Recommendation for Avira Pro withdrawn!

[Steve A.]

I didn't realize that my year subscription for Avira Pro was up on October 12th. I got a Windows dialog box asking me if I wanted to upgrade to their fancier product. I said no and on the 13th I got a Windows dialog box saying that I had no AV protection. Sure enough Avira had uninstalled my expired version of their software without telling me what they had done. (With other AV programs I've bought once your subscription expired you would stop getting updates which are an absolute necessity for an AV program.)

To add insult to injury the way that Avira was uninstalled did not allow me to install the free version or the 30 day trial of the pro version properly and I cannot uninstall the crap that it left on my machine. So I went back to Avast! which had served me well for several years until it got overly aggressive in its scans, deleting files it found questionable without checking with me first.

I would have renewed my paid subscription for Avira if they hadn't screwed me around the way they did- leaving me unprotected for a day and then refusing to install or uninstall properly. I guess I made the wrong choice when I received that Windows dialog box which did not tell me that my subscription was expiring. Every other program I've used with an expiration date would start nagging me to renew well before that date. Avira is a Russian program and while their programming was evidently good (no viruses or trojan horses!) the way that they relate to their customers needs definite improvement.

Steve Ahola

P.S. Had I gone with the FREE version (which was recommended by others here) I'm sure I would have avoided all of that bullshit but that option is no longer available to me on this computer.

[big_teee]

I just a bought a new Lenovo N586 Laptop.
It came with Win7 Premium home. Was $402 with tax.
Pretty nice LapT.
It comes with a McAfee Antivirus Plus.
It is pretty invasive and is only good for 60 Days.
I already put My SUPERAntiSpyware free on it.
It works great for spyware.
What do you recommend for a free Antivirus, or is the SUPERAntiSpyware enough.
I also use the do not track and ad block addons with firefox.
Would like a small noninvasive Antivirus, to run in conjunction with the SUPERAntiSpyware.
Thanks,
T

[Steve A.]

Avast! is great but it kept deleting my hacked and cracked software..

[Steve A.]

Update: After emailing Avira last year about the premature expiration date and me paying twice for the program on different computers they extended my expiration date a year and it finally expired earlier this month. I was able to uninstall the paid version and install the free version but I didn't like the changes in the user interface for 2014. Since then I have tried AVG but it kept scanning my computer and threatening to delete or quarantine files with false positives (it may have deleted some of them even though I told it not to.) I switched back to Avira Free and for web protection it wanted me to install the Avira SearchFree Toolbar. Unh-uh! I always manage to dodge those toolbars added when running installation programs (tip: **always** click on Custom Installation so that you can turn off the damned ad-ons.)

So right now I am testing the trial version of Webroot SecurityAnywhere to see if I like it. (I picked up a copy today for $14.95 for 3 computers which I will return if I don't like the free trial version.) I had used their anti-virus 4 or 5 years ago when I picked up some crap that none of the other scanners could touch. Their program kinda worked but the virus came back. I exchanged emails with tech support for about 2 weeks with me sending them a data dump which they used to tweak their program until it finally eradicated the bug.

My big complaint about most AV programs is that I will hear my hard drives grinding when they should be sleeping- the damned AV is running a scan even though I told it not to! And then not giving me a chance to skip their suggestion to delete or quarantine a file that might be infected. (Those files are usually cracked programs or patches to bypass activation.)

Another gripe about AVG- it would not install until I uninstalled Avira. After uninstalling Avira I unplugged my router for protection and tried to run the AVG install program. Nope- it needed internet access to be able to install itself on my computer. Definitely a Catch-22 situation. When I reinstalled Avira Free I was able to download the install program and run it with my router unplugged just to be safe. Once it was installed and running I plugged my router back in so that it could run an update. At no time was I unprotected during the Avira installation.

Steve

[big_teee]

Steve:
You remind me what I miss About Windows?
Exactly!
T

[Steve A.]

