Over the past 30 years I have use Norton (Symantec), McAffee, Kasperski, Panda, AVG and now Avast Anti Virus.

I have installed Avast (free edition) onto the majority of client computers and the ‘paid for’ version where required.  It is the anti virus software I currently recommend.

Unfortunately, software developers find it hard to leave a good product alone and they feel the need to keep ‘improving’ it and adding extra bits.  It confuses existing users who want simplicity and stability but that’s life.  Software that works well gradually becomes ‘bloatware’ and greedy of resources.  Classic examples are Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader.  Avast is moving in that direction but is still my anti-virus program of choice.

Avast tends to look after itself and automatically updates daily, announcing itself with a small ‘popup’ and, if your speakers are turned on, a voice announcement.

Settings:
I have found that Avast tends to identify Ammyy (remote control software) as a virus – a ‘false positive’ and to avoid this I add the folder which contains Ammyy_Admin.exe to a file exclusion list in Avast.
Recent versions of Avast also include a tool called ‘Software Updater’ which, apparently, identifies out-of-date software on your computer and alerts you to that fact.  Frankly it is a damned nuisance so I disable that ‘helpful’ facility.

Register:
When you come to renew (re-register) the free version, take great care not to inadvertently sign up for the paid version.  For most users there is no great advantage but the web pages are designed to encourage (or I would say “trick”) you into signing up for the paid version.  As with any software, look out for pre-ticked boxes or ambiguous wording, or offers to trial an upgrade.  Buyer beware……