Avast Antivirus

Will

Will

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I recently installed this AV program to test an issue. I can safely say I've never used a more parasitic program, especially one that's designed to protect your computer. That includes the normal bloatware that I've uninstalled from friends/family members machines.

Installing the program - no problems. The voice notifications are annoying, but easy enough to turn off. All my problems occurred when I tried to uninstall it. Firstly, removing the program through add/remove programs defaults you to the Avast update screen, not the uninstall screen. This is the only time I've ever seen a program do this - most people don't pay that much attention to install screens, and the first time I went through the process I clicked next assume the program would be removed.

To actually uninstall the program, you have to select a different option, and then select the features you wish to uninstall. Finally, with that discovered, you'd assume there would be no further problems? Unfortunately, the program didn't actually uninstall itself - it just broke itself. A couple of hours later, I decide to check that the Windows 8 default AV is running - Windows Defender. I launch the program, and I'm greeted with the popup that it's turned off and isn't monitoring. I check the notification area, and see the Avast Icon is still present indicating it's still installed, but also not currently monitoring as it's missing components.

Fortunately, Avast provide an uninstal utility:
avast! Uninstall Utility | Download aswClear for avast! Removal

(Please, spread that link. :lol:). I download the tool, get prompted to boot into safe mode and then discover that even their removal tool is badly designed - the default options don't even remove Avast! themselves. You have to manually select the Avast installation folder for it to be deleted, otherwise this doesn't get removed. Avast! finally removed - I reboot and check Windows Defender again, still not automatically turned. Fortunately, it's easy to turn on from the Action Centre - all problems finally solved.

I can safely say I will never be recommending Avast! AV to anyone - an AV program should be designed to protect your computer, not trick users into keeping it installed and operate a scorched earth policy when they're finally able to remove it. It's easier to remove most malware than this AV program. :r1:
 
I've seen avast! be a cause of a few BSODs too, and I always recommended using the removal tool, but I wonder if the user actually managed to remove avast! then? :confused2:
 
I think the tool will by default remove registry keys, just not the actual files. Not a good design, but should stop any BSODs being caused by the program.
 
I use AVAST A/V currently, and have no issues with it. All PC's in my family are protected with it. Obviously, as you have stated Will and x BlueRobot, mileage does vary with all these programs. Although I have not tried to uninstall it - so I will keep your advice in mind Will! :)

I may be replacing it with another A/V soon for other reasons.
 
Been using Avast since XP days with no problems. Used the removal tool on a friends PC when he won a paid AV in a contest. Again no issues. Can only go by my own experiences. A Guy
 
That's understandable - I've used previous versions of Avast! and didn't run into problems. Unfortunately I found the entire program incredibly frustrating this time; I think the uninstaller is designed to be easy to miss, so that most users end up simply updating rather than uninstalling.
 
I too have been using Avast without problems on almost everything here, I do have MSE on 1 Win7 install and Defender on a Win8 install on the same machine.
 
In BSOD analysis, I always recommend removing any installed AV programs just to get them out of the way for troubleshooting purposes, and to have them reinstalled afterwards once everything is solved. It in my opinion makes my life easier, and has saved future posts in which the AV turned out to be the issue.

I personally don't use an AV, and I realize that it's fairly stupid and that there is no point in at least not using MSE, but I digress.
 
Seeing as how you already said that it is "fairly stupid" to not use an A/V, I won't repeat it. ;)

Something to consider: I can understand if there are signs in the log that the A/V, particularly if it is a suite, is causing problems asking the OP to temporarily uninstall it. However, if you do insist on doing that, please ask them to temporarily install MSE and also be sure to activate the Windows Firewall if they are using an all-in-one security solution. Also consider the original post in this thread and the problem Will had with the uninstall. Without a clean uninstall, the OP will likely have a problem installing MSE and may not be able to activate the Windows Firewall.

One of my pet peeves is when analysts (regardless of their specialty, be it a malware, BSOD, or whatever) "impose" their opinion of the A/V on the OP. Over the years I've seen people tell someone who is using an expensive subscription A/V that they didn't like to uninstall it and install one of the free solutions when their A/V wasn't causing any problems.
 
Yep, that's what I always do, Corrine! It's quite funny, the OP's end up keeping and preferring MSE over whatever they were using before.

