Using FW to block free AV ad popups?

[remm]

Hello all...

Been using Avast Free v7 for some years but it will be expiring come Nov. Stuck with this version so long cause you could turn popup ads off. Not so with the newer versions. But Avast isn't a great AV anymore anyway. I have mainly kept it for the boot scanner feature.

Seems all free AVs now are nagware or adware. Would like to give Bitdefender Free a try b/c of its rating. Any current users care to say if this program throws up daily ad popups, and if so, have you tried making a FW policy to block them?

Thanks much.

EDIT: Never mind! Just installed Bitdefender free - had no idea there are absolutely ZERO config options.... and I do mean ZERO. ZIP. NADA. Can't even tell it you only need C scanned and not your other partitions! Holy computers Batman, this has to be the worst GUI ever.... and coming from AVAST where you can practically tell it what you want your dog to do in case of a fire. Won't be using Bitdefender!

 

[Jacee]

Have you tried uninstalling the old version (issued Mar 7, 2012 https://www.avast.com/en-us/uninstall-utility ) and installing the latest version 'Avast 2015'? https://www.avast.com/index

It's up to you. tho'

 

[DavidE]

It seems Avast has changed how many popups are displayed, and the yearly registration requirement.
Here are a couple of Avast forum threads about this:

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=169619.0
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=169615.0

I'm updating my system with Avast free now, so i'll see how it goes for me going forward.
I stay well behind on latest releases of Avast, so i can wait and see if others report issues, and they have a bug fix release(s) ...

Also, with Panda free i get no popups, they can be turned off.
It has more configuration options than Bitdefender, but not near as many as Avast.

What i do to test a new AV is

• Create a System Backup Image
• Uninstall the current AV
• Install the new AV
• Test the new AV

If I don't like the new AV, restore the Backup Image

 

[remm]

@Jacee - Thanks. Tried the new AVAST months ago and again more recently and don't like the direction AVAST has taken. That goes for them updating people's machines without their prior knowledge even when the program was set to manual update as well. I participated in a heated discussion on the AVAST forum a few months back regarding this and other issues, insisting they add an expiration date for users so they can choose to update themselves at their convenience (i.e. after backing up, etc). I see that although we got nothing but flames from fanboys, someone paid attn, as v7 now has a notice it will be expiring in Nov.

Those issues aside, the detection rate is dismal anymore and the fp rate is sky high, so that's another reason I am looking elsewhere.

@DavidE - I follow your routine exactly. BU. Try new AV. Restore to previous BU if necessary. And I also don't update my programs until I feel it is necessary. In some cases newer versions are not better, just incorporated with adware and unwanted bloat. And heck yes... never update a program or OS especially before the version/patch/update has been tried out on the sheeple.

Am trying Avira Free now, which has pretty good config options and a detection rate of 99.9% matched only by the pay-for Kaspersky. Only advantage K has over Avira free is K has a very low fp rate while Avira free got 44 fp's in the test.... which is still better by half than Avast's 77 fp's. Just have to tweak some things to block the Avira popup ads. (Oh, and Avira is not compatible with Comodo FW which I have used for years, but now that Windows has a 2-way FW capable of adding policies, I don't mind switching to that.) EDIT: Avira actually IS compatible with Comodo as long as you are only using the FW.

But one thing I can't believe.... Avira is only 32bit. I came here to ask if this is really true. When I saw my offline installer installed in the (x86) folder, I thought maybe I screwed up and DL'd the 32-bit version. But no, I didn't. One version for both 32 & 64 and no native 64 bit.

 

[Jacee]

Is this where you downloaded the 'Free' Avira? It has Win 64 version. Avira Free Antivirus - Download the best free antivirus software

Be aware that Avira has combined "Ask.com" with it's download .. Uncheck that browser add-on!
Avira (free) does have a 'nag' pop-up, last I checked a couple of years ago. I don't know about it with the latest download.

 

[remm]

Is this where you downloaded the 'Free' Avira? It has Win 64 version. Avira Free Antivirus - Download the best free antivirus software

... that's a 4MB installer though you wouldn't know by looking.... those are against my religion. I got the full offline installation file here Download Avira Free Antivirus 15.0.8.656 - FileHippo.com and they all say the same thing (ironfile, etc) that it's for 32bit and 64bit systems... which usually means it installs the version you need. In this case it seems to mean they only have a 32bit version, so it doesn't matter what your OS is. I Googled this earlier and someone was asking in the official Avira forum about not have a native 64bit free version. The answer was that the driver it uses is 64bit so it's the same thing. <?> Sounded like BS to me but I can't remember if the posts were recent...

Be aware that Avira has combined "Ask.com" with it's download .. Uncheck that browser add-on!
Avira (free) does have a 'nag' pop-up, last I checked a couple of years ago. I don't know about it with the latest download.

The full offline installation is clean (IIRC) but the online installer might very well bundle crapware. And yes, the newest versions nag though there are many methods for blocking the popups as I have learned: 6 Ways to Remove the Popup Ads in Avira Antivir - wikiHow though some cause Windows popups as a result of blocking the Avira popups... have not had time to work the knots out yet and am not sure I'll be sticking with Avira. I like their detection rate... it would be good as a portable OD scanner.