Author Topic: Annoying Avast popups  (Read 15600 times)

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henri44

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #15 on: December 24, 2013, 07:01:01 AM »
hi,
these popup appear with the free version,
the staff of Avast are not philanthropists ... one must live!  ;)

Offline DavidR

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #16 on: December 24, 2013, 02:51:25 PM »
Where did my posting with the eicar file testing go?
If anyone is concerned to whether an AV would work correctly despite giving a wrong message, you could also use
the eicar test to see it for yourself and the update logs or the streaming/update history whether the product has been updated or not.

What has the eicar test got to do with this topic 'Annoying Avast popups,' nothing, so it is/was off-topic.

Posting the eicar/example code, whilst it shouldn't be an issue, posting code in the forums is frowned upon as it could trigger alerts on the forums. For examples of code it is best to post as an image that won't trigger avast.

So let this be the last on eicar in this unrelated topic.
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NoelC

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #17 on: December 24, 2013, 07:00:08 PM »
I could swear someone up-thread asked whether the ad "bug" would interfere with the announcement of blocked malware announcements, and I for one DID check with the eicar data to see that my setup would still make those important announcements (which it does).  It made me feel more confident in Avast! - so thanks to Randissimo for posting that quite pertinent info.

-Noel

Randissimo

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #18 on: December 24, 2013, 10:29:52 PM »
What has the eicar test got to do with this topic 'Annoying Avast popups,' nothing, so it is/was off-topic.
It was just an answer to the following question:
Quote
If an important error should arise, does Avast present a popup with a Christmas offer?


Quote
Posting the eicar/example code, whilst it shouldn't be an issue, posting code in the forums is frowned upon as it could trigger alerts on the forums.
Sorry I didn't know that, because Avast (free) doesn't trigger an alarm just by pasting this code in a notepad window. Only when you scan the saved .txt file manually later or try to save it for example as a .com file, it triggers an alarm.
However, that shouldn't be a reason as to why a whole posting without any notification gets deleted.

Quote from: NoelC
It made me feel more confident in Avast! - so thanks to Randissimo for posting that quite pertinent info.
You're welcome. ;)

Offline DavidR

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #19 on: December 24, 2013, 11:17:49 PM »
1. The fact that you have one toaster pop-up open, shouldn't stop real-time alerts.

2. as I said the eicar text isn't likely to be an issue as it is a specific format and file size. My concern is getting in the habit of posting code that may trigger an alert. An html page is essentially a text page and the web shield scan it looking for exploits/malicious code, so other code examples could easily trigger alerts. We have seen this in the forums the past.
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Offline jacal

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #20 on: December 25, 2013, 12:48:13 AM »
An ad does not affect the functionality of the program.
An ad does affect the functionality of the program. People hate ads more than syphilis. Nobody would tolerate IrfanView launching popups. And it is one of the best freeware programs. Antiviruses are necessary evil. Best advertisment are satisfied users. Ads are intrusive and distracting.

Offline Alikhan

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #21 on: December 25, 2013, 12:53:19 AM »
An ad does not affect the functionality of the program.
An ad does affect the functionality of the program. People hate ads more than syphilis. Nobody would tolerate IrfanView launching popups. And it is one of the best freeware programs. Antiviruses are necessary evil. Best advertisment are satisfied users. Ads are intrusive and distracting.

The function of an antivirus is to protect the PC from malware... and it's doing that with updates, shields and zero day protection features such as Deepscreen. An ad doesn't affect it at all... it doesn't affect the protection so it doesn't affect the functionality.
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Offline wooferdog

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2014, 10:24:40 PM »
I hate to bump a week old thread, but I just wanted to ask something. What exactly is the verdict on these advertisements? Is it a bug, is it possible to disable, and does it interfere with the functionality of the program? I don't think I really got an answer on how to approach these ads.

An ad does not affect the functionality of the program.
An ad does affect the functionality of the program. People hate ads more than syphilis. Nobody would tolerate IrfanView launching popups. And it is one of the best freeware programs. Antiviruses are necessary evil. Best advertisment are satisfied users. Ads are intrusive and distracting.

The function of an antivirus is to protect the PC from malware... and it's doing that with updates, shields and zero day protection features such as Deepscreen. An ad doesn't affect it at all... it doesn't affect the protection so it doesn't affect the functionality.
I went one day without an adblocker installed, and Malwarebytes Pro was tripped several times by ads. I received several tooltips saying that the program had "blocked a malicious IP address".

