Lots of discussion on this.
I found out how to disable the popups in the last post on this thread:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=140332.0
Here is an extract of some key points, below.
I quit using Chrome, because it would log me in to Google even if I set it not to (I don’t want to be tracked like an animal), and it always took a few seconds, which was annoying. You’re more free in FF.
. . . Would I see red check marks for unsafe sites? Red popups would probably be disbaled. What keyword would show me this?
Great Topic,
Web Rep drives me nuts! The only thing you can do at least in Avast 2014 is in Firefox, go into your Tools and Ad-On Extensions and turn the pop-up off. I found that you also have to restart Firefox from the prompt that says, “Change will take effect when you Restart Firefox. Do you want to restart Firefox Now- Yes/No?” You must hit Yes from the prompt. If you just close out of Firefox manually and restart that way, Web-Rep will still be there.
I don’t know how many people still run IE 8, but in that, you also have to go into Toolbars and Extensions and turn it off. Users with IE 9-11 on later versions of Windows may want to post how to turn off Web-Rep in IE. I prefer My WOT (My Web of Trust) but that is personal preference. Web Rep’s pop-ups are so big and bulky! Avast should do what they did with the excellent use of making the update pop-up and system tray notifications smaller for Web-Rep pop-up notices. Coming back to Avast from years past, I love the smaller notification update/notices box. Too bad that Web Rep isn’t like that.
I am not able to do that. You can only disable the whole Avast Online Security (version 9.0.2006.53), there’s no separate Web Reputation Plugin setting (Firefox 25.0.1).
Where did you find it?
In Firefox 25 go to Tools/Ad-On’s/EXTENSIONS (Not plug in’s) and you will see Avast Online Security9.XXX. This is Web Rep. Click Disable and click “Do you want to restart Firefox now?” from INSIDE the Add-On’s Tab. If you don’t click restart from inside the Ad-Ons tab Web Rep won’t disable. You have to click from inside the Ad On Tab. Following restart, Web Rep is gone.
It seems that on a fresh install with regard to Firefox you have three choices with regard to killing Web Rep:
1.) On a Default install, just repeat the above steps.
2.) Or do a Custom install and don’t select Web Rep
3.) On a Fresh Avast install when you use Firefox for the first time it will say something like “A program wants to allow this plug-in to run on Firefox.” (That’s Web Rep.) Just say don’t allow or disable and you will get the same results as the above.
Not sure how to kill it for other browsers except IE 8, because I don’t have a later version of Windows.
For what it’s worth I completely disabled it in all of my browsers. I use PriveDog.
Ghostery has its critics…
Yes, The Avast On-Line Security Plug in (Formerly Web-Rep) if you don’t want that in your Firefox Browser, Disable it in your Firefox Extensions list and Restart Firefox from within the Yes/No prompt in that list.
And how is that a good thing? :o
So either protection with ridiculously hindering doodles or no protection at all? >:(
You are still protected without having AOS installed, AOS does block some tracking and phishing attempts but the basis of the protection is in the Web and File shields.
What you’re saying is: Avast On-Line Security Plug in is good for nothing
We aren’t saying that I certainly am not saying it, it is a browser plugin that adds certain features over and above the the protection given by the web shield and avast.
Yes I know some web rep alerts are less intrusive, like Bitdefender’s TrafficLight, DrWeb’s URL checker, Trustwave SecureBrowsing and WOT indication on the search site. Webutation has WOT etc. included and also comes as a browser extension.
9/22/14
May or may not be old info now, but wanted to add this in case others (like me) were searching google for a way to disable the annoying popups without disabling the entire plugin.
In Firefox look for a green ‘a’ (looks more like a swirl) in your top bars. Click it, this will bring onto the screen a rating box. At the bottom right is a box labeled ‘Settings’, click it. On the page that appears in the browser, look down for a checkbox with the text “Enable popups on search results page”, uncheck it, click save, then either click the X on the ratings box or click anywhere outside of the box in the browser will close the ratings box.
The ability to disable the popups is in there, I don’t know how long it has though, as I just recently updated the base program and have only been bothered by these annoying popups recently.
This software seems to be getting more and more intrusive every year. These browser popups were bad enough, but I had an avast registration popup knock me out of a full screen app and cause me to lose a couple of hours of work because of it. The application has some odd programing and compatibility issues with 64bit windows, and uses an overlay that when you alt-tab out or anything else (like this registration popup) knocks you out of the app, the screen is blank when you go back in. Result is you have to alt-tab back out and force kill the process and reload the program, causing you to lose any unsaved data to that point. This is starting to turn into another ZoneAlarm, just waiting for the day a software update makes the OS unbootable.