• Avast Free tries to increase foothold

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    #2407341

    Avast Free Antivirus update modified its settings, without warning.

    It showed an almost screen-filling diversion telling of the enhancements/merits of its latest updates.
    It insists on turning OFF its “Passive Mode“. But then Microsoft Defender would be disabled.

    It did NOT tell that it switched ON its automatic update, you have to dig for it to switch it off.

    If you have Avast Free Antivirus, better check its settings for unanounced/unauthorised changes after updates.

    1 Desktop Win 11
    1 Laptop Win 10
    Both tweaked to look, behave and feel like Windows 95
    (except for the marine blue desktop, rgb(0, 3, 98)
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    • #2407364

      The mention of Avast prompts me, perhaps a little bit off-topic, to recount my own experience.

      I took my wife’s desktop box to the repair store, accepted that her hard drive was dead, and a replacement with an SSD.  They said: “We normally put Avast on any machine”, pause?  No, I said, no way, no Avast.

      Well, of course, it came back with Avast, unasked.  My first move was to fire up Revo, try to remove Avast.  What they had put on was something that Revo could not remove.  I phoned the store.  Don’t worry, said the store, we’ll remove it remotely.  And they did.

      That counts to me as Avast trying to increase its foothold.

      What was this?  What form of software that the computer store could manipulate remotely?

      A sad blemish on a computer store in whom, otherwise, I have a good level of confidence.

      Dell E5570 Latitude, Intel Core i5 6440@2.60 GHz, 8.00 GB - Win 10 Pro

    • #2407379

      Wow. I would never trust that store again. Luckily, I have never had to take a computer to a local store for repair. I’ve always bought Dell desktops (for over 20 years) and bought their extended at home warranty support (usually for 4 years max). Then I buy another computer but this time, I think I may buy from Apple instead. I liked the Dell extended support for Desktops (I’ve never had a lap top and don’t want one) as that means they send a tech out to my home free of charge during the extended warranty (and I have known the tech for about 30 years and he is excellent).

      I like my iPhone XR ( first Apple product) and my Apple watch and I like the Apple authorized repair store here. Not sure an Apple Desktop would be carry-able for me though as I am older now and still slender and petite. Apple’s poor desktop support is why I have not considered Apple more seriously in the past and stuck with Dell.

    • #2407420

      Not sure an Apple Desktop would be carry-able for me

      Apple Mac Mini

      • #2407430

        But then you also have to carry a monitor, keyboard, mouse/trackpad, two power cables, video cable….

        • #2408029

          not forgetting a desk and chair lol

          Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
    • #2407979

      It insists on turning OFF its “Passive Mode“. But then Microsoft Defender would be disabled.

      Hi E Pericoloso Sporgersi:

      According to the Avast support article Using Passive Mode in Avast Antivirus, when Passive Mode is enabled “Avast Antivirus still receives all virus definitions and program updates that allow you to manually scan for issues on your PC, but Avast can not actively protect you.” Does that mean that you deliberately turn ON Passive Mode in your Avast settings to disable the real-time protection of Avast and only use Avast as a manual on-demand scanner (e.g., similar to Malwarebytes Free)?

      I imagine that most users who have gone to the trouble of installing Avast Antivirus Free want Passive Mode turned OFF (the default) in their Avast settings because they believe that that the built-in Microsoft Defender does not provide adequate real-time protection and want to use a third-party antivirus like Avast for their real-time protection instead.
      ———–
      Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H1 build 19043.1415 * Firefox v95.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v.4.18.2111.5-1.1.18800.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.0.152-1.0.1538

    • #2407991

      Does that mean that you deliberately turn ON Passive Mode in your Avast settings to disable the real-time protection of Avast and only use Avast as a manual on-demand scanner

      Yes, exactly.

      Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium are my permanent shields, i.o.w. my real-time protection.

      As for on-demand scanning I run -consecutively- all five guardians:
      Malwarebytes Premium
      Avast Free
      Microsoft Defender (free)
      SuperAntispyware Free
      and, last but not least, my innate Paranoia (free).

      As a safety net I also keep 3 monthly partition images (system and applications), the oldest of which is 3 months old, the youngest at most 1 month. Important data, not so much any more since retirement, are safely backed up on air-gapped external drives and zip-tucked away in the cloud.

      1 Desktop Win 11
      1 Laptop Win 10
      Both tweaked to look, behave and feel like Windows 95
      (except for the marine blue desktop, rgb(0, 3, 98)
      • #2408012

        Avast Free Antivirus update modified its settings, without warning.

        Why am I not surprised? seen too many hijacks with Avast AV and security suite.
        Ended up removing them as clients did not want the headache of things changing behind their backs, as if they haven’t got enough to contend with the OS.
        AVG Free seemed slightly less agressive/annoying once custom installed.(my observations) YMMV

        Windows - commercial by definition and now function...
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