So long Avast, and thanks for all the fish!

[REDACTED]

Imho, for a windows 8.1 user, windows defender plus system wide smart screen and a browser with integrated anti-malware capabilities like ie 11 or chrome is more than enough. I use chrome and it stops almost every malware I try to download.

[polonus]

Everyone should be on a layered defense solution. With avast I certainly made my choice via a custom install.
Keep your OS and Third Party Software installed up to date and fully patched and use a normal user account.

Know that a sandbox will not protect you against all that comes in via the Network.
Use a decent in-browser protection that allows you to block (mal)-ads, unwanted scripts and third party requests.
(ABP, ScriptSafe, Ghostery for Chrome,  ABP, NoScript & RequestPolicy in firefox).
Use the avast shields in combination with decent pre-scanning.
Additionally I use SAS and occasionally latest versions of AdwareCleaner and junkware remover and CCleaner to cleanse the temp files.
Furthermore some experience and common sense about threats to avoid and what one may encounter online.
This combined with what I learned online here in these forums to keepsme and my computers and peripherals secure.

So mix your own security cocktail and defend with your own brew.
Never combine two residential anti-malware programs that start to bite each other (two resident av's is a complete no-no).

Know that avast! still is a helluva av solution, unless tweaked properly and running on a non-compromised OS.
Just recently we had a victim that even had the OS downloaded and installed via torrent piracy. There we cannot give
any guarantees of course and we cannot help such clowns, that put themselves and others at risk.

But I agree with those that are fed up with bundled "60 seconds av-scanners like Bitdefender's and McAfee's,
run into the ground web rep like McAfee SiteAdvisor, nagware like Grimefighter in avast! free.
Tracking blockers that  forget to block Google tracking and the so-called non-unobtrusive ads.
DrWeb's  has a very good record for not bundling nagware and crap,
only minus for their extension is the pre-scanner does not scan deep enough    to not miss a lot.

polonus

[REDACTED]

I have just jumped ship with Avast.  I've used Avast exclusively since the early days, had my issues along the way, pitched a bitch on more than one occasion, but ultimetely stuck with it, until now.  Avast automatically updated on my wife's computer this morning, screwed everything up: Incredimail wouldn't check for new mail unless prompted, then took forever to check, never completed.  Firefox took over 2 minutes to come up, another minute to load the page.  My wife was about ready to scream.  Started researching, found other people were having issues, read all of the insulting replies by the so-called Avast Evangelists, found this thread, finally decided I'd had enough of this bloatware.  You've turned what used to be my favorite AV into a freakin' mess!  You can't even auto update the software without screwing up a person's computer.  Tried to uninstall with aswClear, that wouldn't even work.  I've had enough.  We've had enough.  I've switched to Bit Defender Free AV, it's MUCH lighter on resources and gets better ratings at most AV comparative websites.   From this point forward, as my customers call me with problems in regards to this lastest upgrade, I'll switch them to Bit Defender.  Granted, there are no configuration options with Bit Defender, but with most of my customers, that will be a good thing.   So long, and thanks for all the fish...

[Para-Noid]

Imho, for a windows 8.1 user, windows defender plus system wide smart screen and a browser with integrated anti-malware capabilities like ie 11 or chrome is more than enough. I use chrome and it stops almost every malware I try to download.

Microsoft themselves recommend you use a third party antivirus software.
Don't believe it? Read this.

[REDACTED]

I too am close to this sad day. 

I would go with BD Free for my customers if they fixed the basic bugs in it (namely it does not work when you try to recover and exclude detection for a file from its quarantine.

The Avast program is just teetering on being more trouble than its worth as an IT provider.  The 3rd line support is just a sales shop (and a devious and bad one at that) and to top it all its falling down the rankings.  I am convinced that Avast has destroyed at least one of not more of my customers machines in the last few months.

imho its just about better than Avira and BD and still ahead of AVG.  I used to make a joke about AVG as being the destroyer of computers but Avast is quickly catching up in that regards.

I think Avast is on a downwards curve but sadly I don't see any of the other free players on an upward curve. 

[REDACTED]

Expansion on one of my points...

After sensing overly long build times and configuring Avast to avoid read-time checks by the Filesystem Shield, and before removing Avast entirely.  Testing building a solution in Visual Studio 2013 update 4:

Full build times (in seconds) with VS 2013 update 4, Avast 2015 shields on, no other Avast features enabled except the Software Updater.

51.07
54.05
54.39
53.72

With Avast shields disabled...

48.89
46.72
45.51
45.84
42.62

With Avast removed and Windows Defender on...

30.99
30.73
30.43
30.65

The difference in cost between a workstation that (without Avast) will build this solution in 30 seconds and one that will build it in 45 seconds is probably $3,000.

And yes, after Avast made their latest changes for KB3000850 compatibility I tried it all again.  The system worked, but performance was similarly dismal.  There is no conclusion to be reached but that the ball has been dropped.

By the way, build times without any AV on at all are around 27 seconds.  10% overhead I can live with.  Avast once provided that kind of performance. 

Who'd be happy with a more than a 50% slowdown in the things they need to do?

