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Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: Jweigh on July 13, 2010, 11:49:45 PM

Title: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Jweigh on July 13, 2010, 11:49:45 PM
Is anybody out there getting pi**ed off at the constant nag of the License renewal pop up?
I have used Avast (free) for more than 3 years and never had this annoying pop B4.
My experience with Avast has been nothing but good (no problems at all).
My license does not expire till September and I have not failed in the past to renew when it's time 
This pop up, pops up every time I turn on the computer and go online, which could be 4-5 times a day.
The tech guy at Avast help line says just close it when it pops up. No walk around to block it.
I could use some creativity from anyone out there OR maybe The wise people of Avast.Com
could TURN OFF THE NAG.
Thanks for any thoughts or help it will be greatly appreciated. 
Jerry   
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 14, 2010, 12:42:14 AM
Which is your avast version?
Is this popup the upgrade from 4 to 5 version?
Why didn't you upgrade yet? It was released in January. The support of version 4 will end by December of this year.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: GloobyGoob on July 14, 2010, 04:05:46 AM
Can't you just renew to make the popup go away? After all, it doesn't take too long. ^-^
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Tarq57 on July 14, 2010, 05:25:10 AM
Not experiencing this on version 5, at all. Nada, zip.

There was a sliding green box above the system tray popped up periodically for the last week or so I was using version 4, is that what you mean?

The advice is to update to the latest version. It's painless. Much as though I liked 4.8 (and still remember fondly the skinnable interface) version 5 is a beauty.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: RejZoR on July 14, 2010, 07:32:35 AM
avast! 5 is just superior to anything released by avast! team before. So insisting on v4.8 just doesn't make sense at all. Version 5 is faster and has better detection. It's highly recommended to update your avast!.
At the same time, that licensing popup will go away.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Jweigh on July 15, 2010, 03:17:07 PM
Thank you all for your replies. I guess with so many of you cooler headed (than I) people, saying go to 5 it
does make sense. I was a little Leary of it as this forum has had a lot of bad things to say about it
at start up. I just would have liked to been able to make the decision myself and not be coursed into
going to 5 B4 my regularly scheduled update.

Thanks once again for you thoughts,
I will update to 5 soon.
Jerry
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 15, 2010, 03:32:19 PM
I was a little Leary of it as this forum has had a lot of bad things to say about it at start up.
The majority of the people come to forums to ask for help.
But the majority of the people don't have a problem. Only few happy users post. So the forum always show a terrible product... when, in fact, is the opposite :)
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: MikeBCda on July 15, 2010, 07:51:46 PM
Sure, there were all kinds of problems with ver. 5 when it was first released in "final" form.  But the vast majority of those problems have been fixed in subsequent sub-versions (current is 5.0.594).

One of the biggest improvements in ver. 5 over 4.8 is the new transient/persistent caching feature which speeds up on-demand scans tremendously.  I can now run a full system scan including default archive types in about half the time it used to take in 4.8 without archives.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: GloobyGoob on July 16, 2010, 12:41:23 AM
Yeah, the majority of users have no problems with version 5. Lets take the total number of topics (assuming that all of them relate to problems/issues) in the avast! Free/Pro/Suite section (27814) and divide it by the total amount of users (1,000,000). That's only 2.7%.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: darth on July 16, 2010, 05:14:14 AM
Your right jweigh. There is an saying "If it an't broke don 't fix it"

And Avast 4.8 was'nt broke.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: sandeep108 on July 16, 2010, 11:02:15 AM
As posted by Mike and RejZjor, I can also confirm that v5 is much faster than 4.8 in normal course even other than scans. I have had no problems with the current .594 as yet. I also waited a while and only recently updated.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: SafeSurf on July 16, 2010, 11:06:00 AM
@ darth,

No, what we are saying is that v.5.0.594 is greatly improved over 4.0 in many ways.  I myself had 4.0 and the difference between the two versions is incredible!  We are here to help guide you through the change if you need help, but from the feedback we have received, people overall are very happy with 5.0.  :)
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Tarq57 on July 16, 2010, 11:41:47 AM
Indeed, 4.8 was a great application. Never caused me a single problem, I liked almost everything about it, even the GUI - which put me in the minority I think.
But version 5 is a step up. I think quite a big step.
Hi, ^^.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: MartinZ on July 19, 2010, 10:37:34 AM
Hi all,

if you prefer to stay with version 4.8 and to get rid of the popup screen, you need to re-register and obtain a new key to the program.
You can register here:
http://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus.php
Then you get an email with the license key. ( I am sure you are familiar with this process ;-)

