Avira Premium Security Suite 10

Longtime Avira fans will note that the suites as well have undergone a bit of a name change. The product title "AntiVir" has been dropped, as Avira AntiVir Personal becomes Avira Free Antivirus, Avira AntiVir Premium becomes Avira Antivirus Premium, and Avira Premium Security Suite becomes Avira Internet Security. During product-specific names may work for some companies because of legacy associations, just as the Norton product from Symantec, new user confusion has likely forced security suite makers to streamline their operations.

A red banner with the program name serves as a wrapper to anchor the suite, with a Windows XP-style menu bar above it. It doesn't look bad in Windows 7, even though it is by all means archaic. The only feature that you can't reach from any other part of the interface except the menu bar is the Help menu.

Below that, you've got two categories: PC protection, and Internet protection. What this as a matter of fact means is that the former protects you from threats locally, during the latter guards you against new threats from attacking you. Pursuant to this agreement PC protection, you can toggle your real-time protection, manually run a scan, start an update, or upgrade to a paid version of Avira. Use the gear icon then to each option to open the configuration window, which has its own slider in its upper-left corner to quickly change between the standard view and expert mode.

The system scanner option from the left nav

One hint about the system scanner option from the left nav: this is where you would go to initiate specific types of scans, or scans on specific parts of your computer, just as a rootkit scan in C:/Windows. For a generic scan, use the Scan System option from the Status window.

Under Internet protection, you only get one option in Avira Free: Web protection. If you chose to not install the toolbar, at the time this entire section will appear grayed out.

Features-wise, the free version provides the kind of security that most people will be comfortable with. For people who want more, Avira Antivirus Premium 12 comes with a suspicious behavior guard for when programs or files that might be trusted act in an unsecure manner; the silent/gaming mode for fullscreen use; and live telephone support. Avira Internet Security 12 rolls in parental controls; an e-mail spam guard; antiphishing measures; and a firewall that I found to be obnoxiously chatty and intrusive.

Avira Free Antivirus 12 shares the same detection engine as its premium upgrade siblings, Avira Antivirus Premium 12 and Avira Internet Security 12, so all three are discussed here.

CNET Labs' benchmarks found that Avira benchmarked so then in most system tests, however with room for improvement in the critical test of boot-time impact. Note that during last year's benchmarks were tested on the basic installation of Windows 7 x64, CNET Labs is now using a Windows 7 x64 test bed running Service Pack 1. So during results are more comparable than they would be with, say, a Windows XP computer, there's after all a notable difference between the test computers.

The smallest impacts on computer start up

Avira Internet Security 12 performed had one of the smallest impacts on computer start up, slowing it down only by 13.1 seconds when the average was 25.3 seconds. Nevertheless, Avira Free Antivirus and Avira Antivirus Premium slothed along and added near 60 seconds each, the two worst suites tested so far this year.

Independent testing agency AV-Test.org has marked acceptable scores for Avira Premium Security Suite 10 while the first two quarters of 2011. On a Windows 7 computer while Q1, Bitdefender scored 4 out of 6 on Protection, 3.5 out of 6 on Repair, and 4 out of 6 on Usability, for an overall score of 11.5 out of 18, just clearing the minimum of 11 for an AV-Test.org certificate.

The second quarter

In the second quarter, on a Windows XP computer, the same suite did slightly better. The suite hit 3.5 out of 6 on Protection, 4.5 out of 6 on Repair, and 4 out of 6 on Usability, for a total of 12 out of 18. Nevertheless, at that point Avira hadn't updated the detection engines in a during.

A third testing lab, Dennis Innovation Labs, had much worse news for Avira from its January 2011 test. In its test of high-end suites, including Avira Premium Security Suite 10, Dennis Labs placed Avira second to last out of 11 suites. Avira had an Accuracy score of 28 out of 100, however this did not include false positives. The Total Accuracy score, which does include files that are marked as threats but to tell the truth are not, as well put Avira at second to last with a score of 64.5 out of 150. Avira struggled with the lab's Protection test, earning only a 66 percent, second to last and then below the average of 84 percent. The bottom line here is that Dennis Labs and Avira 10 did not mix so then, at all.

Functions: AntiVir stops all kinds of viruses; AntiAd/Spyware protects against adware and spyware; AntiRootkit detects hidden rootkits; QuickRemoval removes viruses at the push of a button; NetbookSupport support for computers with low resolution; AHeADTechnology detects even unknown viruses by their profiles; AviraSupport there for you in person when questions arise.

Avira found some additional viruses which BitDefender&Avast&Comodo&Norton could not find in my previous tests.It as well finds hidden viruses which are capable of hiding themselves from AV Software.Works fine with Windows 7Best firewall I have ever tried. It locks all open doors to your PC and warns you seemlessly about the threads.

My boyfriend recommended I try Avira because it was less intrusive than Avast. It was not. Avast would have a couple of pop-up boxes telling me that an update had been done or that a scan or whatever had been done, however it would happen when I first started up my computer and that was it. Avira asks me to upgrade to the paid version every single time I wake my computer up from sleep mode. It as well has actual pop-up window ads asking me to buy business cards. There are no options to change the duration of the pop-ups or just disable them completely.