Today Avast told me it needed updating, so I let it (it's now 2015.10.2.2215). After it rebooted my laptop I found my fan constantly running and a process called awsfe.exe using around 40% CPU. This continued for a good half an hour until I started investigating.
I read some threads on here that suggested it was a feature called "Avast NG". I followed some instructions to remove it from Control Panel, except there was no feature called "NG" in the list. I assume it's now been rebranded as the "Secure virtual machines" feature. I removed all items under the "tools" heading, and the nuisance is now gone.
My question is not so much "what happened?" as "why?". Why is it necessary to install new and obviously unreliable features by stealth, without asking the user, when they apparently perform no useful function, other than to make life more awkward for them. Most of us don't want to dedicate half the processing power of our computers to fancy AV features that the developers thought would be "cool", we just want to avoid infection with viruses and malware that come from external sources. It'd be really nice if AV software would just get on with that job, unobtrusively, with the smallest possible footprint.
I realise this reads like a rant. It isn't meant to. If there was any sensible information about what "NG" or "DeepScan" do within a structured help file, I would be better able to read about them and decide if I want these features. Similarly with all the other items in the "tools" list. Clicking the ? icon on the top of the "change" dialog under the control panel -> change / uninstall dialog merely brings up an 8 line HTML page which explains the basic functions of the change / uninstall etc. options, no detailed information. It seems the obfuscation must be deliberate - scare the user into thinking they need every tool, because they don't know what each one is for.
I'm much happier now that I have a leaner installation. I wish I had been guided more proactively by the vendor to choose the right options, rather than having to do so to preserve the usefulness of my system, and my own sanity.