Martin
Title: [RESOLVED] Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: SafeSurf on July 20, 2010, 05:51:36 AM
Jweigh / Jerry,

If you feel that your issue is now resolved/fixed, please go back to the open post in this topic, click the modify button in that Post and change the title/subject, add [Resolved] to the beginning of the title so this thread can be closed.  Thank you.  :)
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: L5n25 on July 20, 2010, 06:33:27 AM
Which is your avast version?
Is this pop-up the upgrade from 4 to 5 version?
Why didn't you upgrade yet? It was released in January. The support of version 4 will end by December of this year.

How would one be able to tell?... the pop-up looks like many "hijack" popups, doesn't state you should visit the website, doesn't mention 5.0 (or 4.8 ), offers you links that I'm not going to click on a "marketing" pop-up that looks like that.

I had to do an internet search to find this forum to find out that it might be due to a legit prompting to upgrade to 5.0 from 4.8.

All in all I have to agree this pop-up is annoying and misses the mark.  I would have likely upgraded weeks ago had they simply used the words:  "go to the regular avast website www.avast.com and check out information on 5.0".  For the record, this is not the usual green slide up dialog that avast has used but a rather obnoxious pop-up that covers the entire screen that is heavy on the "marketese" but light on the information front.  This is not the technique an antivirus firm I expect to elicit upgrades since it emulates the very thing that I seek to avoid on my machine... an obnoxious pop-up that comes out of nowhere... doesn't match expectations of any application I've installed... and repeatedly pops up when it is unwanted at random intervals.

For the record... I've upgraded now (although I had to re-register which was another annoying attribute of this upgrade).  ;-)

We'll see...


Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: coolsilver on July 20, 2010, 08:07:48 AM
I like the new version and been recommending it for some time now :D
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: elzar on July 21, 2010, 06:08:13 PM
I also am pissed off about the NAG.  It's one thing to offer a new version, it's another to keep nagging people about it.

Why would getting a new key & reinstalling V4 fix the NAG - won't it keep coming back?

I do not have the time now to deal with installing/researching/configuring/fixing a bunch of issues with a software upgrade that are sure to happen on my PC and want to stay with v4.8 until I do have the time.

Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on July 21, 2010, 07:41:45 PM
It won't come back because it is linked to how long you have left on the updates expiration date, that would trigger the update notification.

It seems that those that have done as suggested and re-register, get the new key and enter it, extending the updates expiration for another year, so no more pop-up update notification.

That however, will only go so far as the supported period of avast 4.8 which is 31/12/2010 I believe.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: elzar on July 23, 2010, 06:53:38 AM
Thanks, maybe I'll try that.

Btw, not to be a nag myself but I've already been getting "support calls" from my non-PC literate friends who got upgraded & now something has changed & they are having some kind of issue or other...sigh...first guess without actually knowing the full details is that it looks like the upgrade has new breakdowns or names for the on-access protection pieces??  And some of these (p2p) for example which may have been purposely left OFF are defaulting now to ON???

I'm so busy right now I have not had time to help them and told them to use their own brains and figure it out (not much is going to happen there though).  Eventually when I upgrade my own PCs (next year probably) I'll assist them if I can....
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on July 23, 2010, 02:59:19 PM
All shields were default on from as long back as I can remember even in the 4.x versions. Shields that aren't physically being used (e.g. they have the corresponding applications running, P2P/IM) won't be actively using resources.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: H.Seldon on July 27, 2010, 09:26:06 AM
For those who would still like to get rid of the annoying "NAG" window for version 5 update, do the following:

Disable the self-defense module.
Locate and rename the file "asw5Not2.exe". It should be located in the Avast4 folder.
Re-enable the self-defense module.
You'll now have the monumental task of remembering, yourself, to update to version 5 before version 4 expires.
This was apparently part of a virus definition update, even though it has nothing to do with virus definitions.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 27, 2010, 01:29:47 PM
Or until version 4 is supported...
I see no reason for not upgrading to version 5...
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: H.Seldon on July 27, 2010, 07:31:54 PM
I see no reason for not upgrading to version 5...

