Avira Issues

[AtYourService]

i've started using avira antivirus and recommending it to customers
but im kind of weary about the scanning techniques its using, i dont think it finds everything the first time.

let me give you an example:

i scan a system with avira and find nothing, but as avira is active, and i try to scan full with malwarebytes, avira seems to kick on with a warning when malwarebytes comes across scanning an infected file.

what gives? it should have found it the first time, not the second time when another app is accessing the file :confused:

[seedubya]

Sounds like it's not scanning all the files and is only becoming aware of them when MWB "activates" them during its scan.

I gave up on Avira a while ago and am now solely supplying Nod32. People who want a free AV/AM can damn well get their own.

[iptech]

If you're not happy with it, don't recommend it. There's loads of anti-virus software out there and most will offer reseller agreements.

In my experience Avira tends to give false positives as is the case with most AV software where there is a free download with the option to upgrade to a paid version.

Much of the software we use as techs will give false positives on anti-virus software scans, that doesn't mean to day that it's bad and shouldn't be used. As a crude example - a hammer when carried by a know burglar is a probable threat; but when carried by a carpenter then it's probably not. A machine will not be able to make a judgement call between the two, an experienced policeman will.

Do not rely upon any scanning software to do the job for you - you need to know the threats and understand the risks and view scanning software as a tool, not a solution.

[AtYourService]

yea i started recommending it because of the online reports that were saying that it was the best free one, detecting mostly everything thrown at it, and was more lightweight than avg

only until i started using it daily did i find some quirks
such as if i slaved a drive to my machine to scan , it wouldnt delete the virus properly

[Kermit]

I was using system suite 8, but disliked it's constant interrupting for updates and warning windows. Just not user friendly to me. Avira was recommended by another Tech as well as super anti virus. Avira did catch a bunch that SS 8 had missed... but then I started slowing down again. put back SS 8 and it got more that Avira had missed.

I have the same strange problem with SS 8 now. When I do a scan with another anti what ever, SS 8 THEN detects that I have a problem....???

What is it? They don't like getting caught with there pants down?

I don't expect any anti what ever program to catch everything, as new ones come along every minute or faster, but waiting till another virus checker catches it, and then reporting it, is a bit odd....??

Free or paid... just doesn't seem to matter much. Thinking about going back to ZoneAlarm..... Sheesh!

Kermit

[TimeCode]

With Avira, the difference between a COMPLETE scan and a MOSTLY COMPLETE scan is a simple setting change. Now I don't have the free version on my PC as I did pay for it but here is essentially how you change it...


Open Avira.
Click on "Configuration" just above the status view.
Under "Scanner" choose "All Files" instead of "Use Smart Extensions" or "Use File Extension List"
Click "OK".
Run scan.
Be Happy.

[Bobbing]

I have been using Avira Antivir for several years and have been very happy with it.

There are 2 settings you want to change.
Under configuration set it to scan "all files" as well as under guard set it to "all files"

It beats the hell out of AVG.

[Kenhelms]

avg is one heck of a resource hog on older machines though.

[Doctor Micro]

IMHO, when it comes to anti-[whatever], I never make a recommendation for freeware unless asked specifically. There are just too many excellent paid AV/AS solutions out there that are very reasonable in cost. Look at it this way, even if you paid $36 a year for a commercial subscription (and many are less than that, especially if you buy a multi-year or multi-user version), that breaks down to less than a Starbuck's Latte' once a month.

As for the freebies... Avast! or Avira are probably the best, but still just so-so. I used to like AVG until it got bloated and turned into nagware. Ditto for Ad-Aware. And, while I'm on my soapbox, I'm not all that thrilled with the bundled co-branded commercial versions offered for free by many of the major ISPs either.

[AtYourService]

because i see more and more att/comcast customers with their bundled mcaffee with a few hundred infections, not only does mcaffee bog down the system , it doesnt even effectively detect anything

[Doctor Micro]

The bundled version of Trend Micro is even worse...

[Kermit]

Can anyone tell me about Avanquest\SystemSuite 8 ?

It's seems very bloated to me. But then I don't have enough knowledge in that area.

Kermit