General Avast! 5 Free/Pro/IS questions

I started this thread so that I wouldn't continue to pollute Kees1958's thread.

Like many of you out there, I've taken a keen interest in Avast! 5 and it's low overhead. Thus far, I've tried all versions, and have only noticed issues with the free version. I know that they claim that aside from the missing Script Shield, and Sandbox, everything is the same, but I'm not so convinced. When I installed the free version, the Mail Shield refused to start, so I browsed over to their forum and performed the recommended repair, and it now works like a charm. Why didn't this happen when I went from Pro to the IS suite?

I'm only running the File, Network, and Behavior shields. So in reality, the free version should suit me, but why don't I feel safe? Is it my inner weakness of wanting to feel secure? Is it borderline insanity, or just my desire to empty my pockets?

 

I've been using Avast 5 Free for about a month and am impressed by its low overhead and the protection it offers including the realtime shields. Like you, it seems almost too true to believe that a product you don't have to pay for offers the protection it does. But the more you dwell on it the more questions you'll have so I've got over that and accept that, for now, the protection it offers is enough as long as they keep it free!

 

I ran the free version for awhile and decided to purchase Pro when it went on sale - mostly to support the devs as I had no need for the extra features. I ran with the exact same shields that you are using. If you have no plans to use the sandbox and you use a non-IE browser for your surfing, you aren't missing anything by staying with the free version. As for your doubts about the Pro and Free versions being the same - I couldn't notice any difference.

 

yes the free is nice but, you still are not as protected as you would be with the sandox, missing shield and more frequent updates. To me the Suite provides all as far as layering without having to run multiple products. The paid AV is worth every cent and the suite, worth every dollar over the free.

 

It's extremely light, lighter than anything I tried.
Not only that is light but it's very good.
The only thing I'm not sure about is firewall, so how is it ?

 

I don't care so much for the Script Shield, but the more frequent updates are vital for me. I'll pay for that extra protection.

Another thing that I didn't mention, last night I did a full system scan on my laptop. When I checked it again in the morning, I had to do a hard reboot. Maybe it was only a coincidence.

 

I dont know about the reboot. I know the scans are faster do to the caching so hopefully yours a one time deal. Firewall are not my specialty but I know thisone is light and quite. Someone refered to it as being like Nortons. I will say the Sandbox has proving itself to me in testing. Along with not slowing my browser down when opening. Sandbox my email also. I have found no remanats left over by the sandbox as I have with other products.

Bottom line, I would never to say pay for any product unless I was absolute sure it was worth it. This one is worth it and it doesnt break your wallet to do it.

 

Why DON'T you feel safe? Are you reading too many "security nightmare" stories, you know, the ones that say something like "new malware causing havoc, breaking all security measures!" ? What are your computing habits? Do you use P2P software? There are shields for P2P, Mail, Files, you name it, in the free version. The free version, on my machine, tosses updates at me often twice a day. Just how many updates are you needing on a daily basis? You ARE as protected in the free as you are the paid version. Who needs a Script Shield for goodness sake? If you use Firefox, NoScript takes care of it, Chrome sandboxes itself anyway, so no need there. You don't need a sandbox either, control javascript, don't download files from places you don't trust nor open anything without scanning them with a good AV/AS, and there won't be anything you need to sandbox.

If you're that much more comfortable with Pro, have at it, Avast deserves support. But you don't need it, and you certainly shouldn't feel less protected without it. Don't fall for the marketing and scary stories/theoretical scenarios. Think about how you use your computer and adjust accordingly.

 

I'm just gonna leave this here
http://www.avast.com/lp-upgrade-from-free-5-50off
50% off from AIS (for Avast Free users).

AIS is a great suite, worth the money.

 

I don't want to have to buy the IS suite. I already have a good firewall. I only want the AV, and they are not offering that deal on that. I want a 3-PC user license.

@dw426: Good point. Twice a day is fine with me. I haven't had any problems with the free version since last night.

 

no offense but, buy the Suite at that low price and just untick the fireall on install.

 

I did that for the trial, and I might do that again. But it's more a matter of principle. Don't get the idea that I'm a moron

 

Strange ...

Because during my testings i have found that many rogue AV and malwares like ZeuS, TDSS able to bypass Avast Sandbox.. Not to be mention that its very light and reliable, but as far as Sandbox is concerned, its the only component in Avast Pro & IS on which i can't rely/trust...

 

i just uninstalled the free version today....have kept seeing data being uploaded in the last couple of months and couldn't find the right program to tell me who's doing it - finally DL TCPview today and its Avast, so i turn off "community sharing" in the settings but it continues to reel off data....so i finally uninstalled, which stopped it....Avast uploaded 3.1 MB data before i shut it down - isn't that a hell of a lot of data to get from someone's computer?? its not like they sending up pictures or something...seems more like spyware to me....enough of that crap....

 

Wasn't it the WebShield proxy? Most network monitoring tools will sort of make it look like all your browsing traffic is actually initiated by the avast service process (AvastSvc.exe), because of the way the WebShield works.

Normally, avast doesn't generate any network traffic at all (with the exception of daily definition updates).

Thanks
Vlk

 

I dont doubt you, but 2 nights ago I diabled shields and went to malware domain and opened and ran about 10 different types. On exiting ran scan with MBAM and nothing. Not scientific but it showed me something.

 

Firewall is okay, does it's job, think I'm going to keep it.
Latency is a bit higher with it, but not much.

 

How exactly does the behavior analyzer/blocker works? I mean, is it like ThreatFire, for example? Or more like AVG Identity Protection, which uses a set of behaviors to monitor what processes do/what shouldn't be doing?

 

I saw it in action today in one review :
-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIXU5zvvJXA --

You can skip it to 5:40min and you'll see it.
I saw few reviews for Avast but I saw that alert for the first time in this video.
Can't tell you how exactly works cause I don't know.
But hope this helps a bit.

 

The video resolution isn't that great, but I'd say that works closer to AVG Identity Protection than ThreatFire. That's great. Jane/Joe shouldn't have the hassle to handle with tough decisions.

And, the example on the video, it states the file is suspicious, which should make the users alert to it, rather than some stupid question: X file doing this to achieve that... Want to allow? grrr

 

I've noticed something strange in youtube recently, all videos are starting at 240p, wasn't like that before.
Was looking through youtube options (general settings for all videos) but couldn't find anything for that.
Anyway, for this one you can change it to 720p and it looks great.

 

Good Day ! Just taking Avast Internet Security for it's initial trial spin, and so far so good. Sorry for a silly question upfront,but having minimal exposure to Virtualization...how do you basically use the Sandbox feature with the suite? Sincerely...Securon

 

I had very bad experience with Avast Sandbox , well not too bad, but what happened was that I had IE runned in their sandbox, then downloaded few torrents and then realized that they were not saved at all when they were finished
And that was even with utorrent added to exclusions prior to that.
Also, I've noticed that one audio task is always running sandboxed along with IE.
Guess that everything that opens from IE gets sandboxed as well.
Think I'm gonna disable Virtualization.
With protection that rest of the modules offer, I don't feel like I need it at all.

 

Intriguing, nice to see that it actually works. Thanks for sharing.

 

What are the optimal settings for the File and Web Shields on the free version?