Avast 2015 releases

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by hayc59, Oct 21, 2014.

  1. Solarlynx

    Solarlynx Registered Member

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    I fully agree:
    (my minor corrections in the quote above)


    I hope Avast will recover from this disease. I don't want to struggle with all this bloat.
     
  2. coolcfan

    coolcfan Registered Member

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    I like almost all the softwares in Avast's recommend list, but I hate to see them in Avast's installation wizard.

    The only thing I can accept is to show clickable ad banners which bring user to the official websites when they click on them by themselves during installation (copying files, registering services etc.). This should be something that looks like nVidia driver installer.

    And never show these ads after installation.
     
  3. aztony

    aztony Registered Member

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    I am a bit puzzled by vlk's query. I would've thought that given the feedback in your own forum, from your user base, you'd have a pretty clear picture regarding those questions. Or do I infer that somehow opinion from the Wilders community will lend more clarity? The only thing I would add to this discussion is this. There was a time when a highly prized AV was one that performed its function in the background with minimal disruption, and or, being an annoyance to its user. It has become clear to me as I move around the various forums that many Avast users have become, are becoming, antagonistic toward this once highly regarded AV. Even elements of the so-called fan boyz club. I understand nothing is truly free in this world. I also believe that at the end of the day no matter what is said here, or elsewhere, will override the primary shareholders' objectives. So I am content to click away the unwanted ads, and do a custom install to get only what I need. But then I expect a good AV to be intuitive enough to know, and remember, what I choose and not deliver what I did not choose when it updates. Thanx.
     
  4. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Mostly HOW it is offered. Pre-ticked checkboxes are a recipe for nightmares with the amount of stuff bundled etc... Along with the registration process which hardly anyone knows how to finish without getting too scared and then calling me.

    I have no problem having a banner inside program window. I have no problems with 1 ad popup per month like you already do sometimes and that goes away on its own if not clicked. But installing tons and tons of stuff users would have installed anyway if they'd actually needed it is really unnecessary.

    Also the way how it is delivered, after update is done and you reboot a PC, you get an update popup that has all this bundled stuff pre-ticked. Which is double confusing since users don't exactly connect it with the update that you've just done. I know, sounds silly but not all people are like me. Hardly anyone in fact...
     
  5. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Chrome for example should imo be offered ONLY if Internet Explorer is the default browser. If default browser is Opera or Firefox, user already knows why he is using that one and clearly doesn't need to get Chrome offer. Makes sense if you think of it. Dropbox, ok, for backup purposes, but Skype? Where is the context? People tend to use smartphones to do the initial contact when things go south (even if you have to use remote control inside avast! which in my case, the only time I needed it didn't work, only got black screen). Anyway, if there i software bundled, there should be a context to it and some connection to the antivirus. Otherwise you're just shffling in "garbage". Users hate that.
     
  6. siketa

    siketa Registered Member

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    It would be more logical to see TeamViewer there....:shifty:
     
  7. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Well, avast!'s Remote Assistance is already that, so not really needed. It's already a part of the interface and functions.
     
  8. khanyash

    khanyash Registered Member

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    Recently installed Avast free on a relatives system, an average user. Did a custom install.
    But reading comments here got to know that an upgrade will again give the option to install the additional stuffs.

    And I didn't get the option to install NG/Virtual, guess the system doesn't have the necessary requirement. System is Win 7 64.

    Guess, will uninstall Avast.

    Bd free is giving couple probs here.

    Will give a try to Panda Cloud free.
    Does Panda free offers the toolbar install & browser changes again with an upgrade if the toolbar is uninstalled?

    Any other good clean free AV?
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2015
  9. Tyrizian

    Tyrizian Registered Member

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  10. khanyash

    khanyash Registered Member

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    Avast paid versions are free from additional stuffs, ads, etc...?
    And upgrade of paid versions also doesn't offer to install additional stuffs?


    Why Avast free, internet security, etc... installers are of different sizes?
    I mean even Avast free shows all the modules free/paid in custom install then why the installers are of different sizes?
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2015
  11. rdsu

    rdsu Registered Member

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    You are in a security forum! You already know the answer...

    A protection/security program should never have this, but if you really want/need to do this, make it real visible and disabled by default.
     
  12. Vladimyr

    Vladimyr Registered Member

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    "The "free" model is broken" because there are now vendors providing high-quality alternatives for free - and they don't even have a paid product to upsell.
     
  13. Vladimyr

    Vladimyr Registered Member

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    I think bob3160 was going from 10.0.2.2215 to 2216.
    I was looking for this when I upgraded from 10.0.2.2215 to 10.0.2.2217 from the GUI... but it didn't happen.
    Maybe it was a glitch that has been fixed. Too many "surprises" of late.
    No vendor intends to alienate users but Avast need to take more care with both attention to detail and explaining how the product's features will affect your system.
     
  14. LagerX

    LagerX Registered Member

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    I have mixed feelings. I know that ads/bundleware is needed in order to get something back from expenses (soft development and everything attached to it). I'm talking about free users.
    In the other hand I think that everything should be optional. I know lots of people who will use free AV, but they will never ever buy antivirus for their PC. It really depends where one lives too. That being said, why spam users that don't really buy anything with ads? I'd like to turn it off for them... at least have option for it. Same goes for yearly renewal.

