General Tips & Info FAQ

New Free Anti-Virus Software

There's another free anti-virus program, Avast Home Edition. I looked at it awhile ago, the cost was a bit high for me but now it's freeware, the only cost is registering with them (give them valid email address to get the registration key for the program but the rest of the info doesn't have to be too accurate ;)) and it has free automatic updates for up to fourteen months and then you just need to re-register to continue to get them free.

It was recommended by a sys admin on the technical anti-spam list I'm on and I've only started using it but one thing I really like better than AVG is the integration with Outlook Express. It will check both incoming and outbound mail quickly as it's being received or sent out.

AVG will also check OE mail but it works by scanning each folder in OE as you go to it. So even if there's no new mail, if you click on a folder of saved mail, it'll scan it first, then display the contents of the mailbox, resulting in rather long delays at times, especially if you have a lot of saved mail.

Avast does it like Norton and McAfee do, by changing the incoming mail settings to run incoming mail thru the virus scanner before putting it in your mail folders so there's no delay in vieing mail folders and no noticeable delay in receiving mail.

One big difference between Avast and Norton tho is that Avast does the scanning of incoming mail locally, checking it against its downloaded anti-virus database, whereas Norton would actually send it thru Norton's servers over the internet, then bring it to your computer. Whenever Norton's servers were overloaded, popping mail would timeout repeatedly and you'd have no mail. That's the main reason I quit using Norton, I got tired of never being able to download mail in the evenings because Norton's servers were overloaded.

I also like that it does automatic updates whenever you're connected to the net, unlike AVG which you have to set to a specific time and if your computer isn't on at that moment, then it won't check for an update until the next day. (I have my parents on Norton specifically because of this, their computer times are erratic and Norton also checks automatically whenever your computer is on, but if this program checks out, I will probably switch them over.)

Avast will also generated an "Virus Recovery Database" which aids in restoring infected files should you be unlucky enough to get infected.

All in all, it's a nifty program so far. The user interface is a bit daunting, but there's really not much to change in the default settings so it doesn't really matter. The mail wizard for reconfiguring your mail program and email accounts to scan them is very simple and the program works with OE, Outlook, Eudora, Pegasus, Mozilla Thunderbird and many other email programs as well. It is a Windows only program tho, I believe, but most viruses are written for Windows anyway.

Last updated on January 30, 2004 12:34 AM