Offline Alikhan

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2014, 10:44:57 PM »
I hate to bump a week old thread, but I just wanted to ask something. What exactly is the verdict on these advertisements? Is it a bug, is it possible to disable, and does it interfere with the functionality of the program? I don't think I really got an answer on how to approach these ads.

An ad does not affect the functionality of the program.
An ad does affect the functionality of the program. People hate ads more than syphilis. Nobody would tolerate IrfanView launching popups. And it is one of the best freeware programs. Antiviruses are necessary evil. Best advertisment are satisfied users. Ads are intrusive and distracting.

The function of an antivirus is to protect the PC from malware... and it's doing that with updates, shields and zero day protection features such as Deepscreen. An ad doesn't affect it at all... it doesn't affect the protection so it doesn't affect the functionality.
I went one day without an adblocker installed, and Malwarebytes Pro was tripped several times by ads. I received several tooltips saying that the program had "blocked a malicious IP address".

Ads on the web may differ (lead to malicious domains). However, the avast! ads are certainly not infected and linked to mainly the avast! site or avast! blog.
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ChrisB

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #24 on: January 01, 2014, 11:03:16 PM »
Quote
these popup appear with the free version,
the staff of Avast are not philanthropists ... one must live!
They appear on my paid version. If I had the free version they would be fair enough. But I'm less annoyed now that I find out that they are, apparently, unintended.

Offline Alikhan

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #25 on: January 01, 2014, 11:06:52 PM »
Quote
these popup appear with the free version,
the staff of Avast are not philanthropists ... one must live!
They appear on my paid version. If I had the free version they would be fair enough. But I'm less annoyed now that I find out that they are, apparently, unintended.

There's a workaround to disable the ads (shown for the VPS updates) until it's fixed...

You need to uncheck the Show notification box after automatic update (avast UI > Settings > Update - scroll down to details).
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NoelC

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #26 on: January 01, 2014, 11:42:35 PM »
They appear on my paid version. If I had the free version they would be fair enough. But I'm less annoyed now that I find out that they are, apparently, unintended.

The workaround Alikhan mentions, which turns off the pop-up notifications of software updates to which the ads are tied, works for every version (free or paid), by the way.  I'm quite liking not having to deal with any ad popups for weeks now.

-Noel

Offline wooferdog

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #27 on: January 02, 2014, 05:39:20 AM »
There's a workaround to disable the ads (shown for the VPS updates) until it's fixed...

You need to uncheck the Show notification box after automatic update (avast UI > Settings > Update - scroll down to details).

What does VPS stand for?
Quote
these popup appear with the free version,
the staff of Avast are not philanthropists ... one must live!
They appear on my paid version. If I had the free version they would be fair enough. But I'm less annoyed now that I find out that they are, apparently, unintended.
If I'm not mistaken, Avast Free had always been popup free up until recently (as in 6 or so months). I do believe it always had its ads, but they weren't half as intrusive as they are today.

jwoods301

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #28 on: January 02, 2014, 05:55:13 AM »
Quote
What does VPS stand for?

I haven't seen a formal definition, but the one I've read that makes the most sense is Virus Pattern Signatures.

http://www.avast.com/download-update
« Last Edit: January 02, 2014, 06:02:12 AM by jwoods301 »

Offline DavidR

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Re: Annoying Avast popups
« Reply #29 on: January 02, 2014, 01:13:56 PM »
<snip quote>
Quote
these popup appear with the free version,
the staff of Avast are not philanthropists ... one must live!
They appear on my paid version. If I had the free version they would be fair enough. But I'm less annoyed now that I find out that they are, apparently, unintended.
If I'm not mistaken, Avast Free had always been popup free up until recently (as in 6 or so months). I do believe it always had its ads, but they weren't half as intrusive as they are today.

I'm afraid you are mistaken the small toaster popups have been around for some considerable time. I have some captured images of them when they were toying with the double height popup (circa July 2012) combining the VPS update notification and an ad/tip; a promotion for EasyPass from October 2011; an upgrade offer from July 2011.

So they have been around for some considerable time, the only problem with this time is that the piggybacking with the VPS update notification has screwed with the regular auto update notifications. But monitoring that problem on my other system, I am consistently getting the regular auto update notification, with voice over and the popup duration is also correct.
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