Avira Premium modules

Involved:
WinXP Pro SP3 virgin
Vista Ultimate 32bit SP1 (not virgin, but does not matter)
Avira PE Premium 8.1.00.331

I was hoping to install this software with on-access guard only, but it turned out that this cannot be achieved easily. I naturally chose "custom" installation and obviously unchecked all other modules except the first two options (Avira core and Guard) and I have excluded even the shell integration. Upon reboot I have noticed a certain non-plug'n'play driver "avipbb" and 30 seconds of investigation showed that it belonged to Avira's rootkit scanner. Also, in services.msc, the complete set of merry Avira services were present - mailguard, webguard etc, but were set to "disabled" state. dll files were in folders, registry entries in place.
So how is that "not installed" I ask?
This may not seem like a big deal for many, but for me it is a deal breaker. I would not have unnecessary/unused dlls/hooks on my systems, no matter how "light" they are.

In my attempt to stay with Avira I would actually like to know if anyone managed to uninstall these drivers/dlls manually with no side effects. I could very well try this myself in a VM, but as my spare time is very limited now, this might take a while. A thread on Wilders may give a quicker answer.

Thank you ia,

 

this driver isn't only the antirootkit driver. it is also user for the process protection. that's why it is installed.

 

Hi,

I have the same installation like Seer, but with shell integration and also a few questions.

Why are all services installed?
Like:
- avesvc.exe, Antivirus Engine Service
- avmailc.exe, Antivirus MailScanner Service
- avwebgrd.exe, AntiVir WebGuard Service
They are disabled and probably do not hurt, but it's somehow strange to install services only to disable them.

Same with some drivers:
- avgntflt.sys, Avira Minifilter Driver
- avgio.sys, Avira AntiVir Support for Minifilter
- ssmdrv.sys, AVIRA SnapShot Driver
What's the intended purpose of installing this drivers without Web- and Mail-Guard active respectively without BackupSystem feature in Avira AntiVir Premium?

Cheers

 

for the installed services i don't know why they are installed.
but the drivers have nothing to do with web- mailguard and backup system.
they are needed by the guard.

 

Self protection? Oh great, just the one I can't live without...

BTW, services cannot be started and used. Neverthelless, they're still there...

lol. I expected low input in this thread. Many simply do not care about these things...

 

I prefer a puristic approach, less means more.
But with Avira Premium it seems that's the way things are.
An alternative would be Avira Free, of course without Spyware protection.
So I'll keep Avira Premium under observation if I can detect any side effects.

Cheers

 

Isn't the Guard part of real-time protection ?
Not sure what is performing the update and on-demand scans in AVIRA ... If you want it as on-demand scanner , this is what you should look for.

It is installed but not active. If it is not active , just the files/entries are there but will most likely not cause conflict.

 

Hello neighbor

Yes it is. I wasn't annoyed by Guard, it is the one I wanted to install. Just this one. But in turn, even though I unchecked all other options on installation (webguard, mailguard, whatever the names), Avira still installed everything.

I see your point, but you need to understand mine It is not the conflict I want to avoid. There is a resident Avira driver on my system which is not related to on-access(write) module. It just sits there as a lazy hog doing nothing (or something I don't need, like "self protection") and I keep feeding it with (no matter how small amount of) resouces. Perhaps I'm nitpicking, but I will not have this.

 

No , you are not . I fully understand you but it seems to be software design and we (as users) can't change it . So we'll either install it and use it as provided , or won't use it at all

Greetings!

 

I always have difficulties to accept that logic.
So an update -
I have managed to remove Avira MailGuard and MailGuard Helper services without trouble. This involves physical removing of the associated files as well as removing all associated registry entries. When I removed WebGuard, Avira complained on reboot and wanted to reinstall it. I allowed. It is disabled for now.
avipbb driver is uninstalled with no side effects so far. It can also be just stopped and disabled, but I prefer to uninstall it.
I will keep digging around WebGuard some more...

 

You'll recognize your success... the Avira Free nagscreen will pop up

Cheers