Hi people… newbie here… I am thinking seriously of installing Avast 5 (latest version), i.e. a new customer, but there seems to be an inordinate amount of criticism about the product. Does the product come with any guarantee ? And if purchased, but not suitable, is it easily uninstalled… could the uninstall process be posted here. By that I mean in its entirety, leaving no room for error, thus having a hassle free uninstall.
I’d say no to “absolutely no problems”, but every problem I’ve had with it (in the 4 short months ive had avast!) has been shortly addressed and fixed via this forum or updates. All can’t say this though, Id imagine.
But remember that this is a support forum, so people come here when they have problems. There are millions and millions of avast users out there, that don’t have problems, and don’t need to post on the forum.
But Avast 5 is a nice software, and I’m using it on 5 computers @ home, and I haven’t got any problems.
I am sure you will be very happy with Avast, and if you have any problems this support forum is one of the best, you will get fast answers here from members that will do everything they can to help you
All software’s a gamble no matter what it is. Sometimes the risk is lower sometimes higher depending on many factors. You should probably spend some time reading through threads in this forum about your specific system and the version of avast! you plan to install.
I don’t know if it comes with a warranty but if you end up needing to uninstall it use the avast!5 Removal Tool; there’s a thread and a link on the first page of this forum at the top. I don’t know how aggressive you want to get about uninstalling but even after running the removal tool there still may be files and folders left in various locations- AppData or Program Files for example that you might want to delete, and probably some registry entries. There are other uninstalling applications out there you can install and use but I’ve never used any of 'em so I can’t say how effective they are. I’m a little hesitant to tell anyone in detail how they should uninstall anything since everyone’s systems are unique. But if you encounter problems or have specific questions people here are always happy to assist.
I’ve used a lot of different antimalware products over the years and right now I’m very happy with avast! on my Vista machine. I also installed it on another system with XP Service pack 3 and it works great so far.
If you want to buy some of avast produts , you could install the free trial and to observe how it behaves , if all is working like it should , then you could buy it .
Also, many problems are caused because people do not completely remove their previous anti virus program. (Use an uninstall tool if one is available). Another thought to keep in mind is that some new people are out looking for new antivirus software because they have already had problems with their previous program and may have a compromised system to begin with. Finally Avast just went through a major change with version 5. There were a few minor bugs, but you can be certain they will iron them out eventually and the program will be very stable.
As has been mentioned this is a support forum where people come for help, the numbers concerned are very small compared to the total user base of avast, that however, doesn’t make any problem any less of a pain for the user. You should also have noticed that the forums are very proactive and most problems are resolved quickly, but some take longer.
I too would suggest the Pro trial version (or avast Internet Security AIS) if that is the one you are considering. This gives you unrestricted use of the actual product you are considering buying for 30 days, which should be enough. So hopefully by that time you would be more confident that it is OK for your needs.
It is generally no problem in uninstalling from windows add remove programs, but there is also an uninstall utility if there is a problem, It is a relatively simple and pain free exercise.