Avast WEBforum
Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: REDACTED on April 16, 2016, 02:08:38 AM
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HI I would like to ask a question about avast free and its ability to detect and block viruses or malware in general. I would like to now if avast free's detection of internet threats is just average in detecting and blocking internet threats to make sure they do not get on to my new desktop computer. This has recently got me thinking about how well avast free is doing in terms of protecting my desktop computer from getting a virus in the past. I also wanted to ask the avast forum this question because on the avast forum recently their is a topic on the avast forum discussing the overall detection of avast free in general and also how disorganized the avast company is recently. So I was just curious in thinking of some opinions on this topic and whether I should look into other antivirus products or stay with avast free. But I must say that I have over the years got the odd virus on my desktop computer and I do now other people who have switched to other antivirus programs simply because avast free did not do its job and block the virus from getting on to their computer in the first place.
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no antivirus software (either paid or free) is 100% perfect at detecting viruses & spyware. and new threats are released into the wild everyday.
you just have to use your own judgement in selecting the best antivirus software for your computer.
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I also wanted to ask the avast forum this question because on the avast forum recently their is a topic on the avast forum discussing the overall detection of avast free in general and also how disorganized the avast company is recently. So I was just curious in thinking of some opinions on this topic and whether I should look into other antivirus products or stay with avast free.
As you say there is already a topic about this, where these opinions are debated so no need to start a new topic
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If you go to sites like https://www.av-test.org and http://www.av-comparatives.org you can see how Avast ranks in comparison to others like Bitdefender and Avira.
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So one virus gets through and you jump ship.Typical customer loyalty at its finest i dont think.
I am afraid that if that is your mentality about antivirus software then you may as well not bother with any at all as none of them are 100% perfect and users sadly expect them to be and if they do not fit their expectations then they jump ship.
I could suggest other av software to you but i feel it would be a waste of time as you seem to expect av vendors to perform miracles and produce a bulletproof solution.
No av can protect a wreckless user. :D
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I have been using Avast now since 4.6 and my total infections so far are zero.. I do go to some dodgy sites as well when I am doing investigations. So in my experience it works
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I have been using Avast now since 4.6 and my total infections so far are zero.. I do go to some dodgy sites as well when I am doing investigations. So in my experience it works
Snap, I haven't had a single infection since installing avast free in March/April 2004. I too investigate some sites in the course of helping on the forums (this is on this live system, not a test bed system).
So I look at my own personal experience when making any decision on what AV I use.
Generally I don't follow comparative sites, etc. or you end up following trends rather than personal experience.
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Well the reason I first started using avast free back in 2005 was after trying a compeitors beta program and going to a bunch of dodgy websites, ended up with a very bad boot sector virus, while Avast did it's best cleaning it at the time, unforuately wasn't able to clean all of it. Ended up losing Motherboard, original PC hard drive, and had to get a new CPU Processor at the time.
Ever since then been using Avast Free Steady just about, briefly tried Microsofts product again in 2009, then eventually came back to Avast
Now I practice better safety, no more dodgy sites, no more beta antivirus from other companies lol, secondary scanning from Malwarebytes or online scan once in a while, Overall though it's personal preference which antivirus stay with on your computer, basically what you feel comfortable with using in layman terms
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I have been and still I am a loyal customer to avast. I have been using Avast since the first release of version 7 and the final verdict is that not one single malware came into my laptop.
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I have been using Avast now since 4.6 and my total infections so far are zero.. I do go to some dodgy sites as well when I am doing investigations. So in my experience it works
+1
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I have been using Avast ever since it looked like a portable radio. In conjunction with my safe surfing habits up to a certain extend, never got infected. Never change a winning team they say.
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ive been with avast for a while now and the only negative thing i can say is that it has too much bloatware to it and the fact that it keeps trying to install things like the safeprice addon for web browsers which pesters me every now and again as it tries to quietly install itself under my nose, dispite me disabling it in the options.
