What's New in Avira AntiVir 10 Free
Avira released Avira AntiVir Version 10 last March 2010. The new version boasts new features in AntiVir Personal edition:
- Shadow Copy function - The program is now using the Shadow Copy technology by Microsoft in Windows. This allows the antivirus to scan locked or currently in use files.
- Simplified UI on detected malware - The user interface in AntiVir 10 that prompts users for action when a malware is detected has changed to single option only instead of 6. More about this in the Malware Protection section in page 2 of this article.
- Generic system repair - The malware removal method used by AntiVir is now improved. Remnants of malware in the Windows registry or any critical area in the system are now completely removed. This is why AntiVir 10 has received a 5.5 score out of 6.0 from AV-Test.org*.
* AV-Test.org published August 16, 2010 the result of their test on 19 security solutions - http://www.av-test.org/certifications?order=repair_desc&lang=en
Installation and System Requirements
Rating 
AntiVir Personal edition runs on Windows 7, Vista and XP. Windows 2000 users can still use AntiVir program but Avira will stop supporting Windows 2000 on July 13, 2011. Please note Microsoft has discontinued support to Windows 2000. Avira wrote on their website that the AntiVir ProActiv technology in the paid solutions of Avira will not run in Windows 2000. This is why using unsupported operating systems is not recommended.
Please note that I recommend getting AntiVir from the vendors' website or reputable download sites only. There are many rogue antivirus distributors that are exploiting the name of legitimate antivirus programs. Avira antivirus download is located here on their website. The program is currently available in 9 languages.
The installation of AntiVir Free is a quick process using its Express install method. A custom installation is also offered but I recommend using the custom install, only if you are advanced user. If Windows Defender is enabled in Vista and Windows 7 or installed in XP, AntiVir recommends disabling Windows Defender manually:
The configuration wizard for AntiVir 10 is presented after installing AntiVir using the "custom" install. To take advantage of better protection, I recommend using the high detection level:
You should also configure Avira AntiVir to detect all types of threats that the program is capable of detecting:
Also, you should configure AntiVir Guard to use the Secure mode so it will start as early as possible to immediately block or remove malware that will auto-start right after the user login to Windows:
Other recommended settings are to allow AntiVir scanner and guard to scan all files by choosing the Expert mode in the Configuration window. Use this setting only if you have enough RAM installed on your computer:
Finally, configure AntiVir by enabling the advanced processes protection for the program
Memory Usage & Program Performance
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The memory usage by AntiVir Personal edition is acceptable. In the test system, Avira is only using 24MB of memory. The running processes are avshadow.exe, avguard.exe, sched.exe and avgnt.exe. If you have the antivirus configuration and the program's UI window opened, you will find avcenter.exe and avconfig.exe as active processes which will use 11MB and 17MB of memory, respectively.
The only issues that I noticed is when opening the configuration window of AntiVir on "Archives," the setting will take a while before displaying the available options.
Updating AntiVir detection signature is easy using its built-in updater. However, the program will display AntiVir Notifiers to promote the paid edition of Avira AntiVir.
On Page 2, our review of Avira AntiVir 2010 continues including a look at scan performance and malware protection and removal.
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