A newer version of Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- Average user rating: stars out of 2970 votes Back to product review
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24 out of 27 people found this review helpful
5 stars
Version: Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 8
"Great antivirus but...."
Pros: This found 4 viruses that avast 4.8 missed, and found viruses on two different ipods and deleted them without fuss or bother.
The free version doesn't state whether it protects email clients.
Very fast scan.
Cons: The updates are painfully slow, it took nearly two hours to update the definitions, delaying updates is a risk on it's own and avira really need to address this issue,an issue thats been ongoing for a few years now.
Shame really and for this reason I will be trying something else.
The retail version updates very fast indeed and has more features, so the very least avira could do is give a few more update servers for the free version.
This is also "Nagware" asking you to upgrade to the retail version.
Come on avira sort your updates out, your losing out to shoddier antivirus programs like avast and avg.
- 7 replies to this review
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I dont know who is fooling who here but i found Avast much more effective.
In fact time and time again Avast has saved my P.C. I would not touch Avira with a 10 foot pole!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Over the last three years I've had AntiVir installed three times, and every time I've gone back to Avast for the same reason: AntiVir's pathetic auto-updating.
And if you go to their forum you will see thread after thread of people with the same complaint. The only thing that Avira and the AntiVir fanboys ever say is that it *must* be your connection. Well, no it doesn't. I have Verizon DSL, and while it isn't cable, it isn't exactly tin cans and a string either. Three installs in three years for me, and page after page of update problems in their forum, is proof that the problem is long-standing, it is well-known, and Avira doesn't care.
As for the above rationalization that we peons should be happy with what we get because, "Hey, it's free. Shut up and take what they give you." Well that's just ******** and the person who wrote it knows that.
There are plenty of good, reputable anti-malware companies who don't treat their free users like second rate citizens.
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I dont know what type of connection you are using.well even if you use dial-up it wont take that long to update.the incremental update/daily update is only a small fragment of file which is usually 1mb - 2mb.so, i dont know what type of updating you are talking about because i only need not more than 2-3 minutes to finish updating daily.btw, avast and avg are no way near the quality of avira.so,pls dont compare.cheers
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I've used it for years, even before they changed the company name. I don't understand why your updates take so long. Whenever the connection is good, updates are mostly done within one or two minutes. In fact, when it takes longer, I stop the process and try again later, because that means the connection is out... I use cable now, but even when we had a dialup modem it was done in a short time (of course: or else I wouldn't have used it!)
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I know free versions is what everyone prefers to use, but getting people to BUY their full product is most company's goal. If Avira increased P.E.'s update speed and "nagware", there wouldn't be enough difference between the FREE and Retail versions the get people to actually buy it, meaning NO MONEY MADE. But i bet more people have bought Avira's product over buying AVG's or avast's. (is there a retail of avast?)
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It's FREE! It works well, you're NOT paying for it...and, oh yeah, it's FREE...
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Hi boduk62,
I have been using the free version of Avira for about 18 months now and the program updates every time I fire up my system. The downloads take about 20 to 30 seconds on my system using a cable broadband connection. Maybe you should try checking out your settings because there seems to be something interfering with your downloads in terms of updates from Avira. I have found the program to be very efficient and certainly one of the best Av's I have ever tried and I have been online for over 15 years. If you want to stay with Avira, maybe I can help. My email address is available through CNET.
Paladin
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