How To Use Avast Free Antivirus Software to Fully Protect your PC

Running and maintaining an antivirus program is an unfortunate but necessary expense for many computer users.

The problem comes from the fact that you have to buy not just the program itself but also a subscription package

 that updates the program’s virus definitions. Outdated definitions mean insufficient protection, which means that your computer is vulnerable to attack.

Avast Antivirus is a free program designed to meet the safety needs of users without draining their wallets. Luckily for computer users everywhere, Avast is more than powerful enough to get the job done just as well as its more expensive counterparts like Norton and McAfee.

Download and install the Avast software from the main program website. Once the program’s main site is loaded in your browser, click the blue button labeled “Download” to begin the process. Click the blue “Download” button in the “Avast Free Antivirus” column of the window that opens on screen. This will make sure that you download the installation file for Avast’s free version as opposed to its paid counterparts. Note that just because there are paid versions available doesn’t mean the free version isn’t a high quality product.

Double-click the Avast installation file to set up the software on your computer. Select the option reading “Express Install” to install the Avast software on your computer using its default configuration. When the window on screen indicates that the setup process is completed, reboot your computer before continuing.

Launch the Avast software by double clicking on the icon labeled “Avast Free Antivirus” on your desktop. The main Avast program window will load on screen. The program’s default configuration means that it will already monitor all newly downloaded files for viruses, so the only thing left to do is perform a full scan of the existing files on your computer. Select the “Full Scan” option from the window on screen to allow the program to begin analyzing your hard drive. If any malicious programs or files are found during the scan they will automatically be quarantined and deleted.

Allow Avast to keep running on your computer whenever you browse the Internet. The program will scan your e-mails and downloaded files to make sure they are virus free. It will also help prevent attack sites from opening in your Web browser.

Note: You may need to temporarily disable avast realtime scanning on your system if you are to install some certain softwares (just be sure that the software doesn't include virus) in which the softwares components will be detected as potential harmful files or viruses, in this case just disable the avast Antivirus and re-enable when you are done with the software installation.

To disable, just right click on the avast icon in the Windows notification panel usually at the lower right hand side of the desktop, then go to avast shield and click disable for specified minutes, hours or until system restart when you are sure to have been done with the actual software installation, after installation, follow the same process to re-enable the avast shields thereafter. If any question(s) or comment(s), just leave them below.