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hI I would just like to say that I am really sorry I made anybody upset I just wanted some help and advice that was all I really wanted to some advice. I am sorry I made any one up set.
I am really sorry
thanks for the advice.
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Been with avast for many years,cant thank them enough for offering a great free product,no virus problems at all.
Apart from occasional slow done internet browsing with online security in Firefox.
And no pestering pop ups for weeks to upgrade,looks like they are listening to the customers....
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Hey Diddy, no need to apologize. 'Tis normal to think the grass is greener on the other side even when it is not.
Best thing to say here is that Avast has, over the years, since version 4.8, protected my (several systems) successfully, and can't report an infection anywhere. But the best protection is often oneself, tho.
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Well the reason I first started using avast free back in 2005 was after trying a compeitors beta program and going to a bunch of dodgy websites, ended up with a very bad boot sector virus, while Avast did it's best cleaning it at the time, unforuately wasn't able to clean all of it. Ended up losing Motherboard, original PC hard drive, and had to get a new CPU Processor at the time.
Ever since then been using Avast Free Steady just about, briefly tried Microsofts product again in 2009, then eventually came back to Avast
Now I practice better safety, no more dodgy sites, no more beta antivirus from other companies lol, secondary scanning from Malwarebytes or online scan once in a while, Overall though it's personal preference which antivirus stay with on your computer, basically what you feel comfortable with using in layman terms
You can hardly criticize the competitor product for infecting your machine if you were using the beta version.Its not exactly a fair critique.
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Ratings are always nice and everyone likes a winner.
For me, it's always been about having a clean computer and actually being able to use my computer.
Avast has done that for me since I ditched Norton back in 2003.
I have a computer I can actually use and my computer is clean. I don't need anything else. :)
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Yes I know my infection back then was my own fault, I grown up since then, and learned a lot over the years, than I knew back then
Well the reason I first started using avast free back in 2005 was after trying a compeitors beta program and going to a bunch of dodgy websites, ended up with a very bad boot sector virus, while Avast did it's best cleaning it at the time, unforuately wasn't able to clean all of it. Ended up losing Motherboard, original PC hard drive, and had to get a new CPU Processor at the time.
Ever since then been using Avast Free Steady just about, briefly tried Microsofts product again in 2009, then eventually came back to Avast
Now I practice better safety, no more dodgy sites, no more beta antivirus from other companies lol, secondary scanning from Malwarebytes or online scan once in a while, Overall though it's personal preference which antivirus stay with on your computer, basically what you feel comfortable with using in layman terms
You can hardly criticize the competitor product for infecting your machine if you were using the beta version.Its not exactly a fair critique.
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Ratings are always nice and everyone likes a winner.
For me, it's always been about having a clean computer and actually being able to use my computer.
Avast has done that for me since I ditched Norton back in 2003.
I have a computer I can actually use and my computer is clean. I don't need anything else. :)
To be quite honest, even Symantec has gone a long way since 2003 and has proven as very capable competitor in the recent years.
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Ratings are always nice and everyone likes a winner.
For me, it's always been about having a clean computer and actually being able to use my computer.
Avast has done that for me since I ditched Norton back in 2003.
I have a computer I can actually use and my computer is clean. I don't need anything else. :)
To be quite honest, even Symantec has gone a long way since 2003 and has proven as very capable competitor in the recent years.
Even if that's the case, the price still isn't right. :)
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Hi,
I just looked at AVG again, which I used before Avast.
Their forum is a mess, it changes nearly once a year, so you have problems with looking at older threads.
Interesting - there seems to be the same art of flooding users with unwanted crap as we discuss here.
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Wonder if it's the same users ??? ??? :) :) :)
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To be quite honest, even Symantec has gone a long way since 2003 and has proven as very capable competitor in the recent years.
