The latest version of avast!'s antivirus engine is incredibly high performing and features outstanding detection abilities. 100% of In-the-Wild viruses (viruses already spreading between users) are detected along with nearly all Trojan horses.

The engine has been certified by ICSA Labs.  It frequently takes part in tests run by Virus Bulletin magazine and has received the VB100 award on many occasions.

The avast! engine also features outstanding decompression support. It can scan inside the following files: ARJ, ZIP, MIME (+ all associated formats), MAPI (Outlook pst files), DBX (Outlook Express archives), RAR, TAR, GZIP, CAB, BZIP2, ZOO, ACE, ARC, LHA/LHX, TNEF (winmail.dat), CPIO, CHM, RPM, ISO, 7ZIP and SIS. It also supports a number of executable packers (such as PKLite, Diet, UPX, ASPack, PeShield, FSG, MEW etc.).

Last, but not least, it can also scan for viruses and other types of malware hidden in Alternate data streams on NTFS volumes of the host machine.

Virus Shields

Virus Shields (also known as the Resident protection or On-Access Scanner, that is the real-time protection of the device), is one of the most important features of an antivirus program today. avast! features a powerful resident module that is able to detect malware before it has a chance to infect your U3 smart drive and cause any harm, even if you are not logged in as an administrator on the host machine.

The file system protection module ensures that no virus will be saved on your U3 volume, and if one is detected, you are given a chance to remove it instantly.

Even before the Virus Shields start, the host machine is thoroughly scanned to ensure its safety. It is not recommended to continue working if an active virus is found on the host machine.

Automatic updates

Automatic updates are another key requirement for virus protection. Both the virus database and the program itself can be updated automatically. The updates are incremental, with only new or missing data being downloaded: therefore significantly reducing the size of the transfer. The typical size of virus database updates are tens of KB; program updates are typically in the hundreds of KB range.

The update is performed automatically whenever the U3 smart drive is connected (provided Internet connection is available), and can also be performed manually at a later date from the program interface.

User interface

The program comes with a simple user interface and comprehensive online help. The whole system was designed so that deep knowledge of computers or computer security is not necessary to operate the program. Most tasks are preset so that the program can take action automatically, without asking any difficult questions.

Virus Shield activity is displayed with a small icon in the notification area. You can simply access all part of the program by clicking on the icon.

Internationalization

Commitment to internationalization is one of the key benefits of avast!. The program supports all languages supported by the U3 LaunchPad itself, including English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.

The language settings are inherited from the U3 environment, i.e. to change the current language use the U3 LaunchPad settings dialog.