I ended going back to WebRoot- a company that I used to clean up my infected computer back in 2009. That was after trying Norton. What I like best about it is that it is not too nosy- it found two viruses in my files and hasn't bothered me since. It seems like all of the other AV programs would find something else every time they ran a scan- this for files that were 5-15 years old!

Steve

[The Dude]

I've used AVG for years. Free and it works. Like many, it auto-updates so you barely know it's there. A couple of times a year they throw a nag screen at you to try getting you to upgrade to a paid version, but easy enough to ignore.

My experience with Norton and Mcafee is that both are processor hogs, especially Norton Systemworks.

[Steve A.]

I used AVG for several years at least until a friend got a nasty virus and the only thing that managed to clean it up was Avast! using the boot-up scanner. (In the menus there is an option to run a boot-time scan on the next reboot.) A lot of computer repair shops would install the free version of Avast! on any computer that came in infected.

I used Kaspersky for awhile, at least until I found it deleting files that it didn't like. I had a huge Thunderbird archive file with plenty of attachments and it decided that one of the attachments was infected so it deleted the entire archive! Man was I pissed off... I uninstalled that damn program posthaste and I think it when I switched to Avira which had working fine at least my paid subscription ran out and I installed the 2014 free version which required me to install the Avira SearchFree Toolbar for web protection. No sir, not on my watch!

One of my requirements for an AV program is that it not interfere too much with the unofficial trial versions of various programs that I download. (Wink! Wink!) Some of the programs are notorious for tagging unofficial patch files as being infected- the false positives. And some of them will automatically delete those patch files as you download them (as mentioned before some of the AV programs wait until you are sleeping and then deletes a bunch of files.)

And of course the program must have a small footprint. I mentioned Norton but it was the Norton boot CD that I would run to clear up an infection- I never installed the program but just used the boot CD. There are a lot of free boot-time AV scanners from the legitimate companies- I used to have a collection of them when I'd go rescue friends' computers but those are many years out of date. There are a lot of crap programs out there that will tell you that your computer is infected but you need to upgrade to the paid version to remove the viruses or other malware. The free scanners from the legitimate companies will at least try to remove the viruses it finds, hoping that you will be impressed enough to install their full program which will give you continuous protection and not just clean up messes after the fact.

Steve

[soundguruman]

Use the most highly rated professional antivirus, such as Kaspersky, Norton, etc...
Use an ALL-IN-ONE professional security system. DO NOT combine multiple security downloads. This causes major system conflicts.
2. NEVER use a free antivirus. You are just asking for it. You have been warned.
3. NEVER download "free" tools or security into your computer. NEVER run "free" security scans.
4. NEVER use a "free" download to "fix" a problem.
5. GOOGLE corp. has already warned: more than 80% of all free downloads are FAKE. They are designed to infect your system and steal your personal information.

The ONLY thing that windows needs to run correctly is: Windows.
Widows needs no help from "free tools." Don't be a sucker.
To fix a problem in windows: you need the windows install disk. That's ALL you ever need.

Spyware sweeper, CC cleaner, Avast, and ALL free downloads: AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!

IF Kaspersky was deleting files, it's because the files were INFECTED. Just because you have a file does not mean that it's CLEAN!

AVG, Avast, etc: very poor performance, very high rate of complaints.

[The Dude]

5. GOOGLE corp. has already warned: more than 80% of all free downloads are FAKE. They are designed to infect your system and steal your personal information.

......and Google is always right and never steals personal information......seriously?

Free does not mean bad! Open source code is responsible for creating some of the best software available. Heard of Linux? Just because you pay for something doesn't necessarily make it somehow better. I've used freeware in several instances for years- NO PROBLEMS. Of course some of it is crap, just like a lot of paid for software is crap. However, to make a generalization like your #2 above is just BS.