I have used Symantec years ago, it was nice but not to my liking at the time, I'm actually wondering about it now! maybe I will give a shot :)
I know there is a lot of people complaining about avast bloatware and unnecessary add-ons, but those are free avast users, I'm wondering what avast Pro users think about the resent program changes and behaviors and sometimes self-inflicting add-ons during updates/upgrades, is there other thing they don't like about the avast Pro.
I would like to hear their beef and reason for leaving or if they have a plans for leaving ;)
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To be quite honest, even Symantec has gone a long way since 2003 and has proven as very capable competitor in the recent years.
I have used Symantec years ago, it was nice but not to my liking at the time, I'm actually wondering about it now! maybe I will give a shot :)
I know there is a lot of people complaining about avast bloatware and unnecessary add-ons, but those are free avast users, I'm wondering what avast Pro users think about the resent program changes and behaviors and sometimes self-inflicting add-ons during updates/upgrades, is there other thing they don't like about the avast Pro.
I would like to hear their beef and reason for leaving or plans for leaving ;)
What "self inflicting add-ons" did you receive ??? ???
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What "self inflicting add-ons" did you receive ??? ???
Safe Zone and Secure DNS.
Apparently that has been fixed in this version..2261, which is good but this isn't the first time occurrence, it happen in the past to multiple of my workstation.
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What "self inflicting add-ons" did you receive ??? ???
Safe Zone and Secure DNS.
Apparently that has been fixed in this version..2261, which is good but this isn't the first time occurrence, it happen in the past to multiple of my workstation.
Those happen to be parts of what you pay for in that version. SafeZone Browser was recently made available to those of us that use the free version.
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Those happen to be parts of what you pay for in that version. SafeZone Browser was recently made available to those of us that use the free version.
I'm aware of that I will never, ever use them. I run Outpost FP and hardware firewall on my network and all I want AV.
Glitches do happen and occasionally software can be buggy so I understand that but if it happens more often that shouldn't be our issue.
If avast decides to release their updates/upgrades prematurely, they should make sure that paying customers get ONLY what they want it to be installed, the silent installation of some add-ons happen in the past and so recently.
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Not to argue with you but you're mistaken on the erroneous install on the paid versions.
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Not to argue with you but you're mistaken on the erroneous install on the paid versions.
If you not trying to argue what exactly are you trying to do?
Ahaa I didn't realize that I see things that aren't happening, yes I'm mistaking that upon updating program other things are being installed.
Bob, I honestly don't know what to think of you comment I don't want to hurt your fillings so just leave it at that :)
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Nothing hidden, no surprises: https://www.avast.com/en-us/pro-antivirus
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What "self inflicting add-ons" did you receive ??? ???
Safe Zone and Secure DNS.
Apparently that has been fixed in this version..2261, which is good but this isn't the first time occurrence, it happen in the past to multiple of my workstation.
honestly standard like DNSsec
aka Avast! Secure DNS shall be part of the 'security' package even for Avast! Free edition
there do even exist free tools with source code already (from the very same country as Avast! is)
it's not even 'new' feature and let say since 2012 it's something what should be used (adoption increases thankfully)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System_Security_Extensions
https://www.nic.cz/dnssec/
https://www.nic.cz/page/444/how-dnssec-works/
I do agree that Avast! SafeZone Browser still needs lot of work
before it reach state of enough safe secure and good browser for banking or similar
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This ridiculous thread is moving other more important threads down the stream....people with real problems looking for real answers, not people with vaginismus who want a program to protect them while they go to pirate sites and download midget kangaroo porn
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This ridiculous thread is moving other more important threads down the stream....people with real problems looking for real answers,
<snip>
Really, this topic is 4 days old and only has 32 posts up to this point. Admittedly 12 of those happened today, so it wouldn't be pushing much down the order as it is only a single topic and with this kind of activity would be high up the order.
This is a very active forum so I rather doubt that this single topic is completely responsible of moving important threads down the chronological order. If people wish to follow an important topic they can click on the Notify button and they will be emailed on new posts to that topic.
