Avast moves files to chest in Silent Mode despite settings.

[Rundvleeskroket]

I'm using the latest version of Avast Free on Windows. Avast keeps moving a file to the virus chest because it believes it to be malware. The problem: I've set Avast Core Shields to always ask before repair/move/delete. Yet it doesn't ask, and just moves it to the chest.

Now, I'm using Silent Mode. If I disable it, I get a popup box about a found threat. There I can choose, among others: 'keep blocking'. But as I'm typically using Silent Mode, and popup boxes are suppressed, Avast should at best block access to the file, but not move it without my consent. If Avast can't ask, because of Silent Mode, it shouldn't just revert to 'Fix automatically' and try to repair and/or move the file. That is not what I chose in the preferences. There should be an option to chose the default behaviour in Silent Mode and it should be respected. Please fix this.



Some background:
I'm using Silent Mode because I got very tired of the scare tactics upsell popups about location, IP, and such.
'Keep blocking' could work, but it isn't defaulted to in Silent Mode when 'Ask' is selected. Weird and unnecessarily invasive.
I'm not adding an exception because these tend to be temporary files and folders and I don't want to keep adding and removing exceptions on specific files/folders, and I also don't want to add overly broad exceptions.
I'm also not reporting a FP. This may be actual malware, or it may not be. Either way, Avast should let me deal with it however I see fit. I've sent this latest file to Virustotal and Jotti and the results are 50/50.

[DavidR]

What exactly did you think would happen in Silent Mode, no windows, no alert, no interaction, so it won't Ask. 

[Rundvleeskroket]

No Ask does not mean revert to a setting explicitly not chosen in preferences. So do nothing. Block only. That is what I expect. There needs to be an option defining behaviour in Silent Mode for this. Currently there is none.

Also; if Avast would stop with the scare tactics, I wouldn't have to run Silent Mode. But alas, that's part of their business model so I'm not holding my breath.

[DavidR]

The problem being, if you are in Silent Mode, that is exactly what you get. 

So any previous settings would be redundant as you don't get the Ask step displayed. 

You also mentioned, "I've set Avast Core Shields to always ask before repair/move/delete." As far as I'm aware there are only 3 choices available, if you choose Ask as your first option you get limited (1) action remaining not three that you mentioned.  But when you choose Silent Mode, you don't even have that.

So avast has to take action to protect your system and the least option (Send to chest) still allows the user to enter the virus chest and make other choices.

[Rundvleeskroket]

Like I said: there should be an option to set what Avast does when encountering a file like this while in Silent Mode. Currently the only choices are 'Fix automatically' and 'Ask'. That needs revisiting because Silent Mode exists. It isn't granular enough. If it can't ask, I should be able to choose in advance what I want Avast to do in these situations. It should NOT revert back to Fix. I didn't tell it to fix anything. And Fix breaks things.

Avast should not remove a file from any folder without explicit consent. By setting it to something other than 'Fix automatically', I've already told Avast I don't want it to make those calls for me. If it just blocks access and leaves the file in place, that protects the system plenty by preventing file execution, without messing with the contents of a folder.

Also you are a bit mistaken. The settings regarding what to do when encountering viruses only has two options. One tab over, about PUPs, has three. Fix, Ask, or Ignore. I have that indeed set to ignore. The tab regarding viruses does not have this third option.

I didn't say the popup gives me the option to "repair/move/delete". That is a description of what Fix Automatically does. You can read it in the Core Shields settings menu.

In Silent Mode Avast should, without user consent, only do what is least invasive. Which is keep blocking (without adding an exception), not move to chest.

[DavidR]

Nothing to stop you asking via the Submit Feedback in the About Avast window.

Though I rather doubt that will change from the way it has been since it was introduced.  Given that many are basically trying to do what you are doing avoid the ads in the free version and Avast are trying to convert free users.

There are basically two options, but the second can be chosen from a drop down menu, but the point still exists when Ask is the first option in silent mode you don't get any options.

I don't really know why you bother with silent mode, I don't find the number of popup ads/promotions that frequent or intrusive.  I guess I just have a higher tolerance/pain threshold and ignore them.  Then I have FULL control over what action avast takes.

[Rundvleeskroket]

The popups are all designed to scare people into buying a premium version. Scare, not entice. They stay up for a very long time unless you actively interact with them to close them, every damn time. Over the years they have sadly become much more intrusive and borderline misleading. To the point where now I dislike the way Avast tries to foist their wares on the Free users. Maybe I'm the exception but that annoyance makes me less likely to ever consider giving Avast money, not more. Also, for family and friends who aren't very computer savvy the messaging is ever more alarming to them. I now regularly have to tell them that no, there isn't anything wrong with your machine. The warnings aren't real. It's just Avast trying to scare you. Which undermines their vigilance in the event of a real problem. It makes it difficult to trust Avast. That's not great. So to avoid aggravation, Silent Mode it is.

[rocksteady]

The popups are all designed to scare people into buying a premium version. Scare, not entice. They stay up for a very long time unless you actively interact with them to close them, every damn time.

You can adjust the display time for different types of popup in the "old settings" (well for now anyway).

[DavidR]

The popups are all designed to scare people into buying a premium version. Scare, not entice. They stay up for a very long time unless you actively interact with them to close them, every damn time.

You can adjust the display time for different types of popup in the "old settings" (well for now anyway).

I don't think that is correct as Ads don't have a section for them and as far as I'm aware the Info category doesn't apply.

[Rundvleeskroket]

Correct. You can't adjust the time for the ads as far as I know.

I'll say this: currently I'm using regular mode and it seems the number of popups is lower than it was say 6 months ago. Maybe Avast has backed off a bit, or maybe it'll increase again after a few days. We'll see.