Author Topic: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??  (Read 13135 times)

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exitexit

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Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« on: October 14, 2013, 12:34:33 PM »
I do NOT appreciate the avast nag about "upgrading" to payed services. I've been loyal to avast for years, but since Windows 8 (and 7) has the same protection as (the also free) Windows Security Essentials built in the system I'm considering to simply uninstall avast to get rid of the spam.

Why would I want spamware telling me to "upgrade" every day, when I can get a Windows 8-compatible (avast isn't yet), non-nagging, software that doesn't even require me to give my e-mail address? The question is not rhetorical, I honestly want one good reason. I'm not using any services other then file system and behavior shield, might I not aswell chose Windows Defender?

Has avast! antivirus finally taken the step from being the best security software out there to being simple, unnecessary, spamware?

Offline Pondus

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2013, 12:47:26 PM »
Quote
but since Windows 8 (and 7) has the same protection as (the also free) Windows Security Essentials built in the system I'm considering to
before you do that

Microsoft: Security Essentials is designed to be bottom of the antivirus rankings
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/384394/microsoft-security-essentials-is-designed-to-be-bottom-of-the-antivirus-rankings





Offline Eddy

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2013, 12:58:39 PM »
avast is windows 8(.1) compatible, unless you are using a (real) old version that was released before Windows 8 excisted.

Offline CraigB

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2013, 01:03:22 PM »
exitexit didn't we have this same rant over a year ago ::) Ad's in the free version are to be expected as it's the only way avast can advertise there paid solutions so if you don't want any ad's whatsoever then the paid version is your best bet.

As the link Pondus has supplied you explains Defender is way behind on protection levels, your choice what you want to use but I cant see avast doing away with the odd advertisement popup for their paid versions, they have to make money you know otherwise there wont even be an option to use a free version.

And avast works perfectly fine here on Win8 by the way :)

exitexit

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2013, 02:11:33 PM »
exitexit didn't we have this same rant over a year ago ::)
Justified critique isn't ranting. But yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Maybe the popups stopped or I uninstalled it, cant remember now. I had a good point though.

Ad's in the free version are to be expected as it's the only way avast can advertise there paid solutions so if you don't want any ad's whatsoever then the paid version is your best bet.
your choice what you want to use but I cant see avast doing away with the odd advertisement popup for their paid versions, they have to make money you know otherwise there wont even be an option to use a free version.
There is a fine line between having lots of upsell ads in the software UI, and taking the right to act like an intrusive adware with popups. I have no problem with ads in general, in fact marketing is a part of my education (5 yr business at uni), but where do you draw the line between being okay and being too intrusive? Marketers would project ads on the moons surface if they were allowed (Coke) and in your dreams if they could, so apparently they cannot draw the line themselves. I have trouble accepting (non-webpage) popups in my computer environment, they catch the eye - especially considering the only popups in that corner is either virus warnings or IM-messages - and they are repetative. I have already taken the decision not to upgrade. Several times. Nagging is a dealbreaker. If not enough people buy their softwares/services to support the free software, maybe they need to change their product model. But it's unlikely that the spam is motivated by that, rather then an unmitigated hunger for more profit on our expense. That is their right, and it's our right to chose another competitor if they do. And that is what I'm suggesting, even taking the time (due to many years of loyalty) to tell them why I'm about to chose another software.

As the link Pondus has supplied you explains Defender is way behind on protection levels,
I read it, even if it doesn't say WD is "way" behind other anti virus softwares it does say protection might be better on a 3:rd party software. I interpret it as WD to be a good, sufficient, defense but without the edge. So maybe AVG or some other 3:rd party AV-software is a better substitute for avast AV then WD if you want that edge, since avast apparently intends to keep the popups.

And avast works perfectly fine here on Win8 by the way :)
Yeah, I saw a post about that after I'd posted my post. Win 8.1 warned me that avast wasn't compatible when I installed it though (maybe a week ago, latest version) but it, and therefore I, might be wrong.

Offline Para-Noid

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2013, 05:15:21 PM »
Pop-up ads bothering you? I would think an infection would bother you more!
You get great protection for free...and ads are the issue?
If you decide on AVG, guess what? They have ads too. Not to mention inferior protection.

See this and read what Microsoft has to say.
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"Look before you leap!" Use online scanners before you click on any link.

