AVG vs Avast!

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Norton Antivirus was the first piece of antivirus software that I installed on my system (that’s because a Norton CD accompanied my computer when I purchased it). I was watching it running for a few days, and then I got annoyed. Installation was hectic and after restart, my PC only got slower.

Then, I heard about AVG Free Edition from somewhere and installed it. I’ve been using AVG for years, and I’ve never looked back. It’s one best antivirus solutions for slow computers with less resources. But, it’s good to try alternatives.

A few weeks ago, I read a post on Kyle’s blog talking about Avast Anti-Virus. Upon his recommendation, I decided to give it a try. At first, I thought it’d just be another resource hungry antivirus program. But it wasn’t. Even the real time scanning feature offered by Avast didn’t make my system slower.

Avast has some very interesting features and is highly configurable. Avast impressed me, and I think I’m going to stay with it.

Let me summarize a few points here comparing AVG Antivirus (Free Edition) and Avast Home (Free) Edition. Guys, this is neither a rant against AVG nor a sponsored post from Avast. Just my thoughts highlighting the most useful features on Avast. You can, as always, have your say in the comments section.

Boot Time Scanning
Avast can scan files when Windows boots. This gives more control over scanning system files, and infection removal. If a virus is suspected to be inside your computer, and is not into action yet, boot time scanning gets activated automatically.

This is one great plus on Avast’s side, that AVG definitely lacks.

Resident Protection (Real time scanning of files)
AVG does that, I know. But, this one is much better. It’s active by default, and three scanning levels are available for you to adjust. You can set scanning levels individually for P2P, Instant Messaging, Web traffic.

For example, I can set the scanning level of files received via IMs to ‘low’ since I know the files I receive are from trusted people. And I can set scanning of P2P files to ‘high’, and HTTP Web traffic scanning to ‘Normal’. I don’t think AVG does that.

This is just automated. Avast checks all incoming emails, POP, IMAP, SMTP, whatever. This so-called On-Access Protection scanning is very configurable on Avast, than on AVG. One reason why you should give it a go.

Scan when Screensaver is running
Yet another cool add on Avast’s side. Avast scanning can take place behind the scenes on your PC when screensavers are active. One little and funky add, I should say.

I’m usually hesitant to fire up Antivirus software, because they take a lot of time to complete scanning (Nothing wrong on their part, though). I guess this option may attract some lazy geese like me

Better Automatic Updating
Avast checks servers for updates every 4 hours, or even less than that if you want it to. AVG, on the other hand, has a primitive updating system and checks for viruses only once a day. If you happen to miss an update, you’ll have to wait till the next day to download new definitions. More on this here.

Those were just some noticeable, and innovative options available on Avast. Read more here. You’re more than welcome to post your views in the comments section.