Unrelated to performance, I thought of another bullet item I forgot to add to my original list.  It's not in itself reason enough to move on, but just one more straw on the back.

• Just which exclusion list(s) does that false positive module have to go in?  Shouldn't there be just one list?

-Noel

[REDACTED]

Another performance benchmark - one you can try...

• Start Windows 8.1 File Explorer.
• Navigate to C:\
• Select all files and folders, right-click, and choose Properties.
• Time how long it takes to enumerate them all.
• Divide the number of files by the number of seconds.

With Avast I found the number to be about 5,500 files per second the first time, and 7,500 files per second the second time (when the file system has the directory structure cached in RAM).

With Avast uninstalled and Windows Defender on I found the numbers between double and triple that.  11,000 files per second the first time, 20,000 the second time.  The difference with Defender off vs. on is negligible.

-Noel

[Para-Noid]

@ NoelC

It seems as if you are going out of your way just to nit-pick your way to find something
to degrade avast.

My challenge for you is to, "try to find everything you can that is good about avast".
Somehow I doubt you will accept my challenge.

[REDACTED]

What is it with this Bloo*y forum software.  5 times today I have made a reply and 5 times it has failed to post my reply.  I end up losing all my text.  Soooooo frustrating.

Anyway - for the second time of typing (with a ctrl+c first for when it bombs out)......

I can accept a slowdown of maybe 10-15% for file operations - that I would suggest is par for the course with any software that uses a filter driver to interrogate file system reads and writes.  I expect no other AV or "constant backup" program etc. would be any different (but I expect I will be shown to be wrong :-)

For me its the seeming frequency of major issues with the operating systems it is installed on after installs and upgrades.  I have been around software for a long time (like many of you) and it seems to be a bit too frequent for comfort with Avast recently. I suspect that it is a rush to market combined with a lack of proper unit and QA testing.  I don't want to be a beta tester on a RTM product when it has the unfortunate ability to seemingly frequently destroy my customers machines.  It is embarrassing to recommend a product only to have the machine back some weeks later with the product you have recommended (and taken no commission for ) come back and bite you.  It means costly rework for me and lost profits.

As for the 3rd party telephone support - don't even go there.  The number for people I have had calling me (non-existing customers) saying they were worries and confused by the hard sell is a real concern.  I have raised this with Avast too.  When they call me I talk to them and they become a customer of mine and I make money from them - good for me I guess.

But...  for every one that calls me there are probably 100's being duped, lied to and generally treated poorly.

Now then    ctrl+c

[Para-Noid]

The forums have been acting up. Avast is working on it. I've learned to "copy" click "preview" then click "post".

"Rush to release"? I don't think so. There is a huge majority of users without issues than there are with issues. Most issues
involve the user "not" doing a custom install. BTW, very rarely, if at all, does anyone ever join to praise a product. Most people post because they have an issue.

Third party support "sucks". The best help is right here on the forums and it's free.

[REDACTED]

My challenge for you is to, "try to find everything you can that is good about avast".

I did, already - that's the point.  I have used Avast exclusively since the mid 2000s.  They were the first to embrace 64 bit computing.  Back then they knew what they were doing.

I have two books out on configuring Windows.  In both of them I devoted a whole page to promoting Avast.

And you know I've spent time here helping others with the product.  EVEN THOUGH their forum is often frustrating to use (another minor bullet point).

I didn't want to have to make this decision.

No, my friend, I'm not nit-picking at all.  I am being real.  My threshold has been crossed.

-Noel

[bob3160]

 Bye bye!

[REDACTED]

Bye, Bob, thanks for taking the time to write.  But you know, I have a hankering to stop back by here from time to time just to say hello to you, specifically, to keep the memory of all the good times we've had together here communicating on the forum alive.   

Gee, my mood has SO improved today, given that my system is snappy again.

-Noel

[polonus]

Hi NoelC,

When I go over what is in this thread and read it well it seems that your main line of criticism is avast's heavily weighing on system resources.
Were there ever comparisons made to compare the weight of av solutions on the general performance of the OS and what is avast's position there seen to other av solutions/competitors? Were these differences properly measured and what is the biggest memory hog?
Can you pinpoint out where the avast solution you liked so much in the past came to diverge from the one you dislike so much now? What was that turning point? I cannot react to just stories without facts, I want hard facts that cannot be denied.
You say avast breaks operational systems. I wanna see proof of that. Was this a true fact, who would use such an av solution any longer?

polonus

[REDACTED]

I kinda just have a feeling sometimes that the days of users having some word at development are now long gone and avast! is way too focused on satisfying their shareholders and nothing else. And shareholders always just want profit, profit and profit and making things bigger and bigger. Which is not necessarely always a good thing.

Welcome to the world of private equity. Seems all this extra garbage (i.e Grimefighter, Safepay, Browser Cleanup - Yahoo home page and Bing search :-p) avast is putting into the AV happened after CVC and Summit Partners became major shareholders. At least these extras can be removed via custom install but how many avast noobs do that? I foresee the day when you will not be able to do a custom install on the free version. It used to be you could opt out of Community ads in the free version but no more. I am looking forward to the AV-Comparatives tests to see how NG does.