Offline Secondmineboy

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2013, 05:20:09 PM »
You can disable the popups under settings>Popups set the time to show the popup which is blue to 0.

To disable the update notifications go to Updates and under the settings is an option "Show update Notifications"
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Casteele

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2013, 05:50:51 PM »
Win XP Pro SP3 here, Avast 8.0.1497, and I have pretty much no nags or popups bothering me daily--Just every now and then, particularily during updates..

OTOH.. Keeping up to date with the sheer number of viruses and other malware out there, among all the unsavory people who want nothing more than to access my files, data, et cetera, and/or use my computer as a drone to spam the hell out of the rest of the people on the internet or other nefarious activities.. Isn't exactly cheap and easy. It's time consuming and costs a lot of money and other resources. Yet the people at Avast release their hard work with the option to obtain it all for free, except maybe some annoying popup ads..

I'd pay for Avast if I could afford it (unemployed right now :-(), but since I cannot, I'll accept and deal with a few minor annoying popup ads. Seems to me that complaining about the ads is much like a starving and thirsty man in a desert complaining because the first oasis he finds doesn't offer fine wine and caviar..

(OTOH, I would agree that popups every two minutes is too much, too.. But I've never seen it get to that point..)

Cheers,
C.

Offline CraigB

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2013, 06:37:54 PM »
You can disable the popups under settings>Popups set the time to show the popup which is blue to 0.
They can not be disabled, setting to 0 means indefinite so the minimal setting time is 1.

Offline Secondmineboy

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2013, 06:41:51 PM »
And whats with this?
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Offline mchain

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2013, 06:49:21 PM »
I'd pay for Avast if I could afford it (unemployed right now :-(), but since I cannot, I'll accept and deal with a few minor annoying popup ads. Seems to me that complaining about the ads is much like a starving and thirsty man in a desert complaining because the first oasis he finds doesn't offer fine wine and caviar..

Cheers,
C.

Nice analogy.  One gets what they need for free.  That ads come with it is a part of the package.

1 second is the lowest working default. 
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 06:53:25 PM by mchain »
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Offline CraigB

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2013, 06:50:35 PM »
As I mentioned setting to 0 means indefinite and when you receive that popup it will be shown for the maximum amount of time.

Offline DavidR

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #12 on: October 14, 2013, 07:57:49 PM »
And whats with this?

There is nothing to stop you from setting the value to 0, but as has been mentioned this isn't zero seconds display, but indefinite display until closed by the user.
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exitexit

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #13 on: October 14, 2013, 11:39:02 PM »
Pop-up ads bothering you? I would think an infection would bother you more!
You get great protection for free...and ads are the issue?
If you decide on AVG, guess what? They have ads too. Not to mention inferior protection.

See this and read what Microsoft has to say.
But the option is not between getting an infection and putting up with spamware. If nothing else, I went for years (not overexaggerating) without any anti virus program at all (not even windows defender) and never got any viruses. And I'm a heavy downloader of software and media. How do I know I didn't have viruses unnoticed? Well, obviously there is no way to be absolutely sure but I installed avast and scan came up with no threats, and I never had any problems. I take precautions like actually reading the comments of things I download, and not downloading anything from sites I don't trust. It goes a long way. If you also have a secure browser with little userbase (like opera), that helps too. Obviously I have firewalls, both hard- and software.

Does AVG have popup ads? Somewhat inferior protection doesn't bother me. The risk of an infection is so low if you know what you are doing, the difference must be microscopic. It is well worth taking imo.

Many infections spam you with popup windows, so in some sense, avast IS an infection even though a very small one. Atleast, it displays the behavior of adware. Having a slightly less good defence and a lot less spammy behavior is black numbers in my books.

Nice analogy.  One gets what they need for free.  That ads come with it is a part of the package.
I have no problems with the ads. The spammy popup ads, however.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2013, 11:43:13 PM by exitexit »

Offline Eddy

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Re: Avast popup ads? Are you KIDDING me??
« Reply #14 on: October 14, 2013, 11:58:07 PM »
In july 2012 you complained about the same. Why still using avast if you don't like it? Learn to live with it or change to something else but stop complaining. Noone has forced you to install avast. You did it yourself. And as they say "You get what you pay for"