What "avast overseer" is?

markcarsonboxz · 2019-04-18T13:26:27.000Z

Thanks for clearing that up. I realised that this morning - it was 0030 here at the time of my post :

I will continue to monitor this thread as I am extremely concerned about the whole concept of these types of applications that are developed by reputable organisations.

After further thought, in defence (??!) of Avast, it may have been an oversight in the compiling of the installer/uninstaller of Avast AntiVirus Free. However, it highlights the topics in my aforementioned comments about malware and ‘trojan horse’ viruses i.e. software like Avast Overseer having similar ‘functions’ to these types of ‘software’

I understand that my experience with Avast may not be what is experienced by other users, e.g. ‘SILENT installation’ in my previous post. And, may in fact be unique to users of a particular version of CCleaner.

I will update the forum, and quite possibly Avast themselves through another channel.

Bosco123456 · 2019-05-13T10:33:00.000Z

Almost a month later.

I am running Clam and it notified me in red of Overseer.

I’ve just deleted the malware/trojan horse that Avast installed and left on my computer without my permission in a deceptive manner since I expected the Uninstaller to delete ALL.

I’m through with Avast. This company has lost all credibility.

Also - bob3160’s replies in all threads critical of Avast (“If you don’t like it you are free to use another antivirus”) type replies -
both hostile and defensive - are not helpful and lend themselves to feeling that Avast feels a need to cover up and stifle discussion.
Instead of pearl clutching perhaps he could take his own advice - if he can’t deal with reading threads with valid criticism of Avast he’s free to read something else.

Almost a month after the prior last post in this thread and nothing has been done to rectify the Uninstall situation - I just uninstalled Avast a few days ago.

bob3160 · 2019-05-13T11:43:24.000Z

Bosco123456 post:80:

Almost a month later.

I am running Clam and it notified me in red of Overseer.

I’ve just deleted the malware/trojan horse that Avast installed and left on my computer without my permission in a deceptive manner since I expected the Uninstaller to delete ALL.

I’m through with Avast. This company has lost all credibility.

Also - bob3160’s replies in all threads critical of Avast (“If you don’t like it you are free to use another antivirus”) type replies -
both hostile and defensive - are not helpful and lend themselves to feeling that Avast feels a need to cover up and stifle discussion.
Instead of pearl clutching perhaps he could take his own advice - if he can’t deal with reading threads with valid criticism of Avast he’s free to read something else.

Almost a month after the prior last post in this thread and nothing has been done to rectify the Uninstall situation - I just uninstalled Avast a few days ago.

@ Bosco.
Apparently you took that advice you found not to your liking. Good luck with your choice.

tomalex1 · 2019-07-30T19:02:19.000Z

I have used Avast free version for several years. Several months ago, I uninstalled Avast (at least I thought it was uninstalled) and installed the Comodo Internet Security product. Comodo has a higher learning curve than Avast but their product is both comprehensive and free.

Now regarding Avast; just this morning Comodo popped up and told me overseer.exe was trying to create a file. I looked it up and found out overseer is an Avast file that was left behind after uninstall. I checked and deleted some folders Avast had left on my PC, although I reckon there are still more and also I have not entered the registry yet to check there. It seems to be a common practice for software Devs to leave part of their installation behind, possibly for telemetry purposes. Avast is one of the biggest if not the biggest player today in the Anti-malware world. Obviously, they want to protect their market share and become even bigger, so these aggressive tactics should be expected. A suggestion would be to use an uninstaller program like Revo Uninstaller. There are also many others that are similar and they specialize in removing all traces of software installations, whether folders, files, or registry entries. I think Avast is a good product, but I recommend going in with your eyes open.

bob3160 · 2019-07-30T22:31:56.000Z

tomalex1 post:82:

I have used Avast free version for several years. Several months ago, I uninstalled Avast (at least I thought it was uninstalled) and installed the Comodo Internet Security product. Comodo has a higher learning curve than Avast but their product is both comprehensive and free.

Now regarding Avast; just this morning Comodo popped up and told me overseer.exe was trying to create a file. I looked it up and found out overseer is an Avast file that was left behind after uninstall. I checked and deleted some folders Avast had left on my PC, although I reckon there are still more and also I have not entered the registry yet to check there. It seems to be a common practice for software Devs to leave part of their installation behind, possibly for telemetry purposes. Avast is one of the biggest if not the biggest player today in the Anti-malware world. Obviously, they want to protect their market share and become even bigger, so these aggressive tactics should be expected. A suggestion would be to use an uninstaller program like Revo Uninstaller. There are also many others that are similar and they specialize in removing all traces of software installations, whether folders, files, or registry entries. I think Avast is a good product, but I recommend going in with your eyes open.

