Long story short…I hate my current AV program. I’m looking to dump it and go with Internet Security, but before I do, I have a few questions. If all goes well with Avast, I’ll be getting some family members to switch over too because we are all having the same bad experience with this other AV software company. I downloaded the Quick Start manual and have been looking on this forum for my research, but I still need some clarification on the following:
1.) Compatible vs. Express Install: We have a handful of on-demand scanners and security tools, none of which run actively. Does it really matter which install method is used if none of these are active security programs? It would be easier on some of my less computer literate family to use the Express rather than Compatible of Custom just because there is less chance of screwing something up.
2.) Firewall Settings: I see “Work” is default. My preference is to be as “invisible” as possible so is there any reason that the “Public” setting can’t be used full time? Any issues with programs running correctly or automatically downloading updates in the more restrictive “Public” setting?
3.) Network Shield: My current AV lets me specify which devices on the wi-fi- network have access to the PC files. For example, I don’t want my work laptops to have access to my PC while they’re on the w-fi network here at home, but I do want to allow other wireless devices to have file access on the PC. Does Internet Security allow me monitor and specify device access through Network Shield?
4.) Sandbox vs. Safezone: From what I understand in the manual, Safezone uses its own browser and Sandbox is compatible with various browsers. Is the Safezone browser somewhat limited in its capability (fewer “bells and whistles”) and thus really only appropriate for truly data sensitive activity?
As far as Sandbox, is there any time I would NOT use this setting for general internet use? Are there any lags or performance issues such as when streaming video, downloading large files, etc where Sandbox is not a good idea?
Sorry to take up somebody’s time answering these questions, but we are all looking forward to moving to a safer more usable AV program and want to make sure we understand a few things more clearly before making the switch.
welcome to the forum. i should see if i could help you out with your questions.
avast can be installed as a second antivirusprogram running alongside another one but you have to dissable the file shield. im not that good at that point someone might come and explan it further. but seens your gonna use avast as your main you don’t have to bother with that. the costum opion let you costum you installation. for instens if you like to disable a shield you know you don’t want to use. for insted you don’t download programs, files movies music from torrent you could disable the psp shield from not be installed with avast.
2 it should not be a problem using the work opition in the firewall.
you could add and remove divices/programs you want to be able to get acces to the network.
4 the safezone is a place where you use your browser in when you do senstive things like banking.
there should not be any problem using the sandbox at all.
sandbox is a really good addition to avast it will sandbox files with could be dangerous so it would not harm your computer. it will run inside the sandbox instead. until avast have analysed it.
hope this will help you out with your choice of go with the full version of avast. i’m not an expert on avast full and its component. is using avast free and have never had any problem. might upgrade to full someday my self.
someone might fill this list up how have more knowledge on the full version.
Sorry, don’t know which exclusions are necessary. I do have Malwarebytes (non-resident) for which I made some exclusions in avast; I believe these are no longer necessary. Never had a problem with the combination of avast and MBAM. I occasionaly scan with Sophos (non-resident) and when it finds a threat, avast may stop it in its tracks. Solution would be to disable some resident parts of avast during Sophos scan (filesystem shield, behaviour shield).
No experience with “Public” setting. You mean invisible from the outside, not invisible from the user; I started having those reversed. Inbound connections are already handled by the Windows firewall. Avast complements this with application rules. From a security perspective, Netshield, Webshield, P2Pshield, Mailshield together do offer fairly good protection so “Public” or “Work” wouldn’t make that much difference.
If you want some devices to access files on your pc, “Public” setting for the firewall is not for you as this disallows all incoming connections. Avast Firewall lets you define “friend” networks (range of IP-addresses), e.g. your LAN or parts thereof. Applications can have separate rules for friends and non-friends. Network shield has no settings, so will not discriminate between friends and non-friends. Wouldn’t you rather have a router that lets you define a separate guest network?
Sandbox protects your pc from threats coming through your browser and executables that are considered a risk. Safezone protects a banking session from evil residing on your pc. My browser is sandboxed nearly full-time, don’t really experience performance issues. Only small problem seems to be that Firefox’ download window does not update. Also experience lockups in Youtube, but don’t know if these are caused by Sandbox.
Safezone is for extremely private business, banking or online shopping to name a couple.
On-demand sandbox allows a user to run their browser in a virtual setting. And, no there is no lag time.
avast firewall compliments the Windows firewall. Neither has HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention Software).
If you decide to use a third party firewall avast firewall must be disabled. The third party firewall will automatically disable the windows firewall.
In regards to the firewall, I was hoping to just use the standard Avast firewall setup. My preference is to use the integrated firewall of whatever AV I have used in the past just because it’s easier on my end than dealing with a separate third party piece of software (I once had a ton of problems resulting from a AV update suddenly rendering my third party firewall incompatible without me knowing it for several weeks).
If there is an opinion out there that the Avast firewall is not all that strong, it looks like Avast is compatible with other firewalls and if the process as simple as turning off Avast firewall and installing a third party FW, I may eventually go that route.
You can use Windows to allow or prevent a device from accessing your computer at home or home network. I don’t know all the in and outs of how to do this but I think if you set up a “Home Group” in Windows which requires knowing the Home Group password to join only devices that are part of the “Home Group” will have access. There is a also something called a"Workgroup" which may be better than using a Home Group. I don’t know. I have never intentionally used the Workgroup feature of Windows and really don’t know how it works. I just know it exists and based upon its name might be what you would want to use to limit access to only selected devices.
