Question about Avast4home and Win XP

[steve12173]

OK, first of all, I am new to all this and I just bought my first computer.  I do consider myself computer literate, except when it comes to firewalls and anti-virus software.  I had read some reviews that people had problems with Avast 4 Home and using Win XP.  Just looking for a little info, if you could help.  Or if you have any suggestions on firewalls and AV's.  Thanks.

[igor]

I believe that if problems with WinXP were reported, they were also fixed. I.e. if you have any problem, feel free to post it here - otherwise, I think there are many happy avast! users running WinXP...

[steve12173]

Thanks, I am planning on trying it myself, I just didn't want to jump into something without knowing a bit more.

[techie101]

Steve,

XP and Avast work very well together.  I have never had any problems with either.

Usually if anything goes wrong, it is because of improper configuration which we can easily help you with.

Welcome.

techie

[briton]

Just one small point about the WinXP Firewall in case anyone has missed this (I haven't noticed a reference to this point and it is IMPORTANT!)

The WinXP firewall is fine. Does it's job. And provided you don't want to do the more unusual things on your computer using the internet, a LAN or whatever, it is a good firewall - hey! it comes with the package and sets itself up for you (in most cases).

However, it ONLY works on things trying to get INTO your computer. It does not even know about things going out. So it allows anything IN which you (or your programs) ASK for and tells everything else that your computer doesn't even exist (which is what you need hackers to be told).

So if you have avast! working and are absolutely sure that your computer is "clean", it is fine. But IF you should get a trojan horse and it goes active, THAT is now one of the programs running on your computer inside the firewall. So if IT sends information out (like the fact that your computer exists and what its IP address is) or even invites an unfriendly hacker in, the WinXP firewall does nothing about it. Hmmmm!

I am not bashing Microsoft and certainly not WinXP here. ANY firewall is a good idea rather than none. But if you have missed the point I made - or worse still, don't understand it (quite possible the way I wrote it) - and if you have a permanent connection (broadband etc), I strongly recommend you have a look at Steve Gibson's site and read up on it a bit (not too much though!   )

You'll find it at www.grc.com and it is the place I recommend you go to TEST your firewallespecially if you have one protecting a LAN  (follow links to ShieldsUp! and yes, it is free). Also loads of info about firewalls and the results of their tests on firewalls - especially free versus paid-for ones (well, we avast! users LIKE it when someone recommends the free software because it is BETTER than the expensive ones, right?   )

Hope this post is helpful - if not, I am sure the moderators will happily evict it  

(Great site - great forum - keep up the good work)

[Dave50]

Steve -- I've been running Windows XP since it came out little more than 2 years ago.  I've been using Avast for a few months now and I find it one of the most XP-friendly antivirus programs around.

You can be very confident.  If you have any problem, report it on the forum and the Avast Team and the wonderful forum participants will give you all the help you need.

Improvements to Avast are put in program updates and very often, they are the result of someone reporting difficulty with something and then the Avast gurus get cracking and solve the problem.

Avast is the best -- welcome aboard.  

Dave

P.S. -- Briton's comments about the XP firewall are very accurate and perceptive.  I use the XP firewall and every online test shows it works very well given the limitation of not blocking anything going out.  However, as far as incoming, it passes with flying colors and hides your computer very effectively.

I did read on an XP forum, I forget exactly which one, that Microsoft is planning on beefing up the XP firewall when it releases SP-2 in 2004.  Of course, that's not written in stone just yet.  

[andyqkw]

avast! 4 Home works perfectly fine on Windows XP.

[Lisandro]

Thanks, I am planning on trying it myself, I just didn't want to jump into something without knowing a bit more.

Steve, do not hesitate...
avast! works perfectly in XP... and, if you got any trouble, we are here to help you... You'll see how good and fast is this forum.
Wellcome on-board.  

[deadman99]

AVAST,

Is there an option to disable/remove Shell-Explorer Context menu entries?  I'm not a big-fan of hax0ring the registry to remove these options-features {i.e. right click start > remove "Scan Start Menu"}.  

I'm going to manually remove these features - this would be a good option in your next program update.   BTW, excellent package (home/pro), I've been using TrendMicro PC-Cillin for the last 5 years and your package (except for the shell menus) has me hooked.

dm99

[igor]

No, as far as I know, the option to remove the context menu is not available.

The avast registry entries are stored in the keys
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

So, deleting avast from there should remove the menu item.

[Lisandro]

Anyway, I suppose that the avast4.ini value
ShellExtensionIcon=0
in the section [UserInterface] will turn off displaying of the icon next to the avast item in the Explorer context menu.

To disable a context menu entry, you can use ContextEdit 1.1 to easy change or delete entries on the Explorer Context Menu for any kind of file  

[bbfi]

Steve,

I had read some reviews that people had problems with Avast 4 Home and using Win XP.  Just looking for a little info, if you could help.

I originally had some problems, see http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1477.  But the people at this forum and the Alwil team were able to solve it and Alwil put out a fix.  Since then, Avast 4 has been running without any problems for me.  

Or if you have any suggestions on firewalls and AV's.

I am running eTrust EZ Firewall 3.7.211 which is the same as Zone Alarm 3.7 pro but eTrust and Microsoft is allowing users to use it for free for 1 year.    It works fine for me and passes most of the important tests.  I have tried Outpost 1.0 Free, Sygate 5.1 Free, and Kerio 4.0.8 which is full of bugs presently, see http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1733.  So far eTrust EZ Firewall 3.7.211 works the best on my computer.