Hi All,
I’ve been using Avast for quite some time now. What has been the worring problem for me since the day 1 is, virus database of Avast is not fully matured.
Day before I connect my friends HDD and transferd some files to machine, Avast was running all the time. Later on I scaned the folder through Avast. It gave me clean message. Still I was not sure so I rebooted my machine to win98 [I have dual boot] I also have NAV on win98 and to my surprise when I scaned using the NAV it detected the virus in the files I copied from friends Machine.
This is one case. But in a past I have posted 3 times similar types of incidents where avast lacked the better virus database.
Looks are fantastic of Avast, Its Mail integration is good, It supports skins! which no Anti virus does. But what really matters is the job it has to do! i.e finding the virus! it really lacks there.
Now the real part. How do you help avast develop virus signature? Just 15 days back I submitted some samples to avast. I didnot receive any type of acknowledgement if they have received my files or not. I also didnot get any notification when exactly they are going to include the signatures for the virus i have submitted.
Is there any other way we can help Avast to imporve the database in shorter time? Or anyone has idea how one can run one more AV along with avast and by running only one av shield? Has anyone tried before. Why I’m so concerned about avast is, I’m using it for quite some time and i have quite often seen that avast didnot detect viruses.
I have experienced similar problems. For that reason I use the bidefender free edition 7.2 as a backup scanner. It only runs on demand and has a very high detection-rate. I’ve been using this avast/bitdefender combination for quite a while now and didn’t experience any compatibility issues. In my opinion this makes bitdefender a perfect addition to the avast on-access protection.
1] All av applications do not detect everything. Avast is no exception to the rule.
2] If something is detected or not also depends on your settings.
3] Every malware sample submitted to Alwil will be implemented in the vps. But they can not do so if the sample doesn’t contain the whole code. And they (ofcourse) give priority to the ones that form a large security risk.
4] There is always the option to use a online scanner as backup to Avast. No need to install a second av.
And bitdefender does not do onaccess scanning? Cause running two onaccess scanning will slowdown the machine drastically and may create problems. Let me know if bitdefender does not do on access scanning. One of my friend does uses bit defender and he is pretty happy with the kind of detection bitdefender does.
Whatever the merits of the information that TG submitted I believe that the substance of this posting is one that merits, indeed demands, an OFFICIAL response from the Alwil team.
If we are to rely on this product it is one in which we must be able to place confidence and know we have the responsiveness of its development team.
I totally agree with Eddy,
- My only concern is the rate of non detection is larger than the average anti virus.
- If some one sends the virus sample and if Avast feel its incomplete it can always get back to submitter and ask for more information. Naturally if the virus is of high risk, it may hide himself wisely from AV and submitter. In such case by just ignoring Avast may make a bigger mistake.
- Does online scanner uses the same database we use in our own Avast?
- Online scanning means keeping the network connection on for quite some time?
- Usually when we scan we can all files and inside the archive as well in order to protect critical data. Let me know if there is more in the scanning.
TG,
the bitdefender free edition 7.2 indeed is on-demand only. It has no resident guard but offers regular updates. Thus I haven’t experienced any slowdown or other av-related problems on my machine. (WinXP SP2) But as eddy suggested you might want to try an online scanner so you actually don’t have to install another av.
All I can say is that the combination of avast/bitdefender works fine for me. 
edit:
By the way you can always go for avast+bitdefender+online-scan+ … :
Does online scanner uses the same database we use in our own Avast?Yes, online scanners are using the same vps (database) as the 'normal' versions.
Online scanning means keeping the network connection on for quite some time?Yes, you have to be online during the scanning. Just scanning the Windows folder (to reduce time) already can give you a clue if the system is infected or not. It is not perfect and can miss things though.
Usually when we scan we can all files and inside the archive as well in order to protect critical data.Most (all?) online scanners also have the option to scan insede archives.
Whatever the merits of the information that TG submitted I believe that the substance of this posting is one that merits, indeed demands, an OFFICIAL response from the Alwil team.Members from Alwil have explained their policy about this several times on this board. There is no need for them to constantly repeat. It is a waste of time, they better use their time to update/extend the vps :D
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Sounds very very interesting, infact I like your idea of have combination of Avast/bitdefender a lot. Like you are saying it doesnot slow down your machine and yet you are secure I’m really thinking of going for it. Thanks a lot. Finally the ualtimate goal is to secure my machine/data than what tool i use.
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Now if the same database is used for online scanner what is the point in using online scanner with the same limitation of virus database? It makes only sence to use online scanner with different company. To get he benifit of large virus database.
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If Members from Alwil are busy and they have posted the replies many times its absoulately alright, they dont need to reply again but sure you can point us at some place even before we post our questions. Some kind of FAQ.
2] I ment using a online scanner from a different av vendor than the av you use on your system. That way you will use two different databases.
3] They can do so, but who is reading them? And there is the search option on this board people can use before asking. (as well as the option to browse ofcourse)
You can use even avast (resident) + BitDefender (free) + AntiVir (free and without resident).
I see no trouble to have bakcup scanners… On line scanners, imho, are for already infected systems…
Wow! you guys remind me of my son - who never has less than two operating systems available.
Most of us just want to rely on one antivirus scanner that we have confidence in.
As for wasting the time of the Alwil folks … (I think) I am sure they are clever folks who could set up a FAQ and even a canned message response to certain questions. Certainly not responding at all to folks submitting virus threats is not classic of a caring organization.
Still, as I’ve said before, there is a a lot I will put up with for the price of Avast!
Here is another alternative:
Use avast! as your main AV. Then use ClamWin (http://www.clamwin.org) as a “backup” scanner. ClamWin is still in its beta stage, but uses the ClamAV database that scans emails on Linux email servers. It doesn’t have an on-access scanner (so no conflicts with avast! :)), but if you right click on a file or folder and click on “Scan for Viruses with ClamWin” - it will do just that. It also has Outlook integration (but not Outlook Express). And it is open source - therefore free.
If you still completely paranoid, you can do an online scan from BitDefender. http://www.bitdefender.com/scan
But is ClaimAV has strong virus database? I havent heard much of the people using it.
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Take a look at who’s using ClamAV: http://www.clamav.net/whos.html#pagestart. Its mainly used by universities and ISP’s. But usually what’s good for them is good for you.
ClamWin will detect all recent viruses and some malware and trojans as well. It apparently can detect phising emails, but I don’t get those so I can’t comment.
At the moment, it can detect 29 861 variants of virus/malware.
Yo! Thanks a lot people. I have installed Bitdefender free edition and by default the shield is disable so it is not conflicting with Avast. I also did little bit of testing with it by the old Virus file which I had kept in password protected zip file. All though Avast is still not detecting the fold file as virus, bitdefender did !! So Now I have a
faster onaccess scanner engine [Avast] ,
Better looks [Avast] ,
Good Easy Mail protection [Avast] ,
Better P2p Schield [Avast]
Strong scanner for HDD when suspicious activity is observed [Bitdefender]
Don’t forget if you do happen to find something not detected by avast! (with your enhanced security), then if you can zip and password protect (‘virus’, will do) the suspect file and send it to virus @ avast.com (no spaces).
Give a brief outline of the problem, the fact that you believe it to be a new/undetected virus and include the password in the body of the email. Some info on the avast version and VPS number will also help.