Avast Free Antivirus is one of the most popular antimalware products around. The 2016 version overhauls the interface, but it could stand to be more informative.

Avast Free Antivirus

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4

Excellent

Average User Rating:

4.5

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What do you need to know about free software?

Pros

A better interface: This year's version gets a row of icons at the top with intuitive images and labels, which animate when you hover over them, to help you see that you've selected them. Clicking each icon drops down a submenu, so you can browse all of them before making a move. If you get lost, just click the home icon that's always in the upper left to return you to the main menu.

Lots of optional settings: Overall, you have a fine degree of control over how Avast behaves. Clicking the gear icon on the far right takes you to Avast Free Antivirus's settings window, which has categories in the left-hand pane, and options for each category on the right. Clicking Active Protection shows you a submenu that breaks down file protection, email protection, and browser protection into three subcategories. Each of the three has a toggle to disable the whole element, which is handy when you already have other software installed that you prefer for one of those three roles. Click Customize to drill down into another set of categories and options specific to that role.

Free syncing password manager: Tools bundled with antimalware suites range widely in utility and quality, and the free suites rarely include a password manager. However, the one in Avast is pretty respectable. It provides extensions for Firefox and Chrome, which you can use to autofill your login information at websites. You create a master password that protects your list of individual site passwords, and you can also sync your list across devices. This requires you to create an account, but it's free. You can also import passwords stored by your browser. Avast doesn't make it clear if its list is encrypted, and the password manager doesn't have many settings to customize its behavior, but if you don't have a password manager, this is a decent entry point.

To sync with Android and iOS devices, you need a different app named Avast Passwords, available for free at the Google Play store and iTunes App Store. The Android version of Avast's security software doesn't bundle the manager, and there is no iOS version of Avast Mobile Security. You can also subscribe to a premium version of the password manager that lets you transmit your login info from your mobile device to your computer, if they are on the same Wi-Fi network, by tapping a button on your screen. This feature costs a modest $10 a year.

Streamlined system software updater: Avast Free Antivirus can quickly scan your computer for outdated software, and updating is integrated into the app's interface. It creates a list of programs that need to be updated, and you need only click the button next to the program's name to get the latest version. Avast noticed that Java was out-of-date on our device, a problem that can create serious security holes. Because of Avast Free Antivirus's update integration, we didn't have to go to the Java website and hunt down the correct pages and links. This might not be important for advanced users, but it also won't get in their way, because the update scan is optional and doesn't hound you to use it.

Cons

The sales pitch can be tricky to navigate: A free program still costs money to make, and its maker will use a variety of methods to persuade you to become a paying customer. Avast Free Antivirus's main method is to put some tools in its interface that redirect you to purchase pages when you click them, or -- in the case of the VPN service -- entering you into a free 7-day trial that you can stumble into if you click too quickly. In the case of Avast Cleanup -- integrated into the Scan menu as "scan for performance issues" -- the tool goes through the process of checking for things that needs to be fixed, then redirects you to sales pitch when you tell the tool to fix the problems that it's discovered.

It's not necessarily a bad thing if an app integrates sales pitches into its interface. However, Avast Free Antivirus indicates two different price structures if you decide to upgrade to Avast Internet Security. The UI tells you that you will be paying $29.99, with an original MSRP of $69.99. But when you click that button, you'll be sent to a window with three choices, where the default choice is a two-year subscription of $39.99. Or you can get one year of coverage for $19.99. None of the MSRPs on this second window screen are $69.99, so it's not 100% clear if this is the same product, or what has been lost -- if anything -- by going from $29.99 to $19.99. On the bright side, PayPal is an option, if you prefer not to use a credit card.

VPN service overstates its abilities: When you log in to the seven-day VPN trial, Avast Free Antivirus tells you, "Your Internet activity is now completely invisible so nobody can spy on you," but that isn't necessarily true. Your Internet service provider can still detect that you're connecting to a VPN, and someone can monitor the VPN's exit point back onto the public Internet and keep logs of that activity. And a VPN doesn't necessarily protect you when you transmit personally identifiable information while using it, nor does it protect you from malware that may already be on your computer, recording what you type or which websites you access.

Bottom Line

According to AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, Avast's antivirus engine is relatively fast and accurate without bogging your system down, making it one of the best free antivirus apps around. And the password manager has cloud syncing across Windows, iOS, and Android devices, a feature that the other managers would usually make you pay for. But it would be better if the free and premium components were more clearly distinguished.

Qatar look to bounce back

DOHA: Qatar will be looking to bounce back, following their well-played match which ended in Iran’s favour, as they take on Uzbekistan in their second match of the final qualification round for 2018 World Cup at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium today.

Just a day after their 2018 World Cup qualifying game against Iran, Qatar team returned to Doha on Friday and hit the training pitch immediately but were seen in good spirits following their 2-0 loss in Tehran in Group A fixture. 

