Grimefighter behaviour

Avast Cleanup
1

Hi! I’ve been using Avast Pro for about half of year; and I have come here to vent my frustration with GrimeFighter, just to find out a ton of similar complaints!

Basically, it tells me there are xyz unnecessary apps and unneccessary OS features, and it wants to remove them, without showing me what it is! I tried to find the list of those “unnecessary apps and features” before allowing it to erase them, but it’s nowhere to be found!

How does GrimeFighter know what is unnecessary for me, FFS? How the programer who created it dares to erase something from my copmuter without letting me know what it is? That’s absolutely unacceptable!

I see now there are a lot of other users where GrimeFighter did the harm, but luckily I didn’t allow it to perform cleaning! I came here to find a solution, as I thought it might be something on my end, but solution seems simple: uninstall GrimeFigher and look for another antivirus as soon as current subscription expires!

2

You are making the same mistake as many people do.
GrimeFighter and the avast av are two separate things.

If a certain model car is bad it doesn’t mean all cars from the same manufacturer are bad. :wink:

How does GrimeFighter know what is unnecessary for me
It doesn't because it don't know you, can't read your mind etc. Perhaps a computer/program like Watson can do it. What GrimeFighter is supposed to do is removing malware and other unneeded crap from your system as well as "optimize" the registry. Fact is that the majority of people don't have a clue about computers/software. GrimeFighter (as also similar programs) is developed to make certain decisions for the users and act accordingly.
How the programer who created it dares to erase something from my copmuter without letting me know what it is
It does let you know and it does let you undo the changes it made.

I was one of the first people to test GrimeFighter after it was bought by avast. Yes, you read it correct. avast is not the original developer. They bought it and are trying to improve it.

Personally I do not recommend to get/use GrimeFighter at this moment. In my opinion there is still a lot that need to be improved/fixed. Don’t forget that it does work for most people. But as usual, the ones who have problems are mentioning it and the majority who have no problems stay quiet. That makes it looks like the majority has problems with it, while it is a minority.

Some utils you may want to have a look at for cleaning up your system are (all free):
Junkware Removal Tool (JRT)
CCleaner
Malwarebytes

3

:(il computer e diventato lentissimo, pensavo di poter installare grimefighter per risolvere i proplemi

4

Toffolon, this is a English section.
The Italian section is here:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=26.0

5

Eddy, thank you for your detailed post and explanations!

Though, I don’t agree with all of them…

You are making the same mistake as many people do. GrimeFighter and the avast av are two separate things.

Well, I got it along with Avast; I bought Avast, and when I installed it using recommended settings, it was in there. So, I don’t care whose product it is and who Avast bought it from - it’s problem of Avast, not mine. I wanted and bought Avast antivirus; they packed it with other software, so they are responsible for it.

It does let you know and it does let you undo the changes it made.

Well, that’s what I came here - I didn’t manage to find it! Where does it let me know what apps and OS features will be erased?

I mean, plain list: it says there are 7 unnecessary apps that should be removed. Once again: I cannot find what are those 7 apps? I want to see them and confirm they are really unnecessary! You understand, list of those 7 apps with tickboxes, and then I choose - remove this one, don’t remove that one! I don’t want to go by try and error, “Oh, it doesn’t work, let me undo it!”. I want to see those apps before I get rid of them, not to check if I need them and undo my actions!

That’s how I’m used to work so far with every antivirus, antimalware, OS maintenance software, etc… And it’s logical - I’m the owner of this PC, not Grimefighter, so I want to be the one who decides what is unnecessary! If my PC ain’t broke, I don’t want to fix it!

Personally I do not recommend to get/use GrimeFighter at this moment. In my opinion there is still a lot that need to be improved/fixed.

Well, then it was not really bright action by Avast to include it in the package then! If they are aware of possible flaws, there should be a big red warning accross Grimefighter window that it’s still not completed…

Don't forget that it does work for most people. But as usual, the ones who have problems are mentioning it and the majority who have no problems stay quiet. That makes it looks like the majority has problems with it, while it is a minority.

I know. ;D

6

No need to thank me, although it is nice ofcourse.
Only thing I did was responding to your post here and no, no-one was standing behind me with a gun forcing me to do so. ;D

You bought avast.
Since I don’t know what version, I assume it is one of the av versions. (Pro, AIS or Premier)
You installed it with the default settings, which is not advised to do with any software.
I always recommend to do a custom installation.
Nowadays many software comes bundled with other things unfortunately.
But it is always the users choice if he wants to install something or not.
So you could say it is your problem since you installed it.

Ofcourse that doesn’t mean avast should not fix the (many) problems there are with GrimeFighter.
In my opinion they should take it off the market and fix many things before releasing it again.
I wrote my experience with it on this webboard,
perhaps it is something for you to read to get a idea how it was right after the release.

I fully agree with you that it should make at least more clear about what it is gonna do.
If a user should be able to select things or not…
Keep in mind that most users have no clue about what they are doing and that most of them are better of with software that make decisions for them.

Example:
Let’s say there is malware on a system and you give them the choice to remove it or not.
You get the excuse “I always have used it without a problem, I don’t want it to be removed…”
Which is ofcourse a real bad choice of them.

If my PC ain't broke, I don't want to fix it!
Sounds logical, but don't forget it isn't about fixing something that is broken only. It is also about "optimizing" the performance of a system. Not that many people will notice the difference, but it sounds good ;D
Well, then it was not really bright action by Avast to include it in the package then!
Again I fully agree with you. I dislike the opt-out option anyway. I prefer a opt-in option with a clear, simply to understand (small) explanation what it is and what is meant to do. Let the user decide. They can always mention that they recommend to install it, but additional things shouldn't be installed in a default installation automatically in my opinion.

Anyway, have you already removed it?
If not, control panel > software > avast > change/delete > change > remove the checkmark > apply changes

Luckily for us users, avast does listen and is working on it.
Let’s hope they are able to solve most things soon.

7

Re: Grimefighter

It does let you know and it does let you undo the changes it made.

At exactly what point in the process does it do that, and how is it displayed? I sure haven’t seen anything like that. I am not about to let a program make wholesale changes to my PC – by “wholesale” I mean “buying a pig in a poke”. My interpretation of your statement above is that you don’t get any details until after it’s made changes. That’s just as unacceptable as not showing the details at all.

The Grimefighter concept is a good one, but this is a fatal flaw IMO. And no amount of rationalizing will ever convince me that a program that doesn’t give you the precise details of what it’s about to do, or allow you to modify its choices up front before they’re made, should be part of an otherwise excellent product.

And it’s completely irrelevant if it was designed that way for noobs. Noobs need data too. Poor design decision, no matter its intended user base.

I agree that Grimefighter should not be on the market in its present form. I’ve removed it, and if Avast updates cause it to be re-installed without asking, I’ll keep on removing it until it behaves properly.

8

It only installs again if you do not use the custom installation when there is a new avast version.

Last time I checked, it does indeed only show some details after it is finished.

avast (the av part) is in my opinion really good, but GrimeFighter should be taken of the market.

You can find some of my experiences here:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=141747.msg1029838#msg1029838

9

Yes, also in my experience the “details” shown at the end did not appear to be very detailed to me.
I would suggest there are many others who don’t use Avast Forum but have had nightmares with GrimeFighter. Hoards of users on various Forums
You can GOOGLE: ‘How to Uninstall GrimeFighter’