I don't impose my opinion because I don't know enough about anti viruses to go into specifics. I just know some 3rd party anti viruses cause issues with the NETBIOS ports, and can be a leading cause in BSOD's depending on the bugcheck, etc. If I have reason to believe it's the case, or a contributing factor, that's when I will recommend temporary removal and replacement for troubleshooting purposes.
 
Speaking of paid AV suites, my sister's fiancée has been paying for a non-functioning version of Norton 2006 for the last 6 years. It was finally removed when I saw that Norton files were taking up 90% of his 40GB hard drive space with borked updates.

He always assumed because the payment went through fine, that he didn't need to do anything.
 
I really don't like Norton, and that's because it's so bloated and resource consuming, it tends to lead to BSODs.
 
I have just uninstalled AVAST from my personal system and have to say, I didn't experience any issues.

It wasn't the best uninstaller that I've seen, especially the removal tool, but it wasn't hard to use at all. So long as you restart the computer when instructed to, it works perfectly.

From what I can see at a quick glance, only one file of AVAST remains, setup.ini, but that's hardly important.

I took screenshots of the whole process as I uninstalled AVAST - attached to this post.

----

After clicking uninstall from Control Panel:
1.png

Clicking the uninstall tab shows this:
2.png

After pressing uninstall, it asks if you really want to do this:
3.png

The uninstaller:
4.png

Once finished, it asks you to reboot:
5.png

Rebooted, downloaded the removal tool, rebooted into safe mode to run it:
6.png

Only left over file I can quickly see:
7 (leftover files).png
 
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John, I suspect that may be due to the 'sandboxing' that it does for less common downloads and programmes in the latest version. It's the first change I make on installing it - setting the sandbox to 'Ask' not 'Auto(sandbox)'. It's one of the most common causes of problems that I see on the Pale Moon forum.

It's probably similar for many heuristic 'features' in security software and browser security like 'SmartScreen', they work fine if you only use or download the top 10% most popular software/downloads. Otherwise, expect plenty of problems and false positives.
 
satrow said:
John, I suspect that may be due to the 'sandboxing' that it does for less common downloads and programmes in the latest version. It's the first change I make on installing it - setting the sandbox to 'Ask' not 'Auto(sandbox)'. It's one of the most common causes of problems that I see on the Pale Moon forum.

It's probably similar for many heuristic 'features' in security software and browser security like 'SmartScreen', they work fine if you only use or download the top 10% most popular software/downloads. Otherwise, expect plenty of problems and false positives.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting, I had no idea !avast contained a Sandbox feature. I have a spare computer that I should use to test BSOD theories and other things.
 
It takes a little digging to find it:

AvastSandbox.jpg

Note that the plugin-containers for Flash in Pale Moon are in my exclusion list as well as all Pale Moon versions, as is the BSOD App!
 
jcgriff2 said:
I am seeing Avast show up as the probable cause in BSODs with increasing frequency.
Click to expand...

Corrine said:
The free version of Avast, one of the licensed products or both?
Click to expand...

Not sure.

I just see drivers - which are likely common to both.

satrow said:
John, I suspect that may be due to the 'sandboxing' that it does for less common downloads and programmes in the latest version. It's the first change I make on installing it - setting the sandbox to 'Ask' not 'Auto(sandbox)'. It's one of the most common causes of problems that I see on the Pale Moon forum.

It's probably similar for many heuristic 'features' in security software and browser security like 'SmartScreen', they work fine if you only use or download the top 10% most popular software/downloads. Otherwise, expect plenty of problems and false positives.
Click to expand...

I do hear you, but if the install is current (version), I recommend removal & installation of MSE/ Windows Defender or ESET (not free).
 
I'd really like to know what's with the attacks on avast. I love it. It stops rogue emails before Thunderbird or live even detects them. It scans my inbound and outbound ports. It even scans files as they're being opened and closed. No AV I have ever used has ever done this. I've never had BSODs from Avast, and futhermore I blame BSODs on the user not the software. Lack of care for your drivers and updates is a sure fire way to do that. Sure developers release bad eggs, microsoft has proven that. But I stand behind avast as the best AV on the market. I recommend it to everyone.

Just as a personal experience, when we had our computers attacked, my dad's computer running Norton was completely immobilized. Mine running avast had stopped the attack on my computer. Mind you this was back in 2002 on xp.

I stand behind avast over any other AV with pride.
 

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