When it comes to PC security there’s always been some debate on whether you really need an antivirus program on Windows machines or not. In fact the Windows operating system comes with built in virus defending program Windows Defender. But recently Microsoft states that third party antivirus programs works more effective than Windows Defender.
Daily our machines hit by malicious software and viruses. A perfect antivirus program can detect, shreds and deletes the harmful elements. Today we are reviewing Avast Premier 2014. A stable and standalone antivirus for your machine.
Avast Premier 2014 Installation
To get started download the program from official Avast website. In the first step of installation it asks you to choose free 30 day trial or license file if you have any.
In the next step you can go with regular installation, which is very fast and easy way to install the program or custom installation which contains installation locations, tools selection and language options. After, the program asks to add Dropbox to add as a backup source.
Like other most antivirus suites Avast installs very quickly without any complicated installation steps. The program also gives you a usability instructions and tips after installations. Once installation is complete you will see the Avast Premier 2014 icon in the system tray, double-click it to bring up the main dashboard window.
Avast Premier User Interface
Avast Premier carries a very easy to understand user interface. The program followed a very clean color combination to attract the users and as well as good navigation. In the Avast Premier main dashboard the upper part contains notifications, which is good to understand your current machine status in easy words. Below the notifications there is a simple dock with three fixed shortcuts and one customize option.
On the left side of main dashboard contains scan, tools, store, My devices, help, statistics and settings options.
Avast Premier Features and Performance
It is quite a simple antivirus that anybody can use with ease. You can perform the scanning process under Scan tab. There are five methods to perform the scan operation – Quick Scan, Full Scan, removable media scan, folder scan and Boot time Scan.
The tools section contains various maintenance and security features.
Software Updater
The built in software updater in Avast Premier is a handy tool to update all your programs in one click. You can manually update the program individually or turning on the button allows the updates automatically.
Sandbox
The next tool in the program is Sandbox, which is useful to run untrusted gust programs in a secured environment without harming your PC.
Safezone
Safezone allows users to proceed the important bank transactions in a safer way. It protects your from hackers and malwares by keeping the transactions in a secured virtualization desktop environment.
Data Shredder
The Data Shredder feature allows you to delete a file permanently from the hard disk. The deleted file can’t be recovered, to delete permanently simple select the file or folder you want to delete and click on Shred.
Browser Cleanup
The integrated a browser cleanup option is quick and simple to remove unwanted toolbars and addons on our browsers. If you want to get rid of unwanted addons and toolbars from browsers click on start browser cleanup.
Access Anywhere
Access Anywhere tool is comes handy to connect any PC to your PC using a secured link.
Rescue Disk
It is useful to clean infected systems, the bootable rescue disk is created with latest avast definitions will help you to clean virus attacked systems.
Firewall
We all know the use of Firewall, it prevents you to send and receive data from hackers and malwares in your PC.
Avast Premier Performance
We tested Avast for 15 days and found promised results. We tested the Avast free and Premier version on two machines. The virus engines is same for both free and Premier versions, the only difference is tools like Firewall, Safezone, DataShredders and Automatic software updater features.
The program is very light on system resources and consumes only 69MB RAM in normal usage. Which is very faster than the other popular Antivirus suites. We installed the program on Asus X550Claptop with Intel Core i3, 4GB Ram and 500GB hard disk machine and on a desktop of 8GB RAM, Intel Core i3, 120GB SSD hard disk. We conducted benchmark tetst on both the machines on a regular basis and results compared. The program performance results are better on desktop machine because of the presence of SSD, but the detection rate is same on both the machines.
The detection rate is good and found upto 98% of attacks. Which is very good to compare with other Antivirus vendors performance results.
Verdict
Overall, Avast Premier is a very feature rich Antivirus program designed to secure your PC. It secures your PC from all types of virus attacks and malware and helps you to keep safe. It’s fast, reliable and comprises of a good looking user interface with full of features. We recommend Avast Premier to our audience, it works on Windows 8.1 / Pro / Enterprise, Windows 8 / Pro / Enterprise, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