If you read elzar's post, you would "see" the reason (a very valid one).
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 27, 2010, 08:06:41 PM
If you read elzar's post, you would "see" the reason (a very valid one).
Can you quote it? I continue not to see a technical reason for not upgrading...
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: H.Seldon on July 27, 2010, 08:27:09 PM
#26. And weather or not you "see" it is beside the point. It's what he sees that matters. It's his computer, not yours.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 27, 2010, 08:37:38 PM
#26. And weather or not you "see" it is beside the point. It's what he sees that matters. It's his computer, not yours.
I'm not saying no. I just can't find the reason even to read it, to know it. What is #26?
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: H.Seldon on July 27, 2010, 08:58:47 PM
#19 above. And weather or not you "see" it is beside the point. It's what he sees that matters. It's his computer, not yours.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Asyn on July 27, 2010, 09:15:36 PM
And weather or not you "see" it is beside the point. It's what he sees that matters. It's his computer, not yours.

Seems to be some kind of time warp... ;D
asyn
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: H.Seldon on July 27, 2010, 09:21:12 PM
Now I see why you don't see. Sorry, I don't post in braille.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 27, 2010, 10:53:42 PM
they are having some kind of issue or other
Please, elaborate. Which issue?

it looks like the upgrade has new breakdowns or names for the on-access protection pieces??
There are no breakdowns in the upgrade. If you experience any, please post.

And some of these (p2p) for example which may have been purposely left OFF are defaulting now to ON???
P2P was always ON as a shield (provider in version 4.8 ). uTorrent is disabled into the shield by default since version 4.8 also.

I'm so busy right now I have not had time to help them and told them to use their own brains and figure it out (not much is going to happen there though).  Eventually when I upgrade my own PCs (next year probably) I'll assist them if I can....
Well... they could ask for help here in forums.

@H.Seldon
Do not answer me in circles, please. It's not a matter that I could see or not see. It's that there is a missing of information for me. I don't know what is happening because the users aren't posting exactly what's the problem, exactly or technically what's wrong with version 5. It's NOT my opinion against any other opinion, it's NOT a matter of what I think or not. There is a lack of information and the discussion will go in circles without it.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on July 27, 2010, 10:55:16 PM
Now I see why you don't see. Sorry, I don't post in braille.
No sarcastic posts here, please.
See = understand.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: YoKenny on July 27, 2010, 11:33:08 PM
Now I see why you don't see. Sorry, I don't post in braille.
No sarcastic posts here, please.
See = understand.
H.Seldon is a Newbie and does not even know what county he is in and likes to publish his email address for spammers and scammers.  ::)
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: H.Seldon on July 28, 2010, 03:43:33 AM
All I did was post a solution for eliminating that annoying nag window. It did not require further comment. It was clear to me from elzar's reply #19 that he did not want to take the time right now to update and possibly have to deal with problems that others have reported in the forum. I'm sorry if my braille comment offended Tech. It was sarcastic and doesn't belong here. Thanks, YoKenny for alerting me about my email address. Now, grow up.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: SafeSurf on July 28, 2010, 09:40:16 AM
@ H.Seldon,

Should you ever need to edit a post you made, go back to your post and you will see above the post window in the upper right corner a "Modify" button > make your edited changes > click "Save" on the bottom left of the post window > you can optionally add in the post field why you made the edit.

As with all forums, there is forum conduct, and we learn from our mistakes.  Browsing around the forum may help or you may find something interesting.  Thank you.  :)
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: beatme101 on July 29, 2010, 09:24:00 PM
I started getting this nag window recently. But there's a catch:

Quote
Information about current update:
Total time: 40 s

- Program: Already up to date
  (current version 4.8.1368)
- Vps: Already up to date
  (current version 100729-0)

Server: download777.avast.com (208.43.71.158)
Downloaded files: 5 (118.10 KB)
Download time: 3 s

Looks like I'll have to just remove avast.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on July 29, 2010, 10:05:05 PM
What is it nagging you about, nag windows to my mind don't convey information but nag you to buy the related product and this clearly isn't doing that.

