Avira Pe premium users please HELP!Is it worth buying Avira antivir PE Premium

[cet]

I have been using Avira PE classic for a long time without problems.If the premium edition offers adware and spyware protection as a plus Iwould like to upgrade.But when I look at the signatures I see that the signatures are same for classic and premium versions.Where is the spyware protection???? Are there any users of pe premium.Do you have any problems with the mail guard,conflictions with the comodo firewall.Is the resource usage different from the free edition?*If not I will buy it tomorrow.
Or do you recommend buying a different spyware (real time monitoring).

[lodore]

i would say its a worth while upgrade.
in the vdf history in the classic version you dont get the entries marked as adspy.
so these are a few things its not protecting you against but the premium version will.
http://www.avira.com/en/threats/section/vdfhistory/vdf_no/6.37.00.215/6.37.00.215.html
the resourse usage should be the same.
i dont know of any conflicts with comodo firewall.
i havent used the mail guard.
what browser do you use?
if your pc is always clean then just use superantispyware free as an on demand scanner when you buy antivir premium. link for superantispyware in my sig.
lodore

[Blackcat]

The main reason why I obtained a license for the Premium Edition is that I am still restricted to dial-up here. IME, here in the UK, Server availability and transfer speeds are much better than the Classic Servers. For me the added spyware/adware signatures were an added bonus and I never use the email scanners of any AV.

Take a look here (http://forum.avira.de/thread.php?goto=nextoldest&threadid=7446&sid=5153f3ce1055866961e7a21a95ecdec3) for information about the spyware capabilities of the Premium Edition.
{QUOTE-> I have been using Avira PE classic for a long time without problems. <-QUOTE}
Personally I would therefore stay with the free Edition, particularly if you have had no problems updating or with the Guard. Use a non-IE Browser, and then use one of the free on-demand scanners for the occasional check for any possible adware/spyware.

But it is your decision in the end.

[aigle]

I will suggest NOD 32 or KAV instead.

[StevieO]

Avira Premium is a first class product in every way, you won't be disappointed with it, and neither am i having used constantly it since last year. Very few false positives, and ahead of most of the other av's in detections and in getting earlier definitions of malware.


StevieO

[Mele20]

{QUOTE-> . Very few false positives, and ahead of most of the other av's in detections and in getting earlier definitions of malware.
StevieO <-QUOTE}

I am very impressed with Avira but I disagree with your statement about very few FP's. I just submitted a bunch. It has almost as many as DrWeb and I would never use it because of FP's. But my beef is mostly with Avira insisting that certain applications are possible malware when they are not such as all systinternals files or an XP keyfinder. I had to turn off the detection of SPR.

[StevieO]

@ Mele20

The false positives you mentioned, are not real false positives, as in detecting totally innocent files or programs. The extra type of programs etc that Avira detects, that are not malware as such, are all capable of being used for malicious purposes, to a greater or lesser degree depending on which ones they are.

I don't think you can have tested all of the system internals tools, as i know for a fact they are not all included in Aviras definitions.

It's very easy to exclude items from being flagged, and once you have no more alerts.


StevieO

[Mele20]

No, I submitted a number of REAL FP's that Stefan said he would fix. I also submitted ones that have signatures and are not FP's but I think they are. So, two separate things here.

Excluding is not that easy. You have to exclude from all locations and you have to find the locations first. I don't allow Avira to put those in Quarantine. I excluded PSkill.exe and PStools from the Guard yet Avira keeps alerting on them.

[StevieO]

@ Mele20

I didn't say i've never had fp's with Avira, but i've only had a few in about nine months. And that includes testing it every day with multiple malware, and with heuristics set on high, and all file types included.

You did say Avira detects all systinternals files, but it most definately does not. Sure it detects things like PSkill.exe and PStools, and i gave the very good reasons why it does on programs like that.

If you kept all your tools in one, or only a few places or folders, you would be able to locate and exclude them very quickly, especially as most, if not all, systinternals tools are non install types.

