I’ve been using AntiVir for a long time, since version 8.X.X.XXX. I was using AVG 7.5 before that, but when AVG 8 came out, I found it hopelessly bloated and there were conflicts with a few other programs. Moreover, it wouldn’t install or uninstall properly. Needless to say, it was a pain in the tush. I’m so glad I switched to Avira AntiVir, which is faster, has a better detection rate, and I’ve never had trouble with updates and installs.
Let me get the cons out of the way first. Avira for me, has a very dated (and ugly) interface. Here’s the scanning window:
The main Control Center window doesn’t look much better either:
The worst thing is that these windows can’t be resized, they are fixed. You’d think that they would go for a more Vista-like interface with version 9.0.0.386 (just released) but no luck there.
Alright, now that I’ve got the cons out of the way, here are the pros of Avira AntiVir Personal:
- The program is easy to install and configure. If you have an older version installed, it will ask your permission to uninstall it, perform a reboot, and install the newer version.
- Scanning is pretty fast and again, configurable.
- Same for the updates, no problems here.
- Low system resource usage—about 20MB for my system (Pentium 4 with 3GB of RAM).
- Avira can be configured to resist tempering or termination by rogue programs. This provides an extra layer of security for the user.
- It’s free.
Oh yes, I almost forgot—after each update Avira puts up a nag screen, asking you to upgrade to the Premium or paid version. If you don’t want to see this screen (who does?) follow these steps to disable it. This applies to Vista Ultimate and the new Avira 9.0.0.386:
- Start-> Run. Type secpol.msc to open the Local Security Policy window.
- Click on Software Restriction Policy-> Additional Rules.
- Right-click Additional Rules-> New path rule.
- Click Browse and navigate to c:\Program files\Avira\Antivir Desktop and select avnotify.exe. Set the security level to Disallowed-> Apply-> OK. You won’t see the nag screen again during future updates.
Download Avira Antivir Personal 9.0.0.386 here.