Just started getting it, that update notification has been going for years and is one of the many things that you the user can change in what is one of the most configurable AVs out there.

But baby and bath water come to mind if you would get rid of avast for something as benign as this, especially if it is within your control to display it or not.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: beatme101 on July 29, 2010, 10:20:12 PM
nag you to buy the related product

This is what it does. The window's primary purpose seems to be telling me to pay for the "internet security" version. It does a side-by-side comparison with the free version (which seems to only have one feature, compared to the "internet security" version which has FIVE features!), in a huge window that is forced always on top of anything else I have open.

The nag window cannot be closed with alt-f4, only by clicking the X in the top right corner.

Sure, yes, it can be disabled, by renaming the file. But I shouldn't have to do that. And this new nag popup was installed without my consent, so I'm not going to keep the software that installed it.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on July 29, 2010, 11:45:26 PM
It isn't telling you to buy based on what you posted, so if it is different then avast are trying to get those on 4.8 to switch to 5.0 (you don't have to buy anything, stick with the free version) as they are trying to smoothly shutdown 4.8 as it is intended there will be no support past the end of this year.

You don't have to rename anything, if you actually re-register - Complete the avast! free antivirus Registration (http://www.avast.com/registration-free-antivirus.php) form and you will receive an email from register @ register.avast . com (without the spaces) with your registration key.

That should stop the update notification, as would installing 5.0 if you have a supported OS (not win9.x or winME). avast5 has been out for almost 6 months so if your OS is supported that is the option I would choose as it is better than 4.8.

Totally your choice as it is your system.

Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: elzar on August 08, 2010, 09:40:04 PM
they are having some kind of issue or other

Please, elaborate. Which issue?

I do not recall all the issues.  I told them I cannot help them until I delve into the new version for myself, that I am as clueless as they are....



it looks like the upgrade has new breakdowns or names for the on-access protection pieces??
There are no breakdowns in the upgrade. If you experience any, please post.

Sorry you misunderstand, by "breakdowns" I meant modules, subprograms, engines, scanners, whatchamacallits, whatever the names are of the pieces that go into the realtime scanner system -  I don't know what to correctly refer to them as.  I didn't mean a "breakdown" in the sense of the upgrade failing.

EG: One friend asked me what settings he should use for several things (? I do not recall the names?) but I was unable to advise him since some of those that he asked me about do not exist by those names in the version I am running (4.8) on my PCs.  I do not recall what it was he was asking me about, but I could not see it in v4.x thus I could not answer his question(s).


And some of these (p2p) for example which may have been purposely left OFF are defaulting now to ON???

P2P was always ON as a shield (provider in version 4.8 ). uTorrent is disabled into the shield by default since version 4.8 also.

He had P2P turned off in 4.8 as well as some other components he did not need on.   When he upgraded to 5.x P2P (as well as other things) turned itself ON ignoring his previous setting.  It seems that the 5.x upgrade ignores previous system settings????  Btw, uTorrent was configured as ON in his new 5.x setting, not OFF or excluded or whatever.


I'm so busy right now I have not had time to help them and told them to use their own brains and figure it out (not much is going to happen there though).  Eventually when I upgrade my own PCs (next year probably) I'll assist them if I can....

Well... they could ask for help here in forums.

Yeah, I wish they would.  But instead they usually just ask me.  I try to help friends/relatives as best I can, including educating them as to WHERE they could go to help themselves (forums like this one) but most of them don't want to be bothered, or do not even have the slightest PC knowledge to deal with anything on their own :-(


Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: elzar on August 08, 2010, 10:38:09 PM
For those who would still like to get rid of the annoying "NAG" window for version 5 update, do the following:

Disable the self-defense module.
Locate and rename the file "asw5Not2.exe". It should be located in the Avast4 folder.
Re-enable the self-defense module.
You'll now have the monumental task of remembering, yourself, to update to version 5 before version 4 expires.
This was apparently part of a virus definition update, even though it has nothing to do with virus definitions.