Here's an example of a pc with folders stuffed with malware and tools etc, that i've excluded from scanning, and it works all the time every day.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3212/exceptionsjv8.png (http://imageshack.us)

And of course you can have folders within those folders, which would automatically be excluded too.


StevieO

[Mele20]

I'm not sure what you mean. Avira detects on the Sysinternals zip folder ....that folder holds all sysinternals tools. Then it detects on unzipped files also and would on any in System Restore also except the first thing I did was exclude System Restore. I have PStools in at least 5 locations on the computer and have to find all of them. This is one reason why I rarely run a full scan with any AV. I turned off SPR for the Guard and the scanner but it is still alerting on files it says are SPR. Earlier today, I found SPR rechecked and I didn't do that and no one else uses this computer.

I can't find one of them. I'm tired of hunting. Avira needs a way to allow for exclusion directly from the popup alerting to finding something. That would make things much easier.

Yesterday, I spent hours hunting down some of them which turned out to be in Mozbackup for a NON EXISTENT profile for a non existent Mozilla 1.6 application. I submitted the question to Avira forums and support told me to compact my OE mail and rescan. These were Netscape/Mozilla email not Outlook Express. Mozilla mall and Thunderbird don't use compacting. I think they have no idea about anything regarding Mozilla mail or Thunderbird. The emails were from 2004 in Mozbackup that can't be accessed without Mozilla as it's in a profile and non accessible to me. These backups are in my Downloaded Programs\Downloaded Programs folder and are not visible if you look for them using the path Avira gives. The Downloaded Programs folder within the Downloaded Programs folder was copied from a True Image of my older XP computer that was replaced by Dell last year so there is lots of stuff in that folder that has never been executed on this computer and never will be and some of it is like the Mozbackups ...useless without the Mozilla browser. So, it took me a while to figure all this out and would not have been necessary if Avira wasn't so prone to FP's. I should not have run a full scan. They are just irritating and non productive because I know I have no viruses on this computer that could be harmful.

edited to fix confusing comment about which mail clients use compacting and which don't

[aigle]

{QUOTE->
I can't find one of them. I'm tired of hunting. Avira needs a way to allow for exclusion directly from the popup alerting to finding something. That would make things much easier.
<-QUOTE}

Correct. Avira,s exclusions are buggy.
Exclusion should be file/ folder specific and unaffected by path.

[cet]

Thank you all for your answers.I decided to buy the avira pe premium.Since my PC is 6 yrs old only with 512 ram I cannot use a real time anti spyware.So I will use antivir as my anti spyware too.I also use firefox with no scripts,and super antispyware on demand.So I believe I will be safe.:thumb:
note:I also use sysinternals tools but they are not identified as viruses by antivir??????????????

[Mele20]

You need to have SPR checked under extended threat categories for that to show as viruses.

[aigle]

{QUOTE-> Thank you all for your answers.I decided to buy the avira pe premium.Since my PC is 6 yrs old only with 512 ram I cannot use a real time anti spyware.So I will use antivir as my anti spyware too.I also use firefox with no scripts,and super antispyware on demand.So I believe I will be safe.:thumb:
note:I also use sysinternals tools but they are not identified as viruses by antivir?????????????? <-QUOTE}
Have a look here.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=162364&page=3

[trjam]

Yes, and the suite is even better.:)

[Graystoke]

{QUOTE-> Yes, and the suite is even better.:) <-QUOTE}


Hi trjam. I'm just curious. Why do you think the Avira suite is better than Avira PE Premium? It's basically the same as the Avira Premium except for the firewall. From what I've read, the firewall isn't that good, and from what I've seen from the time I used it, the firewall isn't very configurable. I'm not bashing the product, I just want to know your reasons why you think the suite is better than using Avira PE Premium and a stand alone firewall?

