Avast! Antivirus

Avast! Antivirus is an anti-virus program developed by ALWIL Software based in Prague, Czech Republic, first released in 1988. Avast! was one of the first on-access antivirus programs to be released for Windows x64 edition. Since its release, Avast! 4 Home has become one of the most popular full-featured freeware anti-virus applications for Microsoft Windows users. As of December, 2007 it has had over 14 million downloads on Download.com.[4] As of March 7, 2008 Avast! (Home version) has had 50 million registered users.[5]

Avast! is aimed at preventing several types of computer threats, including those that are not technically computer viruses such as spyware and even rogue anti-spyware, and can also make a virus Recovery DataBase which is used to recover files when they are infected (instead of deleting them). The program is available with text and voice translations for 27 languages.

Features

Screenshot of Avast! home edition with the aVist skin created by Sasha-Z-Creations

• Standard Shield — Real-time protection
• Anti-rootkit — Built-in protection
• Anti-spyware — Built-in protection
• IM shield — Instant Messenger protection
• P2P shield — P2P protection
• Internet Mail — E-mail protection
• Outlook/Exchange — Microsoft Outlook/Exchange protection
• Web Shield — HTTP protection (localtransparent proxy)
• Script blocker — script checker (Pro version only)
• Network Shield — basic protection against well-known network worms. Acts as a lightweight Intrusion Detection System
• Audible alarms — vocal warnings such as "Caution, a virus has been detected!"
• Boot-time scan — through the program interface, a user can schedule a boot-time scan to remove viruses that load during Windows startup and are therefore difficult to remove. A very important feature especially for viruses written to shut-down the virus protection as soon as Windows starts.
• Self-Protection — Prevents malware from terminating Avast! processes and damaging Avast! files.
• Skinnable — Program is skinnable GUI.

Virus Chest

The Avast! Virus Chest is a folder where infected files can be stored when detected. Placing them in the chest causes the files' usage to be disabled and prevents them from causing any harm. The virus chest also stores vital system files to prevent them from virus damage. They still can be run, but the access to the file by any source or other program is blocked until it is removed from the chest.

Registration (Home Edition)

Avast! needs to be registered after the first 60 days of use. After registering, a license key is e-mailed and can be used for only one year. After one year, the user is required to re-register. Despite registration, the program is still free for home use.

Download here.