For me, dropping back to Microsoft’s solution built into Win 8.1 may be sufficient. Owing to the other things I do I just don’t exercise the antivirus software safety net. The only things Avast has ever blocked for me since probably 2008 have all been false positives.
I’ve worked all day now with Windows Defender on task and I have to say even though I was using just the Avast shields AND had excluded part of my development area from Avast’s file system shield, my system has actually been noticeably snappier with Microsoft’s solution. I have seen consistent 30 second build times again on my Visual Studio solution for the first time since many months ago. And I KNOW Windows Defender was not more efficient than Avast in the past because I did controlled testing. I have a powerful system, and I bought it to facilitate my work - not to have antivirus software I don’t really even need chew up all the cycles and make it act like a run of the mill PC.
I did Google searches, and places like PCMagazine list their picks, but I doubt Avast 2015 is in many of the lists yet.
The one that keeps popping up from credible people I know, and also read online, is BITDefender FREE.
I can’t say much about it…or against the others (except AVG which I detest)…because my strategy in any given year is to use Avast’s previous version (in this case V9/2014) as my A/V except for one test PC which I try the latest. Thus, I personally have not taken the time to “try” it on a PC.
To your point on this thread, the problem I see each year is Avast takes longer for their “NEW” Fall release to become stable, and I see an alarming trend that when things do go wrong with an Avast release the potential consequences have become more severe…not to mention more bloatware in each new Fall package. The combo of the bugs being ironed out, and me having to read these Forum threads, means 6+ months before I even consider migrating. Going from Avast 6 to 7 to 8 to 9 to 10 things have only gotten worse. Some of the posts above say this is the new way of things…perhaps so…but IMHO opinion when Avast hired the Symantec CEO it went from a technology company to a marketing one. http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/former-symantec-executive-named-ceo-of-the-makers-of-avast-1217471.htm I wish Avast would just stick with what they are good at in past and not be diluted by all these other efforts. Clearly they are traveling the path of trying to tap other market needs ($) but IHMO it has diluted them and the quality of their A/V solutions & Avast’s brand name has suffered. Others will post on this Forum (of course they are subsidized by Avast thru free licenses and other items) to say there is no issues and 200 million people can’t be wrong…it is just you single user that is the problem…clearly not true in many cases but the instant defensiveness speaks volumes. On the positive side I do think the Avast developers are very smart people and I truly want them to build on success and not slip the other way…as a long time user it sometime gets tough to keep the faith so I “get” where you are on this.
So, in summary I view Avast’s previous version as better than the learning curve of the solutions from the other guys. It’s the devil I know but got to admit that Avast’s 2015 really has me wondering…again…but as usual I’ll cross that bridge on Avast 2015 next ~Summer when the stability/maturity improves to a level I’m comfortable with. My take on all this is that you cannot be on the bleeding edge of A/V adoption but also cannot drag your feet too long in order to be properly protected…moving target and takes research & judgment. For me I supplement Avast with MBAM Pro & CryptoPrevent and over the years and across my family PCs I’ve been virtually virus & malware free…so at end of all the “effort” and combo of this protection with the “way” me/family use PCs is solid…which to Avast’s credit they have been a big part of.
Question…since I’ve note tried it…do you need config options ?
From what I’ve read and people have told me it is a fast (light) A/V that does good protection job…the knock on it is a lot of false positives.
Sounds like you have tried…what was your Pro & Cons ?
If not BD, besides Avast…what is your choice ?
By no config options seriously it’s not an exaggeration… there are zero. You cannot configure anything. Once you install it the idea is to never look at it again. It’s a better scanner but if you want to schedule scans, make custom scans, set exclusions etc… you get nada
You’re perceptive to notice the changing nature of Avast’s technical prowess, thekochs.
Kaspersky seems to get high marks in various comparatives.
For me a replacement would not have to be free as much as it would have to be good. I used to pay for Avast, and I had no problem doing so until I sensed the decline in their quality. Then the value proposition for the free version was still positive - until yesterday.
Thing is, it actually has to both work and it has to be unobtrusive. But it became something that drew attention to itself and required more and more expertise to use, and took more and more computer resources. I found myself altogether too aware too often that it was on task. Even though I’m technical and have no problem dealing with configuring and maintaining it, the (admittedly small) distraction takes my mind away from my work.
An antivirus package is NOT the center of attention, it’s a necessary evil that must be minimized. Philosophically that is not a good match to Avast.
