This is just to let you know I had to remove Avast Pro because apparently it does not detect all threats.
I had another system that does nothing more than sit and run monitoring a live weather station. One of my grand kids used it to access the web normally and some site they visited installed a trojan or virus of some kind.
That system then, every few days, started on its own popping up and opening IE explorer. If left alone, every few hours it opened a new tab until eventually a tab opens that plays an audio file talking about your system being infected, contact such and such for help to get it fixed and so on…
Of course, the first time it happened I wonder why Avast did not even notice it. But figured it was an anomaly…
So I did a full scan of the most extreme for the entire hard drive to be safe. Even cleaned out the browers cache, files, history and such verifying it manually.
Until a few days later, up it pops again… and again NO word from Avast at all about this system being infected.
So I scanned again twice this time including a third raw boot scan.
Nothing.
Today, I gave up and removed Avast.
Oddly enough, a competing product DID detect and has removed said virus… or at least appears to have done so… I will know in a few days if IE does not open itself again all on its own.
While I like the Avast system, I will not be using it again until such time I can be assured it works.
And since Avast was not able to even detect it, I have nothing I can even report or forward on what the virus or trojan was… Odd, if you ask me… but I cannot take the chance on something like this…
System, BTW, is running Windows 7 32 bit and the only software was Avast and the Cumulus Weather station software (as well as Windows itself of course).
It is fully updated and secured however, still prone to kids going to websites that pass crap along.
Figured people should be aware of this.