Avast becoming bloatware

[jcubdub]

I have been an Avast user and proponent for many years since Avast 4. I install the free and paid versions on many clients computers. It is becoming frustrating and embarrassing that it is now becoming bloatware like so many other inferior products. Why do so many companies go down this path of becoming successful on good lean products and then start adding more and more junk to them?

Hoping this trend is reversed by Avast.
Jacob

[schmidthouse]

Hi and welcome.
A positive note is that on Custom installation, a user can choose NOT to install alot of the extras and stick just to the Shield protection.
Or a user who wants all the stuff, has those options.

[Rohugh]

You of course, have the choice of what you want to install when you download the program with a custom install. What is in the final download is up to you.

[NoelC]

A positive note is that on Custom installation, a user can choose NOT to install alot of the extras and stick just to the Shield protection.

I can vouch that it works just fine when one does so.  I hope they never remove these options.

As far as why companies create more "encompassing" products, everyone wants to reach more users.  There are only a limited number of users who know what they're doing with computers, and they already have Avast!, so clearly the rest need more.   

Let us also not ignore the fact that Microsoft also provides anti-malware protection With Windows 8+.  Perhaps Alwil feels they now need to differentiate the Avast! product from the basic protection provided by Microsoft right out of the box.  Most folks probably can't tell the difference between the protection afforded by Security Essentials vs. Avast!, and seeing a bunch of visible evidence of Avast!'s presence gives them warm fuzzies.

I agree that also I prefer lean, focused products to "all-encompassing suites".  Of all the entries in the first sections shown in the Everything tab in Autoruns (i.e., extra "stuff" application designers feel you "need" running in the background), I have a majority disabled.

-Noel

[jwoods301]

Also, methods used to infect computers have changed over the years, so features have been added to address those.

[Secondmineboy]

Kaspersky for example is doing this also.

They added an automatic screenlocker protection with their newest version cause there were so many
ransomwares in the last years.

And also they integrated their ZETA-Shield technology into their consumer products to prevent
unknown threats to infect your system.

Every AV-Vendor is doing this.

[polonus]

It is not advisable to stay with a customs install as a "fits all sizes".
Every user is entitled to his very own flaw of avast!.
I for instance could not do with the avast! Shield Protection and the inbuilt Software Updater.
There is an avast solution suitable to a large variety of users from gamer to developer,
and even then some come up with their very wishlist.
(uninstall for some specific tasks,  malware cleansing, testing purposes etc. etc.).
There are more angles to an av solution than is thought of at first sight,
and still we cannot please everyone, but come a long way in running the extra mile.
As I am in website security I would like to have https: scanning brought in and also some form of IDS alerts.

MBAM is betatesting the Malewarebytes Anti Exploit tool for instance..
One will soon see DNS watching brought in,
as as said in this thread the threat landscape is changing continuously
and will create other demands from a general resident av solution,

polonus

avast! av makes a world of difference!

D

[Para-Noid]

The problem with thinking that Microsoft has your back is rubbish, pure rubbish.
With the terrible "independent" test results Microsoft now recommends using a
third party anti-virus and third party anti-malware software.

The one thing that every anti-virus has in common is it's "one size fits all".
That is why any user should always use the custom install. Doing this ensures
you get what you do want and not what you don't want and/or need.

[Rohugh]

The problem with thinking that Microsoft has your back is rubbish, pure rubbish.
With the terrible "independent" test results Microsoft now recommends using a
third party anti-virus and third party anti-malware software.

The one thing that every anti-virus has in common is it's "one size fits all".
That is why any user should always use the custom install. Doing this ensures
you get what you do want and not what you don't want and/or need.

Yes,  gone are the days when a simple AV such as MSE was sufficient sitting in your tray and updating once a day (if you were lucky).  The hackers/malware kids are getting more sophisticated and so the AV studios have more and more bases to cover.

Plus a custom install is something everyone should do,  not just for Avast but for every program they download (if it has one).  Otherwise inadvertent downloading of unwanted programs that are often bundled in downloaders can creep through un-noticed.

[polonus]

Hi Para-Noid,

But what we all can do is take up our own responsibility for staying secure.
So report malcode missed or false positives found and do not click after all that moves on the screen.
Use the safe hex abilities that exists between the keyboard and chair -pebkac formula!
Come here and learn more about how you can stay malware free with avast!
Most that found their way here came to join the community after recovery from a major malcode incident,
and then swore to themselves this would never ever happen again.
And typing these lines is proof of the fact avast av kept me malcode free over now almost 10 years.
and there are many forum members who can testify to similar results,

polonus

[ram1220]

The problem with thinking that Microsoft has your back is rubbish, pure rubbish.
With the terrible "independent" test results Microsoft now recommends using a
third party anti-virus and third party anti-malware software.

The one thing that every anti-virus has in common is it's "one size fits all".
That is why any user should always use the custom install. Doing this ensures
you get what you do want and not what you don't want and/or need.

Yes,  gone are the days when a simple AV such as MSE was sufficient sitting in your tray and updating once a day (if you were lucky).  The hackers/malware kids are getting more sophisticated and so the AV studios have more and more bases to cover.

Plus a custom install is something everyone should do,  not just for Avast but for every program they download (if it has one).  Otherwise inadvertent downloading of unwanted programs that are often bundled in downloaders can creep through un-noticed.

Yea. Just like Avast does with Chrome.

[thekochs]

For Avast Free.....anyone want to comment on what should be omitted and what is on the bubble ?

See attached.

[olddog]

Yea. Just like Avast does with Chrome.

+1   Opt in=We care for our customers   Opt Out=We care more about the extra money

[NoelC]

No one can really answer that but you, but I can tell you I eliminated everything in the second column except the Software Updater, which watches to see whether various programs you have installed, such as 7-Zip, Flash Player, Java, etc., fall out of date.  I find having application management all managed in one place handier than having eleventy seven different updaters running.

But before you follow in my footsteps, you should know that I have a number of other mechanisms in place, and a lifetime of computer experience, to help keep my systems safe.

-Noel

[polonus]

Hi NoelC,

Your advice could not be fitting every Joe and Jill average user. I would also love all had similar experience as you apparently. I would also love users be able to handle script blocking properly inside a browser.Iif we had a community with NoScript, RequestPolicy, ABP with specific malware blocking subscriptions and safe hex feeling/experience the Interwebs never would have grown as totally pnewed as they are. As long as for driving on the road you need a driving license and going on the Interwebs you need no brains at all and could even be putting up a misconfigured server and a website with more security holes than Swiss cheese has, we have this current situation and will have it for some time to come. As some here feel we have to make av idiot-proof. I am also going in between these two points of view, full of critique on the one side, but we have to be realistic on the other as the world is dumbing down rapidly...

polonus