Hi,
Today, I removed the Avast free IM Shield , P2P Shield, and the Mail Shield. Also, I removed the Avast remote assistance and the Browser protection. I don’t need the P2P, Mail or IM Shields because I don’t intend on using any of these softwares on my personal compter. Since I removed these shields, will my protection be weakened from this or will it stay the same?
I think yes your protection will stay the same.
What about disabling the Auto-sandbox? I do this because I have had some issues with it in Avast free Antivirus v7
Yes you can disable auto-sandbox.
Yes you can, but I feel it would be a mistake.
The autosandbox process is controlled in the first instance by the file system shield (FSS), the suspect.exe file is scanned before it is allowed to run. If it were infected, it could/should be detected by the FSS, so one reasonable thing in its favour is it hasn’t had a definitive detection.
However, the FSS checks other things amongst those a) is the file digitally signed, b) its location and what it does (this is done in the emulation check). these can trigger a suspicion and it is this suspicion that results in the recommendation to use the autosandbox.
Now the user can accept this decision and run it in the autosandbox or have it run normally and to Remember the answer for this program (image1). Provided of course you are familiar with the program and that it is clean and of course that you intentionally initiated the program.
The default Mode for the autosandbox should be Ask, if it isn’t set to that change it, so that you control its actions.
What you have to understand what the autosandbox is trying to do, protect against zero day malware and what reasons are likely to trigger it, image2.
I don’t really download much so i don’t know how much good it will do for me?
It isn’t there for just downloads and essentially does it matter that you don’t download much, if one of the things that you download is bad.
I would also suggest that you reinstall the Mail Shield and go a step further and set the Heuristic sensitivity to High, as that could be the first indication that you may have a hidden/undetected spambot on your system. If you don’t use an email client and only webmail (through your browser), then it would lay dormant not using resources.
Ok Thanks, I will follow your recommendations. I now, I think its better to have protection you may not need, then need it later and not have it.
You’re welcome.