file deleted, no user choices?

[REDACTED]

Just installed Avast Free yesterday on my home machine, then downloaded large (540GB) update to my work software. This was a an .exe file that is acually an archive plus unpacker.  The archive usually contains several small executables as well.

Today when I clicked the file, Avast showed a screen at the lower right of my monitor, but before I could read the warning or react, a couple of dialog boxes flashed by instantly on the screen and I was left staring at an empty directory.  This all happened much too fast to allow any reaction from me.

No problem I thought, it must have seen something questionable, sent it to quarantine and I can get it back . Well, no such luck!
File recovery software also finds nothing.

Is this the new normal for Avast? I've been away from it for a while.  Seems pretty Draconian if so and I will apparently have to disable it in order to install my work updates.

I had all settings at the default ... fresh install.   Is there something I can change to ensure that I am consulted before Avast goes all ninja on another of my files?

[REDACTED]

You're supposed to be able to customise this behaviour in - Customise - Actions. But I'm beginning to suspect this may not apply to Avast! Free. I wish someone would clarify this.

[Staticguy]

I have reported this to the moderators mrs_catgut so they will be able to assist the situation you are having.

[Milos]

Hello,
what size of virus chest do you have set? Maybe the size of file was bigger and then it was deleted because it cannot fit to the virus chest.

Milos

[REDACTED]

Thanks to all of you for reading & responding,  much appreciated.

@daveweb: You are right, since making my original post I found that option and it can be changed in Free, under File System Shield settings - Actions.   I'm surprised that "ask" is not the default but maybe that would expose some users to trouble.

@Staticguy: Thank you, good sir, but I think daveweb has pointed to the solution for my situation. Though possibly the prog could be adjusted to have a less severe default behaviour out of the box.

@Milos: The chest and its properties do not appear to be accessible to the users in Avast Free.  That was where I had expected to find the quarantined file, but I looked for it in vain.

[REDACTED]

@Milos:  I was wrong, the chest size setting is accessible  under General - Maintenance and the default setting is 256MB, so you are most likely correct that my file was deleted because it exceeded the capacity of the chest. 

Thanks again, everybody!

[REDACTED]

Thanks to all of you for reading & responding,  much appreciated.

@daveweb: You are right, since making my original post I found that option and it can be changed in Free, under File System Shield settings - Actions.   I'm surprised that "ask" is not the default but maybe that would expose some users to trouble.

The only problem with this is that I'm not totally convinced it actually works and you can't configure it to actually do what you want. I had previously set the file shield to 'Ask' when any threat is detected as I don't particularly trust any anti-virus programs and know from experience that false-positives are a genuine concern. I had been using FotoSketcher 3.20 yesterday when Avast! Free suddenly decided it had a virus. When I tried to use the drop-down menu in the resulting warning pop-up asking what action I should take I discovered that all the options were unresponsive and Avast! quarantined the program anyway. This happened again when I tried to reinstall the FotoSketcher application program. Yet it allowed an older version (FotoSketcher 2.75) to install and run!

I'd hate to think what would happen if Avast! mistook an important system driver for malware.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=176551.0

[bob3160]

Did you submit the file to Avast as a possible false positive

[REDACTED]

Daveweb: I installed my work updates without Avast! running, as I didn't want to risk any further problems.  I have studied the responses to your issue in the other topic and am <g> at your patience, stoicism and equanimity in dealing with your interlocutors. 

Maybe if I get too much time I will get one of those test virus packages to see if the 'ask' settings will work on my machine.  I'm inclined at this point to go with another AV protection than to continue to deal with any more hassle. Life is too short as it is.

Bob:  I've told my employers about this incident and they have referred it to our IT for consideration.

[REDACTED]

The OP have mentioned couple of dialog boxes flashed on the screen. Could those be deepscreen?
And does deepscreen quarantines or deletes the detected threats?

[bob3160]

The OP have mentioned couple of dialog boxes flashed on the screen. Could those be deepscreen?
And does deepscreen quarantines or deletes the detected threats?

Post a screenshot.