Thought I would try your advice Seldon as it seemed the simplest & quickest way to quiet this nag for me (don't have to uninstall, reinstall, get a new license key, futz with all the program settings to be what I want them to be all over again, etc etc), but ran into some problems.

I don't know how to "disable the self-defense module" - how do you do that?   

I found that Avast would not let me rename the "asw5Not2.exe" file (because of self defense I guess).  I booted into safe mode so avast would not be running, and then it let me rename that file.

However, upon rebooting my PC suffered an unintended side effect - all of my restore points are now gone for some unknown reason.   :-(


Sigh. Always something.



Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Tarq57 on August 08, 2010, 11:38:01 PM
Disabling the self defense module is done by going to program settings, troubleshooting, and removing the tick from the appropriate box. There will be a warning screen to "ok" your way out of.

System restore can be capricious at the best of times, I don't rely on it.
Taking regular backups of important data, or creating a disk image from time to time is a much better alternative.

I'd go further than that and say that anyone who does not back their data up, sooner or later, is likely to lose it.
ERUNT (http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/) is an excellent registry backup utility, and in my opinion more reliable than system restore.

I don't know exactly why you've lost your restore points, but any time you play "test pilot" with not-well-understood fixes or procedures, this sort of thing is on the cards. Or it may have had nothing to do with what you did in this instance.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Marc57 on August 09, 2010, 06:44:53 AM
nag you to buy the related product

This is what it does. The window's primary purpose seems to be telling me to pay for the "internet security" version. It does a side-by-side comparison with the free version (which seems to only have one feature, compared to the "internet security" version which has FIVE features!), in a huge window that is forced always on top of anything else I have open.

The nag window cannot be closed with alt-f4, only by clicking the X in the top right corner.

Sure, yes, it can be disabled, by renaming the file. But I shouldn't have to do that. And this new nag popup was installed without my consent, so I'm not going to keep the software that installed it.

I'm sorry to see that Avast is going this route, I've seen this on a customers computer. They called me because they thought they had a virus and I can see why, It looks like a large spam pop-up.

@ H.Seldon, Thanks for the tip.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: elzar on August 09, 2010, 07:39:41 AM
Disabling the self defense module is done by going to program settings, troubleshooting, and removing the tick from the appropriate box. There will be a warning screen to "ok" your way out of.

System restore can be capricious at the best of times, I don't rely on it.
Taking regular backups of important data, or creating a disk image from time to time is a much better alternative.

I'd go further than that and say that anyone who does not back their data up, sooner or later, is likely to lose it.
ERUNT (http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/) is an excellent registry backup utility, and in my opinion more reliable than system restore.

I don't know exactly why you've lost your restore points, but any time you play "test pilot" with not-well-understood fixes or procedures, this sort of thing is on the cards. Or it may have had nothing to do with what you did in this instance.

Thanks for the tip where to find the self defense setting.  I'm trying that on a different PC now.  The nag is driving me crazy but I don't have the time to deal with uninstalling 4.8, installing 5, learning new app settings to work correctly with my PCs, possibly debugging new problems with new antivirus software right now (don't even have time to deal with the workaround for uninstalling, reinstalling 4.8, getting new license key)....wish I did...but I don't..am in the midst of trying to move/sell house/tons of stuff you guys don't need to hear about....so I want to try that fix as a very quick possible solution to a very annoying issue.

And I agree with everything you said above about backups etc.  However restore points do have their uses, especially when futzing with installing/uninstalling some applications.  I'm not happy I lost them (and don't know why they all vanished, and I had just created one earlier in the day prior to uninstalling something else), but that's life.

Thanks again.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Damo37 on January 13, 2011, 12:26:29 AM
just like to say that i too am getting pretty f*ucked off with the avast!licensing alert, i DO NOT wish to change to v5, and if this doesn't stop i will stop using avast altogether. it will not allow me to upgrade with my current license key so there is no way i am shelling out for another license
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Lisandro on January 13, 2011, 12:30:10 AM
just like to say that i too am getting pretty f*ucked off with the avast!licensing alert, i DO NOT wish to change to v5, and if this doesn't stop i will stop using avast altogether. it will not allow me to upgrade with my current license key so there is no way i am shelling out for another license
Version 4.8 should stop being supported. This is a technology necessity: some features aren't available for the technology of version 4.8.
The upgrade to version 5 and 6 will be a necessity for more than 99% of the users.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on January 13, 2011, 02:40:49 AM
just like to say that i too am getting pretty f*ucked off with the avast!licensing alert, i DO NOT wish to change to v5, and if this doesn't stop i will stop using avast altogether. it will not allow me to upgrade with my current license key so there is no way i am shelling out for another license

Support for avast 4.8 is due to come to an end soon, avast 5 has been out almost a year now, so if you don't have an old OS, win9x, winME then you can update to avast 5.