Use the Avast removal tool. https://www.avast.com/en-us/uninstall-utility

cnc.hobby.set · 2019-08-10T04:44:58.000Z

Why is it still running when avast is uninstalled ?
Can you take care of this point please ?

Rundvleeskroket · 2019-08-10T05:08:02.000Z

Because it is a (imo poorly implemented) tacked on monitoring tool, and Avast doesn’t clean up after itself very well.

Just delete the file and folder. Kill the process if you have to, and then delete it all. Delete the scheduled task too.

Hell, I have Avast installed but overseer is not on my system. Doesn’t affect functionality one bit.

chris... · 2019-08-10T05:56:42.000Z

hi,
Can anyone tell us if overseer still stays using the uninstaller of the latest version (19.6) of the antivirus ? Where it is indicated in “What’s new”

A cleaner goodbye - If you ever uninstall us (gasp!), we now do a better job of removing [b]all our files[/b]

cnc.hobby.set · 2019-08-10T10:22:35.000Z

Rundvleeskroket: Thanks for the tips, i did almost everything you said, except the scheduler, i’ll remove the task.

chris… Yes i did use that last version even before i post this and id does not remove it.

rocksteady · 2019-08-10T12:17:27.000Z

Is overseer.exe still part of the avast free av package or not?
I have latest 19.6.2383 (build 19.6.4546.517).
I do not see it running in Task Manager, but files of that name are still listed in two places on my drive.

bob3160 · 2019-08-10T14:46:01.000Z

rocksteady post:88:

Is overseer.exe still part of the avast free av package or not?
I have latest 19.6.2383 (build 19.6.4546.517).
I do not see it running in Task Manager, but files of that name are still listed in two places on my drive.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=210028.msg1427323#msg1427323

Rundvleeskroket · 2019-08-10T21:04:02.000Z

cnc.hobby.set post:87:

Rundvleeskroket: Thanks for the tips, i did almost everything you said, except the scheduler, i’ll remove the task.

If the executable is no longer present on the system, the task can’t actually do anything. But still. An uninstall should remove everything. It is just sloppy.

rocksteady · 2019-08-11T13:58:19.000Z

bob3160 post:89:

rocksteady post:88:

Is overseer.exe still part of the avast free av package or not?
I have latest 19.6.2383 (build 19.6.4546.517).
I do not see it running in Task Manager, but files of that name are still listed in two places on my drive.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=210028.msg1427323#msg1427323

@Bob, Sorry but I do not see the answer to my question in earlier message in this thread, to which you provided a link.
Question is “is overseer.exe still part of avast free” as I think others have hinted it has gone and I have not seen it listed in task manager, but it still appears on my disk. If no longer a functional part of avast, only legacy files, then can they now be deleted?

Rundvleeskroket · 2019-08-11T14:07:46.000Z

It is still installed with Avast Free (and other versions I assume). It typically runs for a few seconds (some time) after startup. So to catch it running you should check task manager right after booting into Windows. If you check later it isn’t running anymore.

In my case my firewall alerted me to the executable. You can check the scheduled task for its trigger settings.

rocksteady · 2019-08-11T14:10:59.000Z

Ah that explains it. I will leave well alone.
Thanks.

bob3160 · 2019-08-11T14:37:31.000Z

rocksteady post:91:

bob3160 post:89:

rocksteady post:88:

Is overseer.exe still part of the avast free av package or not?
I have latest 19.6.2383 (build 19.6.4546.517).
I do not see it running in Task Manager, but files of that name are still listed in two places on my drive.

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=210028.msg1427323#msg1427323

@Bob, Sorry but I do not see the answer to my question in earlier message in this thread, to which you provided a link.
Question is “is overseer.exe still part of avast free” as I think others have hinted it has gone and I have not seen it listed in task manager, but it still appears on my disk. If no longer a functional part of avast, only legacy files, then can they now be deleted?

The link led you to an explanation of it’s function and also when it runs.

RedFan · 2019-08-16T17:58:00.000Z

When uninstall AV there is still overseer as leftover (with Avast and AVG) i deleted or it could still spy on on you…

RejZoR · 2019-08-17T06:26:15.000Z

RedFan post:95:

When uninstall AV there is still overseer as leftover (with Avast and AVG) i deleted or it could still spy on on you…

Overseer doesn’t actually spy on anything. It’s just a module that keeps avast! in a functioning state if anything goes wrong. If it’s left over after uninstallation, it literally does nothing anymore because avast! doesn’t exist on the system.

Rundvleeskroket · 2019-08-17T08:34:21.000Z

If it checks and finds that everything is started OK, why does it need to report that? I can understand it trying to connect to a server if it had to intervene. But it always connects. Every day.

michkov · 2023-11-27T18:25:17.000Z

I had to reinstall Avast recently. Is this component still in active use or some remnant that didn’t get removed?. What about the various tmp and other files in the directory?

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