Questions about Avast

I have not used Avast in a few years, and I was thinking about installing it on my mothers laptop because she want a free Antivirus. Does Avast free edition have Adds in it or nag you about upgrading to the Pro?

 

Also, how heavy is it on resources. Memory usage isn't a big deal as long as its under 80 mgbs, but I don't want to see considerable slow down in machine performance.

 

Here is the usage on a virtual machine..

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uopz1ahmi8jqd06/Avast.bmp

 

Do you know if the newest version of Avast contains Adds or nags you to upgrade to the Pro Version?

 

It only shows an ad at the bottom of the GUI's main screen.
That's it.
Not heavy at all, at least on a Sempron 140 w/1gb RAM.

 

Thanks guys for your responses! You've been a big help!

 

Yeah I think Avast is a good, light, and strong choice. Never had a problem with ads.

 

The upgrade pop up comes when you first install it, on the bottome right, you can click do not show again and you'll never see it

 

Avast at the moment is the best free anti-virus IMO.Low memory usage and great detection,backed up by a good forum as well.

 

Exactly. And I didn't have to open the interface much. Just set and it and forget it.

 

Avast's web shield will slow down your browser. Not unacceptable like Kapersky IS 2012 but it is noticeable.

My main complaint against Avast is their QC. They don't throughly test their AV definitions updates and I got tired of restoring my PC to correct a borked definition update.

Also the only time I was infected on my WIN 7 x64 installation was when I was using Avast 6.

You might want to also consider AVG. The recent versions test out as equal or better than Avast in many protection categories.

Since this installation is for your mother, I assume you want the security software as "invisible" as possible? If you check Amazon.com, you can get a single license of Norton AV 2012 for $10 or NIS 2012 for $15 and those are boxed versions to boot. If it's an XP installation, I recommend NIS. For WIN 7, NAV is adequate due to the better WIN 7 firewall. This is what I use on my kids PCs after I got tired of constant long distance phone calls to remove malware from their PCs.

 

I am "glad" to hear that it didnt slow down surfing just for me I disabled the web protection but still there was an impact on the speed loading pages. I dont know if it has anything to do with the fact that I use Windows 8 64bit preview (or the browser Palemoon that I use). But otherwise I like Avast IS. I like the sandboxie feature to isolate browser or any program. I did not have this problem with Karsperky IS 2012 or 2013 though...

I am cycling through all the internet suites there is out there at the moment. I sure will try Avast again later when I start to pick the ones I´m considering to buy.

 

Good Afternoon ! I have a Serious Problem trying to Un-Install Avast A.I.S. and Anti-Virus Pro...when I use Revo Uninstaller or Windows uninstaller and the Avast window pops up asking if you want to uninstall and I click uninstall it proceeds uninstalling until the Sandbox prompt...it stalls and fails to proceed with the uninstall. I then use RejZor's uninstall tool and Avast's uninstall tool and I'm still S.O.L. I then have to system restore. Any solution too this ? As both licenses are active...and I still hold Avast in high esteem...and would like to use at a future date. Sincerely...Securon

 

Try shutting down all the shields and kill the processes running under task manager. After that go to services and disable any avast service. Then retry revo uninstaller and then avast cleaning tool.
Here is the Avast uninstall utility.
http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility
That should work. If not take a hammer to your desktop.

 

AVG tries harder to "up sell" than Avast. I find their PC Optimizer and the large upgrade panel on the bottom of the UI quite annoying.

With just a little effort one can find better subscription based protection. I usually get Norton Internet Security licenses from Frys.com when they're running a "free after rebate" sale. The same is true for Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Webroot, etc. If you need something immediately throw on Avast Free and install a better product with no advertizing afterward.

 

Good Afternoon ! Kjdemuth...I tried both uninstallers...as mentioned...I thank you for your input...but I'm thinking why all the work arounds when Avast should be able to provide a stable thorough uninstall process. I have read at their forums that the problems stem from the Sandbox app itself. It appears to be a work in progress...still in my opinion full of bugs. Does Avast free provide sandboxing ? If not I will use the free edition...I think simpler is in this case better. Sincerely...Securon

 

When uninstalling security products it's best not to use Revo (or whatever else).
Use the official uninstall tool and follow the instructions. In the case of Avast you'll have to run it in safe mode.

Always reboot twice.

Then search manually for lefover files and folders.

Then serch for drivers:
Windows Button -> Control panel -> System -> Advanced system settings ->
System properties -> Advanced tab -> Environment variables
Add a "New" System variable
devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices with a value of 1
Press OK on all screens.
Go to device manager. Enable "Show hidden devices" in the View menu.
Navigate to "Non Plug n Play devices"
Delete left over drivers

Reboot.

 

I found RevoUninstaller to be a "mixed bag." It was great for uninstalling Comodo. On the other hand, it totally hosed an uninstall of PrivateFirewall. For PF, use add/remove programs from the OS. Cleanest uninstall I every had.

I also used Revo to uninstall Avast 6 and then subsequently used the Avast clean tool. Still a lot of leftover garbage. Had to manually scrub the WIN 7 registry and ditto for the hard drive.

The way I do this is follows. A bit safer than fooling with environment variables.

1. Open cmd prompt with admin privledges.

2. Type "set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1" (without quotation marks) and press Enter.

3. Type "set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1" (without quotation marks) and Press Enter.

4. Type "start devmgmt.msc" (without quotation marks) and click press Enter.

5. Click View. Click Show hidden devices.

6. Navigate to "Non Plug n Play devices"

Just be carefull and only uninstall hidden Avast drivers. If you are unsure, left click on the driver. Then click on the "Properties" for the driver. Then click on the "Driver" tab. Then click on the "Driver Details" and make sure it's an Avast driver.

 

For uninstalling any security product, I always use AppRemover

 

Might want to check out this review from PC Magazine before using this. Pay close attention to what "WMI" means in this article.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2342598,00.asp

At least make sure the app you want to remove is verified by the vendor. They appear to have limited support of WIN 7 x86 apps.

I am also suspect of anything CNet recommends. Download this and you just might end up with their tracking software installed.

 

Here's a link that shows all registry settings and files installed for Avast free.

http://regrunreanimator.com/researc...ntivirus-antivirus/avast-free-antivirus-2.htm

Just make sure your firmly planted in your chair before reading it. No wonder Avast is a bear to remove.

I imagine some adventurous soul could copy all those file names to DOS script, insert a del command in front of all those file names, and let it rip!

BTW - these are the drivers Avast uses:

%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\AAVMKER4.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWFSBLK.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWMON.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWMON2.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWRDR.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWSNX.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWSP.SYS
%SYSDIR%\DRIVERS\ASWTDI.SYS

 

itman, do you have any specific problem with the avast uninstaller, or are you just ranting? Btw the number of registry entries and files that a product installs has very little to do with the quality of its uninstaller, not to mention that the number of these items installed by avast is certainly below average (in the security software category).

Vlk

 

Ranting presently. Although when I did uninstall Avast 6, I did have to do a lot of manual scrubbing as I said previously.

Maybe Avast can take a que here from Symanatec. Norton used be be a bear to uninstall in their old versions. Looks like they got it right finally in the latest version of their removal tool. Kapersky's removal tool also does an excellent job.