I have removed Avast 5 from all 3 systems and installed Avira, now my systems are back to working again.
Good luck with those numerous daily FP's,
I have been running the free version of Avira for several years on several machines, except for a short period when I tested Avast, since I was considering purchasing a family pack. (I gave up on Avast when I realized that despite 3 different users having reported the same bug in the v. 5 beta, Alwil had decided that we are not worth their trouble. I don't normally pay money to be treated with contempt, and don't quite trust a company which advertises a feature knowing full well that it doesn't work on a significant number of machines.) I am now running the free version of Avira 9 on two machines and the beta of Avira 10 on one. I have NEVER had a false positive on any release version of Avira, and the false positives I reported with one build of the beta were fixed in the next build 2 days later.
corrupt/failed often enormous updates (speaking of CPU usage, you ain't seen nothing yet)
I have never gotten a corrupt update. I have rarely had an update fail, and in those cases where it did it was always at the time of a major engine update, which apparently can overload the servers which they dedicate to free users. The problem always straightens itself out in a day or two. I have never had a CPU usage problem, despite the fact that I tend to run my machines so long that a respectable junk yard will no longer accept them.
the annoying splash screen at startup and the even more so annoying daily "begging" screens to purchase the full version.
My registry parameters are set to prevent my EVER seeing a splash screen, ad screen, or anything remotely related.
But no worries, mate..... the Avira support staff will promptly, courteously & professionally answer IGNORE your NUMEROUS DAILY FP queries!
As I said, my one FP report (2 or 3 FPs in the same beta build) were fixed in the next build 2 days later. As to other technical questions and problems which I posted on their support forums, they were always answered very quickly, courteously, and usefully by Avira staffers and/or other forum members.
A request: I have no objection to people disagreeing with me, but I would prefer not to be the target of fanboy nastiness, which I sometimes see on the this forum. Thanks for your consideration.
C.