Wrong Behaviour !

[zappa]

I am really a little sick about this behaviour with the New Registration after 60 days ! A friend of mine , who doesn't know anything about computers and how to new registrate the programm , lost his virus - protection after this 60 days . The result is , that viruses and trojans infected his computer ! Why doesn't make Alwil a easier way for new registration ?! If the product is free and running for 1 year , so why this new registration have to be ? Users without knowledge about computers have a very high risk , about loosing data or become victim of criminal subjects by key - loggers  , password - sniffers ( and so on ... ) !!! This behaviour of new registration is the false way and if you are not going to change it , than give the user a reminder first and an easier way to new registration for those users who don't speak english or aren't expirienced in working with computers ( for example : Avast registration will expire in 14 days , klick on this e-mail-link to new registrate the product ) , but don't make the programm turn off the resident scanner , so the doors for viruses and trojans are more than open wide !

[PigDog]

I have to agree.  The need to register is clear- avast! need to be able to forecast the demand on the update servers.  However it would be very helpful to non-technical users to have clear instructions and a link to the registration screen when their license is approaching expiry.

I have put avast! on several of my friends machines and they all love it, but without fail I get a phonecall each year asking me to walk them through the re-registration process, and in some cases they have gone unprotected for weeks.

PigDog

[Lisandro]

I am really a little sick about this behaviour with the New Registration after 60 days !

Why? You should use the Home version or pay for the Professional one. The Trial period couldn't be infinite... 60 days is more than enough to test the software. In fact, very few companies allow such long period for a trial...

A friend of mine , who doesn't know anything about computers and how to new registrate the programm , lost his virus - protection after this 60 days . The result is , that viruses and trojans infected his computer !

Well, if she does not understand anything about computers... what can the antivirus companies do?

Why doesn't make Alwil a easier way for new registration ?! If the product is free and running for 1 year , so why this new registration have to be ?

Because 60 days after NO REGISTRATION, the Trial version ends... She should choose: Home (free) or Pro (paid).

This behaviour of new registration is the false way and if you are not going to change it , than give the user a reminder first and an easier way to new registration for those users who don't speak english or aren't expirienced in working with computers ( for example : Avast registration will expire in 14 days , klick on this e-mail-link to new registrate the product ) , but don't make the programm turn off the resident scanner , so the doors for viruses and trojans are more than open wide !

Ok... a remember email (email-link) could help but if she does not inform her email through the registration process, what can they do?
The paid version (through pay-pal) has a remember feature.

Which language does she speak?

[Eddy]

People who don't know about computers/software shouldn't be using them in the first place or they should hire someone to keep the system working and safe.

[Jarmo P]

I agree with you Eddy.

Avast is only  an antivirus, people using it should be aware of having a firewall and some antispyware protection like SpywareBlaster.

It is not too hard to check whenn the expiring date comes close and to do the new registering.

About email messages, are you sure zappa that those persons you have known having problems are reading that email address they registered with in the first time?

Most of us dont want much spam emails, even from trusty companies like avast!.

Maybe there is some popup in Avast that warns, but nowadays we have also windows xp2 security center that should warn too for those  ignorous persons that something is wrong

[zappa]

I will give you a quote from your own website :

" avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users and non-commercial use. Both of these conditions should be met! Our company offers the Home Edition free of charge, since, in our
opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention; however, many user are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software. "

The important part is : " however, many user are not able to  "

I know so much people , who even don't know how to install a software or make the simpelst operations on an OS , and the friend i spoke of , is an elder woman from germany ( 65 ) who doesn't even know , how to copy a data file from C:\XYZ  to any other place on her computer .... *sigh*
Another reason for making new registration easier , might be , that very much people don't speak english , so that they are unable to fill in the form .
I myself didn't get any reminder , that my trial-period was finished , the programm just turned off his resident scanner . This is not user - friendly and no way to prevent users , who trusted on you !
- in your quote -
" in our opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention " .
Anyhow , in future I will tell my friends , to use another antivirus - software to protect them better  ( as Pigdog said : " and in some cases they have gone unprotected for weeks.
 " ) , automaticly and definitely - sorry ! zappa

[Vlk]