Philosophically that is not a good match to Avast.
Strictly a personal opinion. There are many here who would differ with you on your opinion.
I also use Windows 8.1 and Avast 2015 and have no problems with the protection offered by Avast.
There are some addons that I don't use but, that's called personal preference.
I used to use Kaspersky (paid user since around 2000) but the latest version is so buggy I gave up on it. Every year you are a unknowing beta tester for Kaspersky but they call it a final release then start releasing patch after patch trying to fix bugs which to me should have been fixed during beta testing. 2015 version just came out and already there is patch B, MR1 and now MR2 (MR=maintenance release).
I like Panda as it has really good detection and good resource usage. I may go back to Panda after I finish testing Avast.
Comodo antivirus runs lighter then even Avast but does not have any web shield. I like the Comodo sandbox plus it has HIPS which most suites would make you pay for. Web shield may not be an issue as any unknown file will be blocked by Comodo.
Qihoo Internet Security I like as it has three AV engines (one is Bitdefender), behavior blocker and web shield. High detection in testing but there have been some privacy concerns with Qihoo.
I could get Norton 360 for free through my ISP but I do not like AV that automatically take action and delete a file then you sometimes have to fight to get the file back if it was a FP.
I think Avast is quite good for me, but I seem to have an issue getting my issues addressed by the Avast team.
Now don’t get me wrong, I recommend Avast to many people, but I’ve had multiple friends have the same issue. That issue being that Webshield is blocking chatango. For the past 2 weeks it has been on the forums but no response. This has been an ongoing issue for the past month now, and i was hoping to at least hear that a fix is being made, or a reason as to why it is being blocked.
I could get Norton 360 for free through my ISP but I do not like AV that automatically take action and delete a file then you sometimes have to fight to get the file back if it was a FP.
Norton is moving to a new program Norton security .... one program fits all / for PC, Mac, Android.....
Imho, for a windows 8.1 user, windows defender plus system wide smart screen and a browser with integrated anti-malware capabilities like ie 11 or chrome is more than enough. I use chrome and it stops almost every malware I try to download.
Everyone should be on a layered defense solution. With avast I certainly made my choice via a custom install.
Keep your OS and Third Party Software installed up to date and fully patched and use a normal user account.
Know that a sandbox will not protect you against all that comes in via the Network.
Use a decent in-browser protection that allows you to block (mal)-ads, unwanted scripts and third party requests.
(ABP, ScriptSafe, Ghostery for Chrome, ABP, NoScript & RequestPolicy in firefox).
Use the avast shields in combination with decent pre-scanning.
Additionally I use SAS and occasionally latest versions of AdwareCleaner and junkware remover and CCleaner to cleanse the temp files.
Furthermore some experience and common sense about threats to avoid and what one may encounter online.
This combined with what I learned online here in these forums to keepsme and my computers and peripherals secure.
So mix your own security cocktail and defend with your own brew.
Never combine two residential anti-malware programs that start to bite each other (two resident av’s is a complete no-no).
Know that avast! still is a helluva av solution, unless tweaked properly and running on a non-compromised OS.
Just recently we had a victim that even had the OS downloaded and installed via torrent piracy. There we cannot give
any guarantees of course and we cannot help such clowns, that put themselves and others at risk.
But I agree with those that are fed up with bundled "60 seconds av-scanners like Bitdefender’s and McAfee’s,
run into the ground web rep like McAfee SiteAdvisor, nagware like Grimefighter in avast! free.
Tracking blockers that forget to block Google tracking and the so-called non-unobtrusive ads.
DrWeb’s has a very good record for not bundling nagware and crap,
only minus for their extension is the pre-scanner does not scan deep enough to not miss a lot.
I have just jumped ship with Avast. I’ve used Avast exclusively since the early days, had my issues along the way, pitched a bitch on more than one occasion, but ultimetely stuck with it, until now. Avast automatically updated on my wife’s computer this morning, screwed everything up: Incredimail wouldn’t check for new mail unless prompted, then took forever to check, never completed. Firefox took over 2 minutes to come up, another minute to load the page. My wife was about ready to scream. Started researching, found other people were having issues, read all of the insulting replies by the so-called Avast Evangelists, found this thread, finally decided I’d had enough of this bloatware. You’ve turned what used to be my favorite AV into a freakin’ mess! You can’t even auto update the software without screwing up a person’s computer. Tried to uninstall with aswClear, that wouldn’t even work. I’ve had enough. We’ve had enough. I’ve switched to Bit Defender Free AV, it’s MUCH lighter on resources and gets better ratings at most AV comparative websites. From this point forward, as my customers call me with problems in regards to this lastest upgrade, I’ll switch them to Bit Defender. Granted, there are no configuration options with Bit Defender, but with most of my customers, that will be a good thing. So long, and thanks for all the fish…
I would go with BD Free for my customers if they fixed the basic bugs in it (namely it does not work when you try to recover and exclude detection for a file from its quarantine.
