I've been using Avast for years. It tends to be intrusive with pop-ups and solicitations for upgraded services/options. Some can be turned off via program setting, but not all of them so one must be aware. The typical trick to avoid an unwanted upgrade process is by clicking the X to close a window instead of a prominent OK button.

The typical recommendation I've seen in recent years is that MS/Windows basic/included AV is sufficient. I'm still running Win 7 so don't know what is included with the latest OS.

dadoes, you may know that Win7 was buggy and was superseded by the rush development of and ultimately a free update to Win8, released in 2012.

You're using the PC equivalent of a Stanley Steamer on a modern high speed highway. To me, your hardware choice pretty much disqualifies you from giving PC advice. Your experience is more than a decade out of date.

Its Avast I want to be rid of.

This link is to a reliable and reputable source. It would suggest AVG or Avira as alternatives.

Personally, I use Norton. I have handful of PCs and get a multi-station license. I'm very happy with it.

Try calling them - for my last renewal, they offered me a special - $69 for 5 licenses for 18 months. $14 per PC, about $10 per year for one of the highest rated products. I was going to renew it anyway but I couldn't say No to that offer.

The Best Free Antivirus Software for 2025 | PCMag

EJF,

I bow and step away to your expertise. I wouldn't have replied if Joann_FL had up-front clarified her disdain for Avast.

Also, thanks and huggs for your concern. I've never caught a computer virus. I have data on this computer that dates as far back as 1989. I use some software that won't run on a 64-bit processor ... among other considerations that are outside your realm.

" I use some software that won't run on a 64-bit processor ... "

As I understand it, software applications don't exactly "run" on processors. They interact with operating systems. It's the operating systems that are the intermediary to the hardware.

You've assumed, perhaps wrongly, and so perhaps you may not have reason to know but Windows has remained backward compatible with many of what it calls "x86" programs. Which I presume are 32 bit.

I have a program whose last version was written and compiled in 2008 - that's the Windows Vista era, even before Win 7. I've used it continuously since then on Windows versions beyond what you have. Today, it runs fine on my Windows 11 PCs.

Some software I've downloaded is offered in 32 and 64 bit versions and even when I've downloaded 32 bit versions by mistake, they run fine.

Keep your mind and eyes open rather than closed, it appears there's much more for you to know and understand. Before you offer advice.

Dude, I've tried two of the programs on a 64-bit machine, they don't run. They're DOS programs. Old stuff. One is a lovely little spreadsheet that I've used for years, and in another life built a custom application via the macro language for a business that read sales data exported from a cash register. Sometimes there's also more for you to know and understand ... but I'm surely not going to expend further effort here on that point.

dadoes, you have a disaster waiting to happen, on many fronts. You could anticipate and rectify the risks, or choose to continue on dismissing the possibilities. Reading sales data from a cash register can be easily handled many different ways, including with Quickbooks, Quicken, or spreadsheets.

Do as you see fit but don't be dismissive of the consequences. Spreadsheets are free these days (Libre Office), anticipate the inevitable.

Good luck.