Silent Update?

system · 2015-06-30T09:50:51.000Z

I noted some Win7 error messages on my mothers desktop today - one said Avast! needed a reboot, and another that Windows Defender wasn’t running. I duly rebooted, and those messages no longer showed. I checked Avast! and noticed that the programme had been updated, yet I had NOT asked for this, and the account she uses is a “Limited” one. Then we tried checking her emails and got a message saying the GMX site certificate wasn’t trusted. Temporarily disabling the email shield stops that, and re-enabling brings it right back. I have now found the same “Silent Update” has occurred on my laptop, although I’m not getting the certificate message. However it is asking for a reboot to complete the update, which I am not going to do until I get a reply here! I remember that on shutting down last night the process was delayed whilst Avast Updater continued its job - I have never seen this before, but assumed it must have been doing a virus definition update, and thought no more of it…

The new interface seems even more difficult to follow than before: finding the Virus Chest was a real struggle - and I eventually discovered it by selecting the “Scan” option. Why can’t this be part of the main menu? The latest Software Updater doesn’t appear to have a simple “On Demand” option where I can click on it at any time to run a check, and it doesn’t show under the “Tools” menu, I have to go to “Settings” first.

What is going on? I appreciate that keeping programmes updated is a good idea, but many of us prefer to control what is installed on our systems, not have things pushed down the line without even being asked. The version (currently?) installed is 2015.10.2.2218 - will this change again if I do another re-boot? I even wonder if my installation has been “hacked”…

Note: both machines are running Win 7 Home Premium 32 bit

Eddy · 2015-06-30T10:13:08.000Z

A vps update doesn’t require a reboot, so this seem like a program update.
By default updates are set to automatically.
If you have set it to manual it is still possible (and allowed) that avast forces a update.

You say that the new interface seems to be difficult to follow.
This is a very strong indication that you had a old version of avast installed and that a forced update took place.

I have no indication that something strange happened, it all seems perfectly normal.

Pondus · 2015-06-30T10:22:27.000Z

The new interface seems even more difficult to follow than before: finding the Virus Chest was a real struggle - and I eventually discovered it by selecting the "Scan" option. Why can't this be part of the main menu? The latest Software Updater doesn't appear to have a simple "On Demand" option where I can click on it at any time to run a check, and it doesn't show under the "Tools" menu, I have to go to "Settings" first.

[b]The avast! 8 User Interface: A study of change[/b] https://blog.avast.com/tag/gui/

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