Today I updated Avast Free through the program. After the required reboot I was thoroughly pissed off to see that I was getting DropBox as well. There may well have been an opt-out after the reboot, but I should NOT need to sit through a reboot to catch it. And believe me, a reboot on my tired old Vista machine is a long painful process.
If anyone at Avast is listening, at least have the decency to offer the opt-out during the initial installation phase, not after the reboot. The current situation is unconscionable.
But don’t hold your breath, we commercial product users get the same crap hoisted upon us as well. If Avast Senior Management no longer care about their paid customers then I feel sorry for you free guys, you’ll be waiting forever for a change in these spammer tactics by the Avast Marketing Militants ;D
A new installation has clear opt-out possibility.
But, as Paul_D observed, when updating from GUI and it occurs after reboot, it’s hard or impossible to catch. Unless you have another way, a firewall or HIPS, to alert that the offer wants to install.
I agree with all of you, however the best way to install any product is to do a Custom Install and read what you are installing before you click. This way you avoid things you do not want like add-on’s, toolbars, etc. Always do Custom Installs and read before you click.
I am fully aware of all that and practice it religiously, as my original post indicated. And as AdrianH says, this is not an installation, but a (should be) routine update.
I have an aging Vista machine (overdue for replacement) and I load quite a bit at startup. Reboots can take up to five minutes. Yes, I know it’s my choice, but that doesn’t alter the fact that Avast’s behaviour in this instance is unconscionable