[trjam]

I guess you kind of have to look at it from, what I will have in it, instead of what I do have. I mean yes, the firewall has its issues, but they are soon to be corrected. Also I do know that rootkit detection is being pushed hard as also Vista capability. Then there is spam and even at some point behavior stuff they are working on. So allot of this will be soon or in the next 12 months. So I guess I look at it like, for my investment now, the value of it is only going to increase, instead of waiting a year when suite prices will be higher. Them more you add, the more it costs. So no, I agree it is hard to justify the cost of just a mediocre firewall, but I know what they are capable of, and given a little time, I think all of their modules in the suite will be as stellar as their AV product. And we do know what they did with it, in a short period of time.8)

[C.S.J]

trjam, they might charge you for such extras if they do come out 12 months down the line, you know it can happen :)

[trjam]

I would dump them quicker then a lead ball off a building. Chris, that is the one thing that consumers should not tolerate. If you buy your license, then whatever gets added, tweaked, or included, better come at no cost. Now with Avira, they didnt have a suite, so it is a new product.

[Graystoke]

Thank you trjam. I did like the suite when I was using it. My big concern was the firewall. I didn't like the idea of not being able to configure it, so I'm using Avira PE Premium, and Sunbelt Kerio firewall now. Of course the way I switch from one security software to another, things could change by the end of the day. ;) ;D

[trjam]

what gets me is I know some say issues with the Avira suite. But to be quite frank, it is really the only one I havent had any issues with. Every other suite has been a nightmare. Now take the suite out of all of them and just go with the AV, and they all work like a charm. So Avira needs to tighten up its firewall, add rootkit detection, as I feel this and HIPS are going to be the most important features of any suite for the future. Suites are going to evolve fairly quickly due to the world of malware changing.

I agree signature based AVs are becoming obsolete. The perfect suite would be one that has a AV and AS scanner, sig and heuristic based, HIPS, and rootkit detection. I think F Secure comes close, but it aint there yet. And over at the Broadband forums there were bashing Kaspersky and Esets capibilities to detect and remove all rootkits. Norton to. So, at least these vendors are trying, and will get better. But time is running out.

[lodore]

the only av that worked flawlessly during testing on old pc was nod32.
every av has its problems and thats just the way it is.
how fast you fix the problems is what counts
lodore

[trjam]

{QUOTE-> the only av that worked flawlessly during testing on old pc was nod32.
every av has its problems and thats just the way it is.
how fast you fix the problems is what counts
lodore <-QUOTE}
Looks like lodore is aiming to jump ship.:o

[Graystoke]

{QUOTE-> the only av that worked flawlessly during testing on old pc was nod32.
every av has its problems and thats just the way it is.
how fast you fix the problems is what counts
lodore <-QUOTE}

I liked NOD32 also. The only thing that I didn't like was, that I was constantly checking the HTTP settings in IMON to make sure everything was set to High Efficiency. Some times settings would change back to High Compatibility. I don't like to keep checking things to make sure settings haven't changed. Other than that, NOD32 is excellent AV.

I know, way off topic of OP. :P

[trjam]

What Nod, or Eset is failing to realize, right now,:-* is, timing for their suite could not be more perfect in the realm of new sales. The atmosphere is crying out for what they hopefully can bring. Kaspersky dropped the ball on promising heuristics over the past year and at this point most dont care. I realize Eset wants it right, but the window of oppurtunity is right now. Based on all the products that the vendors rolled out for 2007, none, I repeat none, showed they are ready to dominate the malware enviroment. We are all going to still need several other products. Fine for us, but this isnt what the regular consumer wants. In my thoughts, all AV vendors get a F for their 2007 security products. But,,,,,Eset has yet to turn in their essay. ::)

[trjam]

Oh, one last thought, Bitdefender could have made a A if their frigging suite had been more user friendly. Something to shoot for next year guys.

[lodore]

I am not gonna jump ship;D
I will keep kis6.0 on my current pc and use nod32+ a decent firewall on the computer im building soon. so i have my favourite two av's on my two machines.
if i had enough money to buy the pc and another licence for kis6.0 i would but i cant even afford the pc yet so i will use nod32 on my new pc
lodore

[trjam]

Enjoy, but I wlll always say you drop the ball on your free Avira license.::)

[Graystoke]

I went back to using Avira Security Suite today. It just runs too well on my computer not to use it. Oh yeah, the security it provides is pretty decent also. ;) ;D

[trjam]

You will be pleased and some things are coming to make it even better.