If your license is still in date it is still valid and you don't have to shell out for another license, you will have to convert your existing license.
- avast! 5 Pro license convert from 4.8 Pro license. Try http://www.avast.com/resend-license.php (http://www.avast.com/resend-license.php) now, fill in the form giving your email and 4.8 Pro License key and they will send the new license file to you.

Or after downloading avast 5, install avast 5 over avast 4.8 and it retains the license information, uninstalls avast 4.8 Pro and installs avast 5 Pro.

Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: mlucagilbert on September 20, 2011, 07:34:12 PM
I just started getting the popup and I too am pi$$ed with it. I have always been happy with it, but this nag is Symantec-like. A popup every couple of hours is excessive. The Avast people should know better. I'm looking for a new platform.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: CraigB on September 20, 2011, 07:42:48 PM
I just started getting the popup and I too am pi$$ed with it. I have always been happy with it, but this nag is Symantec-like. A popup every couple of hours is excessive. The Avast people should know better. I'm looking for a new platform.
Why dont you just upgrade to the new version if you hate the popups that much, avast is wanting to get everyone of the old version as it will cease before long and it slows down progress on the new versions.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Gargamel360 on September 20, 2011, 07:59:48 PM
Why dont you just upgrade to the new version
Well, we know why a lot of people on old 4.8 wont upgrade.  Pirated licenses. ;)

Thats no accusation toward any who are posting in protest here, no offense intended if your beef is legitimate, but odds say at least someone here has a pirated license.

If you are one of those people, you deserve worse than a pop-up, so stop whining.

Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: ady4um on September 20, 2011, 10:24:22 PM
There are valid reasons to use v4.8 (Win 9x anyone?). Besides that, nagging users is not necessarily a good way to convince users of updating. Most users of old versions would know already about the existence of new ones. Nagging usually pisses people off, whether is a computer program or any type of "publicity" or any type of nagging (even from a real human ;D ). If Avast wants to get people to update, nagging is not going to get the objective achieved.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: essexboy on September 20, 2011, 10:31:04 PM
Well it is either that or one day support stops and there will be complaints about not being notified.  Heads I win Tails you lose  ;D
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: ady4um on September 20, 2011, 10:34:28 PM
Well it is either that or one day support stops and there will be complaints about not being notified.  Heads I win Tails you lose  ;D

I'm all for notifications (and anyone reading my latest posts knows about it :) ), but "notifications" is not the same as "nagging at every database update (just to put an example). As almost always, "balance" is the key.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: Gargamel360 on September 20, 2011, 10:46:08 PM
There are valid reasons to use v4.8 (Win 9x anyone?).
QFT, and as I said, I don't want to begrudge legit users at all....but I would say Vegas odds put a lot of these people sitting on 4.8 either running pirated Windows, so they can't/wont upgrade their SP to be compatible, or using a cracked license.
Besides that, nagging users is not necessarily a good way to convince users of updating. Most users of old versions would know already about the existence of new ones. Nagging usually pisses people off, whether is a computer program or any type of "publicity" or any type of nagging (even from a real human ;D ). If Avast wants to get people to update, nagging is not going to get the objective achieved.
 
Well, conversely....what happens when they boot up one day and find they will get no more definition updates?  This has the potential to inflame all on its own.  They likely push the nag to get as many of their legit users upgraded as possible to minimize the fallout. And there will be fallout, as Avast! is one of, if not the last, with such old compatibility, people will feel "abandoned", whatever the good reasons for doing so.

