Avast Free anti-virus : unwanted anti-spam toolbar in Outlook 2003

Hi,

I have had Avast Free anti-virus for a long time. At some point, after an automatic upgrade, all my messages in Outlook 2003 got an added anti-spam toolbar from Avast. I don't want it.

I did not find any way to make it go away from inside Outlook. It does not appear as an add-on in the relevant places. At some point, there was a register-based solution that was floating around on the Web. It worked with a previous version of Avast, but not with the current one.

I uninstalled Avast (with the proprietary uninstall tool, in safe mode) and reinstalled it twice. At some point, the anti-spam appeared as a separate module, so naturally I refused installation / deactivated it / uninstalled it (don't remember which). Yet it's impossible to make the toolbar go away.

If I de-activate or uninstall the mail shield module, the anti-spam toolbar goes away, but I don't want that. I want Avast to scan my mail, of course.

Now that I have nixed it somehow, the anti-spam component does not show anymore in the Settings / Components panel, not even in order to be re-activated. I don't know if this is a bug or a feature. It happens with other Avast components that I have refused, or uninstalled, and which do not appear anymore in the options panel as an option available for re-activation.

The anti-spam, illogically, is not part of the mail shield component, and no relevant settings appear in the mail shield settings.

A request in the Avast forum did not bring any helpful answers.

Thanks for any insights in this before I nuke Avast altogether (for what ? not many free choices worth their salt...).

Because it works... :)

Other reasons include : because I haven't mastered all its features yet... because I don't know how to get money on tap (advice welcome)... because you can buy Office 2003 help books for 1 $ apiece... because I resent Microsoft's tendency to drag its customers to the cloud and steal their data... because knowledgeable Office experts think the 2003 edition was the best one and things went downhill since... and mainly because the question should be put the other way : why on earth should I "upgrade" ?

clairvaux said:

because it works... :)

other reasons include : Because i haven't mastered all its features yet... Because i don't know how to get money on tap (advice welcome)... Because you can buy office 2003 help books for 1 $ apiece... Because i resent microsoft's tendency to drag its customers to the cloud and steal their data... Because knowledgeable office experts think the 2003 edition was the best one and things went downhill since... And mainly because the question should be put the other way : Why on earth should i "upgrade" ?

The MAIL shield is the master option, Anti-spam is a minor option of it.
Just turn it off permenantly.

Roy

MoxieMomma said:

One good reason to upgrade:
Security vulnerabilities in a program that is long, long EOS/EOL and no longer being patched by MS.

That's true in the long run. But going to this concrete case, what security vulnerability are you concerned about exactly?

Many times that catchphase is just thrown without any concrete basis other than a theoretical risk.
And in many other cases, the real risks can be mitigated by other good practices.