I see 50 topics (3 of those are sticky topics) on page 1 of the Avast Free/Pro/IS/Premier forum listing going back to the 16 Apr 2016. It really isn't moving much of the front page that isn't what I would call relatively active. Page 2 of these listings goes back to 12 Apr 2016
They can also try the forum search function if they are looking for a specific issue.
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Uhm... The Secure DNS is not DNSSEC. It's DNScrypt - https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB44#idt_409 (basically encrypting the DNS traffic). Completely different thing, and certainly not a replacement for DNSSEC.
ok this is something I asked many times to be explained but never got clear answer,
thanks for confirming what I was thinking too (I spotted DNScrypt in the avast about libraries list)
but I wasn't sure until now and though Secure DNS is way more than just encryption
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This ridiculous thread is moving other more important threads down the stream....people with real problems looking for real answers,
<snip>
Really, this topic is 4 days old and only has 32 posts up to this point. Admittedly 12 of those happened today, so it wouldn't be pushing much down the order as it is only a single topic and with this kind of activity would be high up the order.
This is a very active forum so I rather doubt that this single topic is completely responsible of moving important threads down the chronological order. If people wish to follow an important topic they can click on the Notify button and they will be emailed on new posts to that topic.
I see 50 topics (3 of those are sticky topics) on page 1 of the Avast Free/Pro/IS/Premier forum listing going back to the 16 Apr 2016. It really isn't moving much of the front page that isn't what I would call relatively active. Page 2 of these listings goes back to 12 Apr 2016
They can also try the forum search function if they are looking for a specific issue.
Then they should! But going into an Avast forum, and then asking for an opinion as to whether they should use another product can only be borne out of two ideas: 1) to incite incendiary conversation that serves no purpose to those who are actually interested in finding solutions or 2) to try and fish for promissory comments from avast officials under the premise that they will dump the product if they don't receive an appropriate response.... the initial comment has no intrinsic value to any other user of this forum.
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So one virus gets through and you jump ship.Typical customer loyalty at its finest i dont think.
I am afraid that if that is your mentality about antivirus software then you may as well not bother with any at all as none of them are 100% perfect and users sadly expect them to be and if they do not fit their expectations then they jump ship.
I could suggest other av software to you but i feel it would be a waste of time as you seem to expect av vendors to perform miracles and produce a bulletproof solution.
No av can protect a wreckless user. :D
Pardon my frankness, but this is ludicrous. The task of an anti-virus app is to provide protection against viruses, and the best one is the one we should all endeavour to use, for all our sakes. That is not recklessness: it's taking personal responsibility for stopping the spread of malware.
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So one virus gets through and you jump ship.Typical customer loyalty at its finest i dont think.
I am afraid that if that is your mentality about antivirus software then you may as well not bother with any at all as none of them are 100% perfect and users sadly expect them to be and if they do not fit their expectations then they jump ship.
I could suggest other av software to you but i feel it would be a waste of time as you seem to expect av vendors to perform miracles and produce a bulletproof solution.
No av can protect a wreckless user. :D
Pardon my frankness, but this is ludicrous. The task of an anti-virus app is to provide protection against viruses, and the best one is the one we should all endeavour to use, for all our sakes. That is not recklessness: it's taking personal responsibility for stopping the spread of malware.
The first part of the protection always starts with the user. Here's one of the slides from my current presentation (https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=78426.msg1307472#msg1307472) that makes this clearer:
(http://screencast-o-matic.com/screenshots/u/Lh/1461242833072-9033.png)
The virus or Malware also always comes first and the protection comes second.
Therefore, any one of us can run into something brand new and, when that happens,
our system or smart phone or tablet become infected. It really makes no difference who's product we happen to be using.
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So one virus gets through and you jump ship.Typical customer loyalty at its finest i dont think.
I am afraid that if that is your mentality about antivirus software then you may as well not bother with any at all as none of them are 100% perfect and users sadly expect them to be and if they do not fit their expectations then they jump ship.
I could suggest other av software to you but i feel it would be a waste of time as you seem to expect av vendors to perform miracles and produce a bulletproof solution.
