30 replies to this topic

[geor]

Avira AntiVir Free is working well for me,
as I keep it on a short leash.

With great appreciation for what others have taught me,
may I share my strategy that keeps at least this part of I.T. stress free :

* nLited XP Pro unattended install disc w/ current SP & updates,
followed by imaging the system partition after the baseline apps
are installed & everything is tweaked.
(currently using Paragon Drive Image w/ great satisfaction - no failures)

only 8 minutes to reimage a fresh install of a 12 GB system partition from bare metal -
Reincarnation at its finest !

* Deep Freeze from Faronics - so, in a way, who cares what happens?
Every time I shutdown the pc, the entire session is erased - nothing persists.
I reset "My Documents" & "Favorites" to another partition,
& copy any program updated config/ .ini files to another partition for Save/Backup.

- of course, you can run Deep Freeze in the 'thawed' state
to allow new app installations or updates to persist,
then lock the rig down again w/ "Frozen" state.

*Autocomplete/password saves disabled,
so there's no personal/financial info onboard even if I am compromised -
it's all in a hidden, hot-keyed plain text file.

* Webroot AntiVirus/spySweeper to prevent drive-by browser malware downloads,
with the real-time AV turned off - I only use it by R-click scanning specific files.


* Avira AntiVir services set to Manual,
& the Classic Scheduler is only "Started" when I want to update.

I also use the AV scan function only by R-clicking specific files,
including all pertinent files on the system partition.

This does take an extra second to begin scanning,
but then, it doesn't run in the background,
chewing up RAM & resources like SpySweeper & the rest of the system hogs do.

Services :

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic Guard
"C:\Program Files\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avguard.exe"

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic Scheduler :
"C:\Program Files\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\sched.exe"

These 2 .exes are set to hotkeys for instant access, obviously - this IS AHK, right?

[geor]

Oh -
I want to clarify that I live on the "wrong" side of the tracks -
daily visits to sites of ill repute, dLoads of ..... whatever ...... ,
testing cra*ks/k*yg*ns in virtual machines, etc etc etc .......

- & 2 more strategies I forgot -
do your online business within either SandboxIE or a Virtual Machine !

then, as I said, if you've not exposed any personal info,
who cares what happens -
short of malware specifically written to cause disk thrashing ?

[corrupt]

well... I finally gave in to all the nag updates a week ago and updated AVG... The first thing I did was go into the settings and turn off as much unnecessary crap that I could find a setting for (stuff I'm not interested in anyway).

So far I have no complaints with this version compared to the previous version...



Deep Freeze ... <shudder>

[Serenity]

I switched to Avira AntiVir after upgrading to AVG8. I've had a few false positives confirmed by http://virusscan.jotti.org/, but I'm quite happy with it.

...one bad thing is when Avira AntiVir Personal Edition updates you get an annoying popup...but you won't notice that for another 12-24 hours...

This almost made me switch until I found you can disable the notifications in Configure AntiVir/Expert mode.

[jballi]

This almost made me switch until I found you can disable the notifications in Configure AntiVir/Expert mode.

...hrm...ok, I have not found that yet, but I'll go look for it...(perhaps a new feature?)...

I haven't found it either. Serenity, can you direct us to the right option?

Thanks.

[Serenity]

I'm using version 8.1, I don't know about earlier versions.

Select Start AntiVir from the tray icon menu to launch the main window. One popup is under Administration/Scheduler. I have mine set to daily update; you can edit the update job so the display mode is invisible.

Press F8 or select Configuration from the Extras menu to launch the Configuration window. In the top left under the banner there is a checkbox for Expert mode, you need to check this for extra options to show. I have disabled this option in the tree menu: General/Security - Show notice if the virus definition file is out of date

Under General/Update, check to see if notify user if updates are available is checked. I can't remember if this or download and install updates automatically is the default, but to me it is another popup.

You can also whitelist items to reduce notifications during scan, this option is also only visible in Configuration/Expert mode under Scanner/Scan/Exception and Guard/Scan/Exception.

Hope that helps. :)

[jballi]

Under General/Update, check to see if notify user if updates are available is checked. I can't remember if this or download and install updates automatically is the default, but to me it is another popup.

I don't think this is it. I turned off notifications for this one yesterday but I still got a pop-up today. I'll leave it off for now just in case it's a combination thing...

I have disabled this option in the tree menu: General/Security - Show notice if the virus definition file is out of date

This might be it. I've disabled it and crossed my fingers.

Hope that helps.

I do too. Thanks for your feedback!

[Serenity]

I do consider the little update windows popups, but not ads. I should have mentioned I have the advert window blocked via my always running script. I assumed others would have done the same, since this is AHK forum! ;)

[jballi]

I do consider the little update windows popups, but not ads. I should have mentioned I have the advert window blocked via my always running script. I assumed others would have done the same, since this is AHK forum!

Thanks for the clarification. I thought we were talking about the super-annoying advertisement window. The other pop-ups are annoying but they don't steal focus and they tell me that stuff (usually an internet download) is happening.

I didn't want to do it but I guess I'll have to write a pop-up ad blocker for Arivia. Now all I have to do is wait for the next annoying ad to occur and stop myself from quickly closing it before I extract the window information...

Once again, thanks for your feedback.

[Serenity]

The window title of the ad is Notifier of Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus.

[Serenity]

I've tried cacls'ing the avnotify.exe but that caused other issues like updates not succeeding.

I've noticed the ad only shows when I launch the update dialog, so the two might be related. There are strings in avnotify.dll that suggest it connects to the internet.

Thanks for the link btw, I've added avnotify.exe as per the 2k instructions. So far update and scan seem to be working. :)

Edit - it seems the 2k instructions don't work, I just got a popup when I ran update, and then this system message came up which prevented me from closing the ad window until I terminated it via the taskmanager. So annoying!

Server Busy
This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Choose 'Switch To' to activate the busy program and correct the problem.

[peterlo]

AVG 8 may not be bloated but I am very disappointed with the slow down on my P3, 1GHz PC which so far I have managed to keep acceptably fast. Frankly I am having difficulty getting things done & the messages here confirm my fears. I have to say that I have used AVG with confidence & good results until now. Desertion will seem like I am ungrateful but I see no option.
Like others I was concurrently using Spybot S & D. Also Sunbelt's Counterspy & Personal Firewall, Winpatrol & Spywareblaster.
I experienced almost no conflicts & generally speed was OK when viewed against risk. Spybot S & D has also recently updated & now operates in coninuously active mode so I guess conflicts are now almost inevitable which is what I think I see when I look at the processes running in Task Manager, something I am now doing every 10 minutes .
Avira when recently tried was better but for me now it looks like I will need to be very selective abouty what runs in tghe background & what I choose to run "on demand".
Pete