    One ad per month is Ok. But if user already said no/clicked X, why do the same the day/week after? It just irritates them.
     
  15. Vladimyr

    Vladimyr Registered Member

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    Ondrej, looking at this thread and similar on the Avast forum, I may be in the minority but I'm not opposed to offers in 'Avast Free' (see: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=167446.msg1202296#msg1202296 )
    However, they might be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
    Since v.10 was released, I have spent much time "cleaning up" after Avast upgrade complications.
    1/. Features disappearing or no longer working. (SafeZone with AMD non-SSE2 processors. Firewall with Windows XP)
    2/. Features unchecked during custom install, appearing after a version upgrade (NG/Secure Virtual Machines.)
    3/. Speaking of NG/Secure Virtual Machines, unannounced post-installation 5-minute bootup time, 100% CPU and increase in 'System Restore' size.
    3/. SSL mail scanning blocking handshaking between Thunderbird and IMAP mail server (You have to delete stored passwords in Thunderbird, close it, disable SSL scanning in Avast, then open Thunderbird and enter the passwords when prompted. Once it's all working without Avast SSL scanning, re-enable it.)

    As things stand at the moment, I won't be renewing my AIS licenses. Instead I'll be moving them to 'Avast for Business', which, apart from a now-fixed memory allocation glitch, has so far been hassle-free.
     
  16. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Update 10.2.2218 is now live!
     
  17. Rompin Raider

    Rompin Raider Registered Member

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    Appears to be a secret...
     
  18. aztony

    aztony Registered Member

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    Will wait to see what the fallout is from it, if any, before allowing my systems to update.
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2015
  19. Mops21

    Mops21 Registered Member

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  20. BoerenkoolMetWorst

    BoerenkoolMetWorst Registered Member

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    I don't like opt-out types of offerings, opt-in is more ethical. Also, I'd rather only have offerings during the installation, not after. I had Avast do automatic program updates, and after the reboot it comes with a screen showing the upgrade is done and what is new(btw, it always showed the changes for the last major version, not the actual update.) Anyway, that same screen had an opt-out offering for Google Chrome including making it the default browser. Aside from the fact that I don't think it's decent to do this after an upgrade, the average Joe won't read the details and just click the Complete upgrade button, leading to lots of unwanted installations. And the uninstallation of Chrome also killed the Open link in browser function from MS Office Outlook, which required quite some time to fix.
     
  21. khanyash

    khanyash Registered Member

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    Version .2218 released.

    I didn't see Skype or Chrome offer during upgrade, may be coz I have Skype & Chrome installed on the system.

    But yes, upgrade offered paid software i.e Internet Security & Google Toolbar.
    Internet Security was offered after the upgrade was downloaded. "Continue" for the free version was in grey colour & "Continue" for Internet Security was in green colour. Average users mostly don't pay attention & most of them will hit green colour coz on the quick glance green colour seems the obvious choice & grey one goes unnoticed.

    Google Toolbar was offered after system restart. The popup mentioned continue with your install. Google Toolbar was at the left of the bottom of the popup ticked by default & in small fonts. Like other stuffs, average users will miss this too.
     
  22. aztony

    aztony Registered Member

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    Update to .2218 in GUI seems to be a mixed bag. On the Avast forum some users said the update went fine with nothing unwanted/previously opted out added, while others report features they'd opted out of, namely NG.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2015
  23. khanyash

    khanyash Registered Member

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    I didn't get NG installed through the upgrade.
    When I had installed Avast free originally through custom install there was no NG, guess my system doesn't have required requirements.

    And I have read that NG increases the size of system restore. So I guess NG installation also requires larger space in system drive.

    So I guess users with not huge space on system drive will be safe from this automatic NG install through upgrade.

    My cousin also has 30 GB free space on system drive & no automatic NG install through upgrade on his system too.
     
  24. geekatlarge

    geekatlarge Registered Member

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    Yes. Average users trust the recommendations and install them at that time. Observation based on hundreds of avast! installs for hundreds of average users. I no longer recommend or install avast! in any form, free or paid. I've moved every customer I've seen in the last year and a half to other products, again hundreds of computers. Between the opt-out PUPs, the insecure mess that is Chrome, GrimeFighter, the Software Updater and SafePrice fiascos, buggy SSL and noticing a higher rate of partially or completely undetected malware on user's computers, I just had to move on. Thanks for many years of excellent protection, but I'm not coming back until there's a number of changes.
     
  25. Jarmo P

    Jarmo P Registered Member

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    Avast gave a popup:

    Warning! We have identified multiple browser add-ons that have bad reputation among Avast users:
    uBlock Origin
    uMatrix

    "And it suggested removing them"

    Well, I am quite sure those add-ons have not been detected as bad ones. In fact they are privacy/security add-ons for Mozilla Firefox. Both are quite new ones, as their developer gorhill has coded them from the Chrome extensions just recently. So there seems to be some trouble for Avast recognizing new add-ons properly or maybe giving false advice based on too limited data?
     
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