To whom it may concern at the Avast corporation. Well... that is, if there is someone there who is concerned with how people feel about your products and practices….? (I have heard that it is difficult to open communication with you)
First I will give you my experience and then I will give you my candid thoughts and comments about your products and business practices.
Here is my experience: A couple of days ago I updated CCleaner Free to version 5.40.6411 on a Windows 7 Pro 64 bit system which has Bitdefender Antivirus installed. A short time later the system froze up and I lost control of both mouse and keyboard. My only option was to hold the power button for a forced shutdown. This happened two more times. The system would boot up and several minutes later it would freeze again. I ran disc and file system checks to no avail. Before the third shutdown I noticed that Windows notified me in the system tray that my antivirus was turned off and I had no protection! I then spotted the Avast icon on my desktop! What the…? How did that get there? Then the system froze again and I forced shutdown. This time I booted into safe mode, checked installed programs and discovered that Avast was indeed installed. I read up on how to uninstall (as I researched, I discovered that many people were having this same problem of CCleaner automatic Avast installs) and downloaded the Avast cleaner and dumped it. I rebooted and Bitdefender was running, Windows was satisfied, and no more freeze up.
I did have another computer to update (also Windows 7). This time I paid close attention when I started the CCleaner install. On the first window of the installer there it was at the bottom! It was a bar at the bottom shaded in a slightly different color, which I think, had caused me to believe it was just some ad not connected with the install. When looking closer this time, I saw the pre-ticked box to install Avast! I realized that I had overlooked the check mark and gave my permission to install the program. I know my way around computers and knew better, but this one got by me!
That is my experience. Now for the candid remarks.
First, I wish to first make it perfectly clear that I do not take issue with bundled software. I realize this is what pays the bills and allows programs to be marketed to the public.
I do have a problem with bundled programs that are opt-in. I despise the pre-ticked boxes! But the point I am about to make goes much deeper than just the pre-ticked box.
The point I want to make is this: Marketing of this type for an antivirus is absolutely unacceptable for the following reasons!
1. Installing an antivirus program is a serious decision that should only be made with thoughtful consideration by the owner of the computer. The owner of the computer should have full knowledge of what is going on and be involved in the process of installing it.
An antivirus program should NEVER EVER be set up for an automatic installation! There was no Avast installer that came up. The icon just showed up on my desktop and in my installed programs without my knowledge.
CCleaner has had the pre-ticked Google Chrome install for as long as I can remember. If you don’t want GC but it accidentally gets installed it is a minor annoyance, but simple enough to uninstall.
But Avast is an entirely different matter. This is an application which is deeply ingrained in your computer system! You can’t install it with the normal Windows uninstaller; it takes a special cleaner which many people don’t know about, nor should they be expected to! It becomes a huge confusing ordeal for people to remove, and most don’t even know how the program got on their computer in the first place!
2. In the case of my system, Avast did not even install correctly! It shut off my antivirus of choice leaving me unprotected and then locked me out from any input on keyboard or mouse!
With every antivirus installer I have ever used, they leave it up to you and tell you that you must turn off any other antivirus programs that are running before clicking install. Where was my warning Avast? Where was my interactive Avast installer so that I could see and be informed and make decisions about this important piece of protection software I am trusting to keep my computer safe? There was no interactive installer!! Without notifying me, Avast took it upon themselves to disable my antivirus and leave me naked and exposed to the internet!! I had to spend a couple of hours of my valuable time to run disc and file system checks before I discovered that it was your stupid little pre-checked software bundle that borked my computer!
This is unacceptable!
I have used CCleaner for many years and love the program. I help family and friends with their computer problems and have always recommended CCleaner. I cannot in good faith do that anymore. Not when CCleaner comes with Avast as a bundled liability. There are two ironies here. The first is that CCleaner (CrapCleaner) is supposed to clean unwanted crap from your computer, not bring it in! Secondly, Avast is supposed to help you identifiy potentially unwanted programs (PUP’s) on your computer so you can remove them if you wish. Tell me please, how Avast itself with the pre-checked box does not fit the definition of a PUP?
Sadly, I can no longer recommend CCleaner, Avast or AVG. Furthermore, after giving it much thought, I have made the decision to remove CCleaner from all of my computers. CCleaner is a great program and I hate to loose it, but I do not want to have anymore dealings with a company who continues to engage in sketchy unethical business practices, while ignoring the complaints of the people. Do not try to tell me the complaints are few. I’ve done my research on the web. There are a lot of unhappy people out there.
To all those who are making the decisions in the Avast company, I hope for the sake of your company’s future that this message makes it to your desk. I leave you with the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Whether you personally believe in him or not, the Golden Rule is a good rule by which to live.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you”