"IF Kaspersky was deleting files, it's because the files were INFECTED."
WRONG! Many antivirus programs, including the ones you pay for, detect certain .dll and .exe files as viruses or malware when in fact they are not. This is especially true of cracks and key generators. Many antivirus programs have an "ignore" function allowing you to have them not check certain files. The fact that this function exists is proof that you are wrong.

[soundguruman]

......and Google is always right and never steals personal information......seriously?

Free does not mean bad! Open source code is responsible for creating some of the best software available. Heard of Linux? Just because you pay for something doesn't necessarily make it somehow better. I've used freeware in several instances for years- NO PROBLEMS. Of course some of it is crap, just like a lot of paid for software is crap. However, to make a generalization like your #2 above is just BS.

"IF Kaspersky was deleting files, it's because the files were INFECTED."
WRONG! Many antivirus programs, including the ones you pay for, detect certain .dll and .exe files as viruses or malware when in fact they are not. This is especially true of cracks and key generators. Many antivirus programs have an "ignore" function allowing you to have them not check certain files. The fact that this function exists is proof that you are wrong.

Free is bad. The free antivirus is leaving the majority of your system unprotected.
Unfortunately, people have to be attacked to learn this.

I fix quite a lot of infected computers. The majority of these are using Avast, malware bites, and AVG. They all get nailed easily.
The ones with pro antivirus are not getting attacked, even 1/10 as much.
In the majority of these:
We have to recover the personal files. Reload the operating system because the OS gets pretty corrupted. The free security is not protecting them.

Free security is worth about as much as you are paying for it.

[big_teee]

I hate to beat a Dead Horse, but I run this free Antivirus Software!
Main Page - Linux Mint

[Steve A.]

SGM: PC Mag and other magazines have given high ratings to the free (ad-supported) versions of AVG, Avast! and Kaspersky among others. They don't have all of the bells and whistles of their premium products but that isn't necessarily bad as they usually have a smaller footprint. I only download the boot-time scanners from reputable AV companies recommended by PC Mag and others and because they run before Windows loads all of it drivers and code you don't need to uninstall your current AV program.

Many of the AV programs report false positives for executable files that have been patched or cracked along with key generator programs since they do look suspicious. That can be tricky because many of those files ARE infected- you can't just assume that they are false positives even though most of them are. Safest bet is to patronize a site which welcomes comments from the users since that gives you a good heads up to malicious downloads.

As you say a non-vetted Google search will turn up a very high percentage of scams. Go to the legitimate vendor websites and download their authorized free or trial versions. Here is a link to the PC Magazine review of free AV programs in their Dec 19, 2013 issue:

The Best Free Antivirus for 2013 | PCMag.com

BTW the files that Kaspersky deleted had been scanned repeatedly by the different AV programs I have used over the years so I am sure that there were many false positives among them. With heuristic technology if a program shows behavior similar to a virus it is considered to be a virus.

Steve

[DrGonz78]

Nice BigTeee!! Props to us Linux Mint users!! Yeah it's really nice running an OS where it does not require this resource hungry resident memory sucking AV program. I mean if you are using Linux as a server and it connects to windows machines then yeah you have to have Antivirus software for that type of use. But using Linux mint in comparison to using Windows is like having sex without a condom on... lol.

[Steve A.]

Nice BigTeee!! Props to us Linux Mint users!! Yeah it's really nice running an OS where it does not require this resource hungry resident memory sucking AV program. I mean if you are using Linux as a server and it connects to windows machines then yeah you have to have Antivirus software for that type of use. But using Linux mint in comparison to using Windows is like having sex without a condom on... lol.

You Linux proselytizers will be hoisted by your own petard if and when your operating system becomes popular enough to attract the malware designers. While Linux is undoubtedly less vulnerable than Windows I believe that it is impossible to design an operating system that is 100% bulletproof. And with it being open source the malware meisters do not first need to reverse engineer the programming...

So you might want to whisper your praises of Linux so as to not bring attention to yourselves...

Happy New Year!

Steve