OVERVIEW: • Quick installation time of 1 minute and 20 seconds. • Great Virus & Malware detection rates. • System Resource Usage was 3rd best we tested. • Very outdated & poorly organized user-interface. • Poor Support, including no phone-support in North America. • Overall Rating: Fair  |
1) Installation:
Avira AntiVir Premium Version 9 installed in just 1 minute 20 seconds and the computer was immediately ready for use - requiring no restarts after installation. It was a very quick and straight-forward installation process, perhaps a few extra prompts than some other antivirus programs, but let's not get too picky over an installation process.
2) Features & Ease of Use:  Avira's user-interface at first glance looks like a program from 4-5 years ago. It's simple, but perhaps a little too simple. Options are very limited unless you select the "Expert Mode" option - that is if you can find it. Expert Mode is hidden in the upper corner of the Configuration Menu and we almost gave up trying to find it. Even once Expert Mode is selected the options are limited when compared to NOD32 Antivirus or Kaspersky Antivirus, which have much more in-depth options available. Avira protects against all the major types of Malware - including Viruses, Trojans, Worms, Spyware, and Adware. 3) PERFORMANCE 3a) Virus Scanner: Avira AntiVir Premium has both a Full Scan as well as a Custom Scan option. On our test computer with 70GB of used space on its hard-drive it took Avira just 52 minutes to perform its Full Scan. This was slightly slower than fellow competitors Kaspersky Antivirus (which took 47 minutes) and Norton Antivirus (which took 49 minutes). Our only problem with Avira's scanning engine was how the options were laid out in the user-interface. Unlike many other antivirus programs, Avira doesn't have its Full Scan and Custom Scan options clearly laid out, instead you have to stumble through their out-dated tree-structure to choose what you want to scan. Again, this seems a little out-dated like much of the user-interface. We would have liked to see some clearly labeled scanning buttons, however, none were found with Avira. Some modernization as well as a better thought-out layout is a must for their next edition. Updates: Version 9.0 of Avira AntiVir updates about 5 times per day, which is a fair bit slower than many other antivirus programs. For comparison, Norton updates over 200 times per day, while Kaspersky updates about 21 times per day. 3b) System Resource Usage:  Avira Antivirus performed good in our Antivirus testing this year - finishing 3rd overall. View the results of the Antivirus tests we performed below...
3c) Effectiveness: 
4) Help & Support: Avira's support system is limited when compared to other antivirus companies. Avira only provides telephone support in parts of Europe (Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Italy) - and it's costly too (over $2.50/min). No telephone support of any kind is offered in North America. This lack of live phone-support can be a red-flag for many novice users who may feel more confident purchasing Avira if it had telephone-support... "just in case!" Avira does offer good email support, it has an active forum for its customers which appears well-moderated, and its Knowledge Base appears satisfactory, though not outstanding. Users can also read the in-program Help Files which are decent, but the presentation could use some modernization. CONCLUSION: Avira AntiVir Premium has world-class virus & malware detection rates (top in the industry), however, its user-interface is in need of a make-over from the ground up. The user-interface not only looks outdated but it isn't very easy to use as well. Its Virus Scanner is quite fast, and its System Resource Usage was the 3rd best we tested. Avira's lack of phone support in North America is also a red-flag. If Avira is serious about competing in the North American market they will need to remedy this lack of phone support soon. Overall, despite being excellent at detecting Viruses & Malware we cannot give Avira top marks due to its very disappointing user-interface and lack of adequate support. We recommend taking a look at our other Antivirus Reviews for a better alternative.
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Avira Software Description:
Avira AntiVir Premium 2009 reliably protects you against all threats from viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, phishings, adware, spyware, bots, and dangerous “drive-by” downloads. Best detection rates and top-class security with several updates every day.Avira AntiVir Premium Features:
- NEW! QuickRemoval eliminate viruses at the push of a button.
- NEW! NetbookSupport for laptops with low resolution.
- AntiVir stops all types of viruses!
- AntiAd/Spyware eliminates ad/spyware!
- AntiPhishing proactive protection against phising.
- AntiRootkit against hidden rootkit threats.
- AntiDrive-by prevents against downloading viruses when surfing.
- EmailScanner enhanced email protection.
- WebGuard protection against malicious websites.
- RescueSystem create a bootable rescue CD.