Also, they have to push this upgrade warning so everyone sees it....a lot of people boot up their PC all day, but spend maybe an hour of that day actually sitting there....these people need frequent notifications, they could easily miss anything.  There is no way to cater this to the whole user base, it is quite literally the lesser of the two evils.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: cdeford on September 21, 2011, 05:38:33 PM
Hello, I'd just like to add something to this. I still have a free 4.8 licence and I also find the nag objectionable. I can't upgrade because version 5 doesn't run on XP SP1 which I still have to use due to the need to use some older programs that won't run under SP2 or later.

I fully understand about support for 4.8 being removed, and I accept that. But in the meantime it's my choice to stick with 4.8 and I don't need this nag popping up every 5 minutes telling me what I already know.

If Avast want to get the majority of users off 4.8, why don't they just set a date, publish it on the website and maybe send a single alert and then leave it to the user to decide what to do. These constant nag screens are in my view totally unproffessional.

@Gargamel360 - I appreciate the point about making sure everyone sees the information, but there should be a way for those who have seen it, to then turn off the alerts, and there doesn't seem to be.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: igor on September 21, 2011, 05:46:33 PM
Why shouldn't avast! 5/6 run on XP SP1?
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: CraigB on September 21, 2011, 05:55:16 PM
Why shouldn't avast! 5/6 run on XP SP1?

igor does it not say under system requirements a minimum of xp sp2
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: cdeford on September 21, 2011, 06:10:38 PM
Why shouldn't avast! 5/6 run on XP SP1?


Just guessing but I imagine the APIs are different and Avast just didn't want/see the need to cater for SP1 any longer.

I think it does say somewhere that you need SP2 or later - but not on that upgrade pop-up. Indeed it mentions the Windows versions that are not supported and doesn't include any flavour of XP. So an XP SP1 user will think it's OK to go ahead and upgrade (as I did) only to find out once the new version is installed that it doesn't work, indeed causes all sorts of problems and crashes. That is pretty irresponsible.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: igor on September 21, 2011, 06:16:27 PM
Hmm, interesting.
Well, I'm not saying some functions may not be available (e.g. the Sandbox?), but if Win2k is supported, WinXP SP0/1 should IMHO work too (no guarantees though).
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: jander38 on September 22, 2011, 02:11:14 AM
i just went from 4.8 to 5 pro and now my games arent working right..... only one ive had a chance to check is Final Fantasy 11 which now has a graphics glitch every .75 sec........  so i have a bit of mixed review on 5 so far... :(
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on September 22, 2011, 02:17:57 AM
I have replied in your own topic, http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=85227.0 (http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=85227.0).
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DJ Coolshaker on September 22, 2011, 08:11:30 PM
I have a Solution to stop this message ons and for all without messing with the program.

When someone cant upgrade couse of SW who is not compatible or crat probs with newer Version, just send me IM and i give ye the solution. I just gonna give the Solution via IM i not post them in Public.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on September 22, 2011, 08:24:08 PM
A somewhat unusual request for a newbie, but also one that you can't use as the send/reply feature in the PM function until you have 20 posts. This is one of a number of anti-spam measures in the forums.

If someone had the problem and also didn't have 20 posts, they couldn't send and if they had you couldn't reply. That would force them down the send PM with their email in it and that is something I wouldn't recommend anyone do. No offence, but no one knows you from Adam.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DJ Coolshaker on September 22, 2011, 08:32:45 PM
i dont want and need the e-mail adress.

then i have to say i dont can help farder. i do not post the solution public to not have to get rid of the next file.

the solution i have is quit simple and effective when u have knmowgledge from windows, without messing with the actuel program.

The reason i register to this forum was actualy to help the people who cant upgrade couse of system specifications.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DavidR on September 22, 2011, 08:37:43 PM
That is the problem you can't use the PM function until you have 20 posts, how then do you suggest you are going to contact them, that is my point.
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DJ Coolshaker on September 22, 2011, 08:40:36 PM
its what i have just seen, then i have to say i cant help them. Demmage, but i do also understand in a way that it need somehow spam protection.

Spam is in us days everywhere
Title: Re: Ticked off by "Avast Licensing Alert" pop up.
Post by: DJ Coolshaker on September 24, 2011, 06:29:47 AM
i have posted the solution here >>>>> http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=85091.0