Holy crap, Avast...

I've been using Panda (free) for several days now on a couple shop pc's; One is running Win 8.1, the other is running Win 10. I have not noticed any issues so far, has a small footprint, and I don't believe I have seen any pop up nags (unless I missed them).
 
It seems like the guys at Avast are competing against the guys at Comodo to see who can create the biggest security flaws. You couldn't pay me to use anything from comodo right now after all the flaws with there secure chromium browser which ironically disables all the security features or sets up a default vnc server with no password. Who knows what else is wrong they haven't found yet.

I always push for paid av but for the people who flat out refuse to pay , I want to at least feel good about what I am recommending even though they could probably care less.
 
seedubya said:
I've never understood why techs use free AV programs.
Click to expand...

I am all for full disclosure. Whenever I suggest ANY product to a customer, I lay out the pros and cons (and if I don't have experience with which to lay out the pros and cons, I say that in no uncertain terms). This is no different. The discussion usually goes like this:

"Tell me about Free Antivirus programs..."

Well, everything is pros and cons, yeah? Here's how I see it:

Pros
  • Well, it's free, duh.
  • Umm, can't think of another one (insert your favorite conspiracy theory or "stick it to the man" story here)
Cons
  • The whole reason the company makes a free program is to convert a certain percentage of users to purchase their paid version. Remember if no one does this, then the company makes no money and can't continue providing the free program. Conversion attempts can get more and less aggressive depending on the movements in the company's bottom line. Out of your control.
  • They tend to be "noisy". They want the user's attention more than they should - see the first point.

BUT - we can't end it here, let's go over how I choose between programs - as a technician. How do you compare them all (free and paid alike) to find one to recommend?

What makes a "good" program:

  • It's light on system resources. What good is being protected if you have to give up 50% of your computer's horsepower?
  • It does it's job and stays out of your way. That means it loads it's own updates and does it's own scans without bothering you. Only notify the user if something is wrong.
  • It's a "good citizen" living on your computer - it gets along with other programs and doesn't cause more problems than it solves (I'm looking at you, AVG)
  • It has a generally good reputation in my industry (Sorry, MSE, it was fun while it lasted)

Which THEN leads the customer to ask about which one I recommend. I start by saying that the product I like today is different than the one I liked 2 years ago, and will likely be different than the one I like 2 years from now. It's a changing landscape and it's unrealistic to assume any one product will ever be the "best" for long.

Finally, I describe my managed antivirus program - which I honestly believe meets all four bullets in my "good program" list, plus....IT TELLS ME IF SOMETHING IS WRONG. That allows ME to bring MY PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE to bear in your protection. As a bonus, it's cheaper than most all of the retail products you'll find if you go out to Best Buy or Staples. Win Win.

If, after hearing this dissertation they still ask about a free product, then I'll install something - no pressure or revisiting the discussion. I'll typically use Avast, but also tell them to let me know how it goes - and that we can always switch if they don't like it.

If they're on Win7 and have or ask about MSE, I have the discussion that this USED to be an adequate product, but that it hasn't been in active development for a while and is no longer considered adequate protection. If they have Win8/10 and ask about Windows Defender, then I review that this is "lukewarm" protection at best. If you are a low-risk user that doesn't spend all of their time on the internet, you can try it out, but you really should get better protection if you can afford it. If you are NOT a low-risk user or if you have teenagers in the house, then you really need better protection.

I'm sorry, I kind of got off on a tear there - what was the question again? :p
 
I had a conversation with my Avast rep. today.

He couldn't make a comment on the free version because he doesn't work with it. He said every time he has come across the start menu not working and the boot issues is when Cortana is activated.

I don't know if that helps anyone. I know I haven't activated Cortana on systems in a long time. That might be why I never have this problem.
 
Very interesting that you say that because I always disable Cortana in every system as well and haven't had any issues.
 
I do have Cortana enabled on every Win 10 system that I have worked with. I suppose that could be leading to the issue with Avast, it makes sense from what you guys are saying. However, by Avast not addressing this issue, they are really shooting themselves in the foot. If most folks have a bad experience with the free version, they surely aren't going to be inclined to upgrade to a paid version of the same product.
 
TechLady said:
^^ Nailed it. (And that's why I'm not too keen on the paid AV either--if the other versions suck, why would you trust the paid any better?).
Click to expand...

Actually that's another reason I look for free alternatives - because the paid alternatives aren't really all that great. Truthfully, is there anybody out there (other than an employee of the AV developer) who firmly and positively "loves" any of the AV options out there? I have seen malware infected computers with up-to-date subscriptions from every AV program for sale. I've also seen systems slowed down to a halt by Kaspersky or ESET or other highly rated AVs. I've seen printers not respond or networks not connect due to obscure firewall settings in highly rated "Internet Security" software packages that took me hours to track down. It's really too bad that Microsoft has backed off from MSE/Windows Defender because at least that was a simple, easy to recommend solution. I really hate telling people to go sign up for an annual subscription to something I might have to uninstall in order to get their system working properly again.
 
Two things:

I've never seen avast chunk out a huge temp file. I have seen apps like quickbooks do it though.
Unless it was a widespread problem, I wouldn't be raising and pitchforks. I also do not use windows
10, so those problems do not affect me. I would say this though... if indeed avast does have issues
supporting windows 10 they should get those fixed pretty fast.

It's strange to me, but AV comparatives hasn't done a real world protection test yet this year. Unless they
only do them quarterly and I missed that. But according to the last one they did, AVG and BitDefender
did extremely well. Both of the free versions of those should be great alternatives to Avast if you do need one.
 
I'm a bit confused by some of these responses. In my experience, every single AV prog has had a glitch once in a blue moon, but it's rare and unusual.

I've seen the problem in the OP, and I fixed it by uninstalling and reinstalling avast. No problem since. I've also had avg cause the "system profile cannot log you in" problem (quite a few times). I've had catastrophic slowdowns from mcafee and kaspersky. I've also seen norton block all network traffic, whilst saying all is fine.

I'm a tech support professional, and a reinstall of the product has fixed ALL of these problems. (except maybe AVGs one that needs a bit more attention to repair.)

ALL of the AVs that I've listed work fine in normal conditions on a new install, some of you guys are talking like that's how they work out of the box! :)

Complaining about Free AV popups seems a little surprising, :) if you don't like them, then PAY FOR IT :) :)

In the course of life, I've noticed various AVs come and go with their problems. but the next major version usually fixes it.

The other thing that seems very obvious to me is that if you ask 10 genuine experts which is the best AV, you will get 10 different and sincere answers. Sadly, sometimes their reasons for justifying their answers are (to be polite) not what I'd expect to hear from a professional diagnostic engineer.
 
Yeah if it's free deal with the pop ups.
If your a tech don't offer free in the first place just tell the end user the facts. You don't support a free av. They will cost more in the long run due to being ineffective compared to your paid recommended one. They won't get the support needed by the developer. If they insist tell them they'll be charged at a premium rate considering if they don't have the developers support well neither do you so you'll have pass the costs on.
 
I abandoned both AVG & Avast and replaced them with Panda Cloud Antivirus. Lightweight and effective - only problem is often having to uninstall an older version just to install an updated one. Apart from that I have had very few complaints from customers.
 
I've always found Avast to be buggy and annoying, more that some of the other free AV programs. I recommend the latest AVG Free. It has a much better interface and automated scans can be programmed to start after the next computer start if the scan day/time was missed when the computer was off.
 
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