Although it is always advisable to make sure to keep the operating system and the programs that we use regularly updated, the antivirus is, without a doubt, the most important program that must always be updated. Having the latest version of security software, as well as the latest virus database is vital if we want to be protected from the countless threats that are hidden on the network. For this reason, we are going to explain how we should keep updated one of the best known free antivirus: Avast.
Avast is one of the best known and used free antivirus . Although it is not as complete as other security suites that we can find, this antivirus offers us basic security against the threats that we may face on a daily basis. For example, Avast has one of the most efficient engines for detecting and blocking viruses, spyware and other threats in real time. But it does not have other features such as an advanced firewall or a system that protects us from dangerous websites. These features are only available for Premium Security, the paid edition of this free antivirus.
For most users, the protection Avast offers as standard is more than enough. As long as the antivirus is up to date.
Download latest version
The most important thing is that, if we are going to install this antivirus on our computer, let us download and always install the most recent version of it. And that we do it from a secure website. We must avoid downloading websites that offer us to download this antivirus to our PC, since they will almost always download an old version. And, of course, we should always avoid pirted antivirus downloads.
The latest version of Avast for Windows can be downloaded completely free of charge from the following link . From the website of this antivirus we will download an installer, which will be in charge of downloading the latest version to our PC and launching this antivirus. Of course, we must be careful, since the security firm will try to install unwanted software on our PC in the form of advertising programs.
Once the latest version of the antivirus is installed, we do not have to worry, since it will be in charge of always keeping the latest version of the program, the engines and the database to offer us the best protection. We can consult all these data in the Menu> About , in order to know all the data about the version of the AV that we have.
Update Avast
Most of the time, Avast will update automatically, without us having to do anything. It will even do it several times a day, so that we will always be fully protected. However, on some occasions we may be interested in updating the antivirus manually, or we want to verify that the updates have indeed been correctly downloaded.
For this, what we must do is open the menu, enter the options section, and select General> Update .
As we will see, here we will find two sections: the first one will allow us to know the status of the virus definitions, and the second one of the version of the antivirus program itself. If we click on the ” Check for updates ” button, the antivirus will look for new versions of the database, or of the program itself, and automatically download and install them on our PC.
When the update process ends (in which we do not have to intervene)
Set up automatic updates
In the same update section above we will find a button called “More options”. If we click on it we will be able to see all the configuration options that we can modify to choose how we want to update Avast.
By default we will have automatic updates enabled in both elements. But we can change it. For example, for virus database updates, we can choose whether we want updates to be automatic, if we want to see warnings when there are new versions of the virus database, and even disable them so that we can only search for signatures. manually. We will also have a button that will allow us to enable or disable the option to update Avast in streaming (that is, continuous updates in real time).
And we will also be able to configure the updates for the antivirus program itself. By default, it will also be configured to install all updates automatically. However, we can choose if we want the new versions to be downloaded and notify us before installing, if we want to be notified if there are new versions but nothing is downloaded without permission, and even disable automatic antivirus updates. We can also configure a proxy, if needed.
The configuration of each of the two elements is independent. That is, we can leave, for example, database updates activated at the same time as program updates deactivated. However, the best we can do is leave everything in automatic and forget about updating Avast , the basics of anything or check the status of the antivirus.
