some good input.

I've been using Avast Home Free for almost 2 years now and no problems with it or viruses. There are 7 shields on the free version. 6 are always running, unless you disable them 1 by 1. The 7th scanner is for e-mail and only scans when downloading your mail. My best advice to you will be download the the manual from the avast website for the version you have free or pro. It is full or great info for running the program. I have my free set to scan everytime the screensaver activates, which the manual tell you how to do.
You did not say which OS you're using? With XP I've have used Filseclab, PC Tools, On-Line Armor, and currently Outpost. These are all free firewalls. All seemed to do a good job. OLA was the hardest to work with wanted to block almost everything I did even when I said allow. Filseclab is an older one it was OK, very few alerts or messages but no real updates, talk of a new one with no when. PC Tools it give me no real feedback when I had it. I've had Outpost 3 months now and have liked it the best. Alerts when programs are updating either from auto or manual or when you are adding or removing programs.
Anytime I put a new firewall on I force feed it my programs, open them 1 by 1 update do some odds and ends with them all the time clicking allow so it learns what I do and I have an idea what to expect.

Hope this helped you a little.

Dan

Avast has the following "real-time" scanners:

• Internet Mail - This one is active when you check e-mail and Newsgroups using POP, IMAP, SMTP, and/or NNTP.
  
• Network Shield - This one works similarly to a firewall, scanning inbound TCP/IP connections for malware. It is not a replacement for a true firewall, though.
  
• Standard Shield - Scans local files as they are accessed.
  
• Web Shield - Acts as a transparent local web proxy, scanning all inbound HTTP streams for malicious content.
  
• Instant Messaging - Scans files sent via IM clients like MSN Messenger, AOL AIM, or Yahoo IM.
  
• Outlook/Exchange - Like Internet Mail but specifically written to plug many of the holes in Outlook/Exchange.
  
• P2P Shield - Scans all files downloaded from just about every P2P file sharing protocol known to man.

My current firewall of choice is Comodo Professional, which is free for home use: http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Im on windows vista 32 bit

But yeah so right now I have avast and Threatfire as my antivirus. Threatfire is supposed to be able to run alongside other anti viruses.

And i downloaded a bunch of recommended spyware removal

But one of my spyware removals "Spyware Terminator" wants to run a real time anti virus.

Can i do this or will it interfere with the other ones

ill keep looking for a firewall that seems right

Avast and ThreatFire already provides great protection. If you also follow safe computing practices, then you'll be fine.

Some easy to use free firewalls include PC Tools Firewall and Sunbelt Personal Firewall. Or you could just stick with Windows Firewall.

I recommend you uninstall Spyware Terminator and instead use Superantispyware free and Malwarebytes Antimalware free as on-demand scanners. The reason for this is that Spyware Terminator has low detection rates, and the HIPS component overlaps with ThreatFire, making Spyware Terminator redundant.

Also, do you have UAC enabled?

Someones, on Aug 9 2009, 11:38 PM, said:

Bad Someones! No cookies for you!

Threatfire is a nice Hips addon, worked well with Avast when I used it. SAS and MBAM will treat you right also. Outpost Free Firewall would be my choice to add to your security. I'm running Iobit Security 360 it's in beta 3.1 as my Hips seems nice and light and most important not conflicting with anything. Try Spyware Blaster for Spyware Terminator, everytime I did a scan with it parts of it's own code were picked up as spyware so I removed it.
Make sure to download the manual for Avast, a lot of setup tips in it.

Dan

Amazing Andrew, on Aug 10 2009, 01:53 AM, said:

In my opinion and personal experience, an average user with some basic safe practices and any decent AV and/or behavioural blocker will find it very hard to get infected.

I have been using avast for sometime now and have to say i like it- I have tried most and my top 3 would be kaspersky - nod32 and avast. I use outpost on all my computers alongside avast and can say both work well together.

I have the latest version of avast 4.8 on a clean computer. It updates automatically .For some reason I periodically get a green colored popup in lower right hand screen that says . A new updated version of Avast is available on the net. It disappears shortly thereafter. Any ideas if this is really Avast or not ? Thanks...

Yes, that's really Avast. The green popup is for when there's a new version of the program itself, not just the virus database. I just got it 2 minutes ago and installed. You can either click on the popup to download and install the latest version or right-click on the tray icon, select Updating and then click Program Update.

Great !! Thanks for the reply...