I don't understand what's the deal here. Avast is doing LOTS of things to inform you that the subscription is about to expire. Namely, it is doing the following:

- as soon as it is installed, it displays a popup window with thorough information (localized to all languages) about what needs to be done to register the program, complete with direct links to the registration form on our website

- 3 weeks before the registration expires, it displays the first warning message clearly saying that for continued protection, you need to re-register. Then the same happens a week  later (14 days before the program expires), and then 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and finally 0 days before the actual expiration. Each of these warnings contains detailed info on how to re-register (or renew, in case of the Professional Edition)

- when the subscription is really expired, avast keeps telling you that the program cannot be updated because the subscription has expired, and that you can re-register to activate your subscription.


So - do you think this is insufficient? What ELSE can we do to prevent these kind of problems?

Please note that we're thinking quite hard about this problem all the time - as about 30% of all emails that are coming to our support department are registration-related. So we really ARE looking for ways to make this simpler - but some people are probably just not getting it...


Thanks
Vlk

[PigDog]

The registration page and instructions are clear to anyone who is prepared to read and take notice of it's contents.  However, the kind of users we are talking about are completely turned off by reading text on web pages.  The current registration screen not only requires them to read but also to scroll down the page and read some more.  They are more likely to notice and read the details if they are displayed in a different font/colour than the rest of the general information on your web site.

A nice framed box to one side of the page containing the registration form with clear notes to the side of it will get rid of the need to scroll down.

If a link to the registraion page was contained in every expiry notification it would be very helpful.

Only very simple points, but I think just these changes alone would make a difference.

PigDog

[PigDog]

Also, I believe that if you don't complete ALL the fields in the registration form you do not get e-mailed a license key.  If this is the case there needs to be a clear note that all fields are mandatory, and if they have not been completed sufficiently a warning or e-mail to that effect needs to be sent to the user immediately, otherwise they think that the registration process simply doesn't work and won't try again.

I may be wrong on this as I have never personally experienced any problems.

PigDog

[Vlk]

Also, I believe that if you don't complete ALL the fields in the registration form you do not get e-mailed a license key.

No, that is not the case. The only thing that needs to be filled in is the email address and the checked box "I agree to the terms of service". And the form script checks for them, too - so you can't do Submit without entering them.

Thanks
Vlk

[PigDog]

I stand corrected.


Number of computer users in the world = X billion

Proportion of worlds population that are idiots = 30%  (from experience)

If you assume that some idiots are not interested in computers you can derive that the number of idiots using computers in the world is approximately 15% of X billion = Y million.

Don’t know exactly what number Y represents, but I’m pretty sure that it’s big.  This is where the problem lies  - they’re the ones that look at you blankly when you mention even cut and paste.

[DavidR]

I will give you a quote from your own website :

" avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users and non-commercial use. Both of these conditions should be met! Our company offers the Home Edition free of charge, since, in our
opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention; however, many user are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software. "

The important part is : " however, many user are not able to  "

I know so much people , who even don't know how to install a software or make the simpelst operations on an OS

I'm afraid your selectively quoting "The important part is :"however, many user are not able to " takes the whole sentence out of context.

"however, many user are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software."

Taken in the context of the full sentence, the 'however, many user are not able to' relates to an ability to pay and not the ability to the simplest operations on an OS.

[Lisandro]

Proportion of worlds population that are idiots = 30%  (from experience)

See the language please...
Not all the people that don't know computering is idiot.
I'm not here in forum to help idiots or to lose time with them.

[bob3160]

All this thread proves is that it's impossible to please all of the people all of the time.
It also proves that the harder you try, the more you'll antagonize or alienate a certain type or group of people.
Satisfy those that are ignorant and you'll antagonize those with intelligence.
Satisfy those with intelligence and you'll offend those with less knowledge.
As far as I can see from Vlk's explanation, Alwil has done everything possible to protect the masses.
Which is all they or any other well meaning company can do.

[PigDog]

I agree.  However this problem effects every one of us when machines owned by ignorant users get compromised and start spreading malware and spam.

The attitude of the avast! team of making it completely free and relatively simple for these people to protect their machines is a noble one.  Following the logic, any  changes - no matter how small - that make it even simpler will benefit all.

PigDog