Qatar will be playing against South Korea‎, Syria and China after their game against Uzbekistan.

Coach Jose Daniel Carreno said: “We have urged the players to forget the Iran game and look forward to the challenging match ahead of us against Uzbekistan”. 

Carreno also said that Qatar team had no injury issues and every player is available for selection.  

“I want the fans to turn in large numbers and support the national side. Fans can lift the morale of the side,” he added. The match starts at 7.00pm local time. 

Meanwhile, China are hoping to continue their fighting form after coming from behind to reduce the goal deficit in a 3-3 loss in the hands of South Korea last week as they take on heavyweights Iran in another big World Cup qualifying test today.

China fought back from 3-0 down to make it 3-2 with 14 minutes left in Seoul, ensuring a tense finale to a game which South Korea had looked like wrapping up with ease.

While China started the final round of Asian qualifying with a defeat, they are taking heart from the performance ahead of Tuesday’s home game against Iran in Shenyang.

“I don’t think we have much pressure,” said Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Huang Bowen, according to the Global Times. “I just hope we can play the way we did in the last 15 minutes against South Korea.”

China are bidding to reach only the second World Cup in their history in a tough Group A which also brackets 2022 hosts Qatar, Uzbekistan and Syria.

They are not the only team needing a positive result with Japan, still smarting from a disallowed goal in their 2-1 defeat to UAE, facing a tricky away trip to Thailand.

The top two teams from both of the six-strong Asian groups will earn spots at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, while the third-placed teams go into a play-off series.

“Iran are stronger than us,” said Huang. “But we are playing at home, so I hope we can deliver.”

China’s first task will be to avoid conceding after Zheng Zhi’s own goal, followed by strikes from Lee Chung-Yong and Koo Ja-Cheol, gave them a mountain to climb in Seoul.

Carlos Queiroz’s Iran are Asia’s top-ranked side at 39th in the world, and they started the qualifying round with a 2-0 victory over Qatar in Tehran -- although both goals came in injury time.

“It’s going to be very tough... We come from different results in the first games, but the situation is reversed now that China will play at home,” Queiroz said, according to the Global Times.

In Bangkok, Japan desperately need a win after their shock loss to UAE, but it won’t be easy for the four-time Asian champions at a steamy Rajamangala stadium.

Outspoken AC Milan forward Keisuke Honda read his younger team-mates the riot act after last week’s defeat, telling them they need to work harder.

Meanwhile the UAE can seize the initiative in Group B when they host Australia looking for their second big scalp after beating Japan last week.

Asian champions Australia were tentative in last week’s 2-0 win over Iraq in Perth, and home conditions will suit UAE with free entry expected at Abu Dhabi’s 42,000-capacity Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.

UAE playmaker Omar Abdulrahman urged fans to come out in force, warning that the game “won’t be easy at all. We have to win for the second successive time, which will help us at the end of our journey,” he told The National newspaper.

“But we need our stadium to be full, with more than 40,000 Emiratis to come and support their national team.”

Elsewhere, war-torn Syria play their ‘home’ fixture against South Korea in Malaysia, which is also hosting Iraq’s game against Saudi Arabia.

Man Accidentally Shoots Himself While Woozy From Nitrous Oxide

A routine dental appointment turned dangerous when a man grabbed his pistol and fired while under the influence of nitrous oxide.
James White, a 72-year-old man from New Carlisle, Ohio, was in the dental chair undergoing normal dental procedures when he reached down to grab his cellphone, according to the Chicago Tribune. White, still woozy from a sedation using nitrous oxide, got ahold of his gun instead and fired off a round.
The bullet hit White’s hand and grazed the left side of his stomach. White later told police officers he thought his phone was ringing and he wanted to answer it.
White was brought to a nearby hospital, but no one else was injured in the incident, local news outlets report. A 911 recording captured an employee at the New Carlisle Dental Group saying that, We have a patient here who accidentally shot himself with a gun. White has a permit for concealed-carry, and the dental clinic has no signs asking gun owners to remove their firearms upon entering the premises. He could, however, still be charged with using a weapon while intoxicated.
Sheriff Gene Kelly of Clark County says that formal charges are yet to be filed and that the case will proceed before the prosecutor.
Some believe that White’s actions were more stupid than criminal. Sergeant Christina Evans-Fisher of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office says that if a person knows they are entering a doctor’s office where they will be sedated, it would be best not to carry a weapon inside and consider the safety of others.
 An unidentified neighbor near the clinic agreed, saying that it’s basic sense not to bring a gun where nitrous oxide will be used. Employees at the New Carlisle Dental Group are reportedly aware that the shooting was accidental, but were considerably “shaken up” over it, NBC News reports.