No av can protect a wreckless user. :D
Pardon my frankness, but this is ludicrous. The task of an anti-virus app is to provide protection against viruses, and the best one is the one we should all endeavour to use, for all our sakes. That is not recklessness: it's taking personal responsibility for stopping the spread of malware.
the problem is there are a handful of antivirus programs out there...say even a large handful...say even 100 or so....
and there are hundreds of thousands of hackers our there looking at lines of code for backdoors and hacks every minute of every hour of every day.... The single best way to take responsibility for stopping the spread of malware is to endeavor to avoid any kinds of sites that may inflict said damage upon your machine. But that's not how people view A/V programs - they see them as "saviours" - "Now that this A/V is installed, I can go anywhere I want!" Truth be told, the single BEST method of protection against malware is not even an Antivirus....go get Sandboxie and run all of your web queries inside a sandbox....virus or not, closing the sandbox virtually ensures 100% eradication of any infection...
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The single best way to take responsibility for stopping the spread of malware is to endeavor to avoid any kinds of sites that may inflict said damage upon your machine.
yepp, easy done ???
Every 3.6 seconds a website is infected
http://www.scmagazine.com/every-36-seconds-a-website-is-infected/article/140414/
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Really, this topic is 4 days old and only has 32 posts up to this point. Admittedly 12 of those happened today, so it wouldn't be pushing much down the order as it is only a single topic and with this kind of activity would be high up the order.
I agree fully and do not understand catman2112 ... :(
They can also try the forum search function if they are looking for a specific issue.
OT: A good point - I do not find a way to search inside a thread (this for example); the search function looks into all the forum.
Any idea David?
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<snip>
They can also try the forum search function if they are looking for a specific issue.
OT: A good point - I do not find a way to search inside a thread (this for example); the search function looks into all the forum.
Any idea David?
Well if you have the topic, most of the work is done. Whilst there is no feature to search within a topic, the Search feature also has an Advanced Search, where you can select what sub-forum to look in so should keep noise down to a dull roar.
After that you have to choose your search terms wisely as single words in a search string can throw some weird topics. You can also delineate the search by a forum User, date and order the results by date also.
It is quite powerful, but you really have to get the search string right or you get masses of hits.
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Ctrl and F brings up the following:
(http://screencast-o-matic.com/screenshots/u/Lh/1461264557852-51307.png)
(http://screencast-o-matic.com/screenshots/u/Lh/1461264694879-75754.png)
There's more than one way to skin a cat. :)
(I was using Opera but it also works in the other browsers)
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Unfortunately, and this is real, Avast has failed to develop on a right track your excellent product.
One of the main problems that still maintains, is that it tends to detect malware that cannot be eliminated, and may only show windows of endless warnings.
Maybe should not deflect from the main use of an antivirus, which is protect and eliminate viruses, and not focus on it with additional tools, which have little or nothing to do with security.
Truth be told, there is antivirus that have passed far to Avast, as an example, Quio 360 security...
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Ctrl and F brings up the following:
Ok, that's the browse search, thank you. In other forums I know an intern search function, that's what I thougt.
@David
I don't find Advanced Search ...
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Ctrl and F brings up the following:
Ok, that's the browse search, thank you. In other forums I know an intern search function, that's what I thougt.
@David
I don't find Advanced Search ...
Here's one other thing you may want to try:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=164936.msg1240971#msg1240971
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Ctrl and F brings up the following:
<snip>
@David
I don't find Advanced Search ...
Its real easy to find 'when you know how.' Just click the Search button at the top of the page leaving the field empty. It then gives an option for advanced search.
But clicking the Search in the Menu Options that is essentially the advanced search but you need to expand the 'Choose a board to search in, or search all.' There you can chose only forums you want to search.
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The best antivirus is your brain + sandboxie =)
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The best antivirus is your brain + sandboxie =)
Unfortunately for many that simply isn't enough.