The Avast program is just teetering on being more trouble than its worth as an IT provider. The 3rd line support is just a sales shop (and a devious and bad one at that) and to top it all its falling down the rankings. I am convinced that Avast has destroyed at least one of not more of my customers machines in the last few months.
imho its just about better than Avira and BD and still ahead of AVG. I used to make a joke about AVG as being the destroyer of computers but Avast is quickly catching up in that regards.
I think Avast is on a downwards curve but sadly I don’t see any of the other free players on an upward curve.
After sensing overly long build times and configuring Avast to avoid read-time checks by the Filesystem Shield, and before removing Avast entirely. Testing building a solution in Visual Studio 2013 update 4:
Full build times (in seconds) with VS 2013 update 4, Avast 2015 shields on, no other Avast features enabled except the Software Updater.
51.07
54.05
54.39
53.72
With Avast shields disabled…
48.89
46.72
45.51
45.84
42.62
With Avast removed and Windows Defender on…
30.99
30.73
30.43
30.65
The difference in cost between a workstation that (without Avast) will build this solution in 30 seconds and one that will build it in 45 seconds is probably $3,000.
And yes, after Avast made their latest changes for KB3000850 compatibility I tried it all again. The system worked, but performance was similarly dismal. There is no conclusion to be reached but that the ball has been dropped.
By the way, build times without any AV on at all are around 27 seconds. 10% overhead I can live with. Avast once provided that kind of performance.
Who’d be happy with a more than a 50% slowdown in the things they need to do?
Unrelated to performance, I thought of another bullet item I forgot to add to my original list. It’s not in itself reason enough to move on, but just one more straw on the back.
Just which exclusion list(s) does that false positive module have to go in? Shouldn’t there be just one list?
Select all files and folders, right-click, and choose Properties.
Time how long it takes to enumerate them all.
Divide the number of files by the number of seconds.
With Avast I found the number to be about 5,500 files per second the first time, and 7,500 files per second the second time (when the file system has the directory structure cached in RAM).
With Avast uninstalled and Windows Defender on I found the numbers between double and triple that. 11,000 files per second the first time, 20,000 the second time. The difference with Defender off vs. on is negligible.
What is it with this Bloo*y forum software. 5 times today I have made a reply and 5 times it has failed to post my reply. I end up losing all my text. Soooooo frustrating.
Anyway - for the second time of typing (with a ctrl+c first for when it bombs out)…
I can accept a slowdown of maybe 10-15% for file operations - that I would suggest is par for the course with any software that uses a filter driver to interrogate file system reads and writes. I expect no other AV or “constant backup” program etc. would be any different (but I expect I will be shown to be wrong
For me its the seeming frequency of major issues with the operating systems it is installed on after installs and upgrades. I have been around software for a long time (like many of you) and it seems to be a bit too frequent for comfort with Avast recently. I suspect that it is a rush to market combined with a lack of proper unit and QA testing. I don’t want to be a beta tester on a RTM product when it has the unfortunate ability to seemingly frequently destroy my customers machines. It is embarrassing to recommend a product only to have the machine back some weeks later with the product you have recommended (and taken no commission for ) come back and bite you. It means costly rework for me and lost profits.
As for the 3rd party telephone support - don’t even go there. The number for people I have had calling me (non-existing customers) saying they were worries and confused by the hard sell is a real concern. I have raised this with Avast too. When they call me I talk to them and they become a customer of mine and I make money from them - good for me I guess.
But… for every one that calls me there are probably 100’s being duped, lied to and generally treated poorly.
The forums have been acting up. Avast is working on it. I’ve learned to “copy” click “preview” then click “post”.
“Rush to release”? I don’t think so. There is a huge majority of users without issues than there are with issues. Most issues
involve the user “not” doing a custom install. BTW, very rarely, if at all, does anyone ever join to praise a product. Most people post because they have an issue.
Third party support “sucks”. The best help is right here on the forums and it’s free.
to not miss a lot.