Hi…I am fairly new to Avast after being a longtime Avira user. The free Antivirus is without doubt an excellent product and is running fairly smoothly on my computer. I am not a computer novice, however, I am certainly no expert either. I would like some advice on how Avast detects antispyware & Rootkits and where I may be able to view the settings/configurations of both of these. I can seem to only view the antivirus configuration etc , via the settings. I imagine that spyware/rootkits are detected via the standard shield, and that updates cover both of these, as well as antivirus…if somebody could please confirm/advise.
I have also recently installed Online Armour Free and remember once reading that these 2 products had a compatability problem. They initially appear to be running ok… I have placed all the Avast programms in Trusted Zone. Could someone please advise if I need to do anything else to avoid any problems.
Many thanks…XP S/P3…Avast Home…Online Armour Free…Winpatrol Free.
They are both integral to the avast process.
The anti-spyware/virus scanning happen concurrently so there are no specific anti-spyware settings.
The anti-rootkit scan happens 8 minutes after boot, this allows all applications to run on boot that you have so it doesn’t start at this busy time, it also allows any rootkit time to load or it would be missed on the scan if it wasn’t running.
The rootkit scan is also incorporated into the Standard and Thorough sensitivity on-demand scans, again there are no specific settings for the rootkit feature, the idea to keep it simple I guess.
There will also be a standalone version of the avast anti-rootkit, but that has yet to be released.
Some have experienced problems with online armour but other haven’t it would depend on your system setup (not just a conflict with avast), but I think it is a case of try it and see. The only files that should need internet access are, ashwebsv.exe (the Web Shield), ashmaisv.exe (the Internet Mail provider) and avast.setup the avast update process.
Thanks again for help & welcome…I have uninstalled Online Armour as I feel I am overloading my Security. I am behind a Router, use Limited Accounts for surfing & banking and feel this new Avast & WinPatrol (realtime) will cover my needs. Using MBAM & Ewido Microscanner as on demand scanners. I am so impressed at what Avast covers in comparison to others.