Avast free anti virus

Does anyone have Avast Free? I've had it for years, no problems but in the last few months my lappie and internet connection have been dreadful.
I've lost connection so much and been onto BT regularly. The latest round of slow running computer, freezing and broken internet connection made me think it's Avast rather than the hub (due to the constant sound of whirring in the backgroud).

I'm waiting for a new Hub but I'm convinced it's Avast. I've done a reccie on t'internet and I'm not alone apparently.

I've altered the scan to only scan weekly and hope that's going to help.

I did think of uninstalling it and trying another, but uninstalling Avast seems problematic too.

Anyone else having the same problems?

Re: Avast free anti virus

No. I have used Avast Free for many years without any problem (on Windows 7). The only niggle is that it keeps nagging at me asking if I'd like to 'upgrade' to the paid-for version. Clearly, it doesn't realise I'm a tight-fisted Yorkie.

However, since I got this new laptop running Windows 10 I soon found problems. I contacted the excellent John Lewis technical help line (free, incidentally) who told me that the best thing to do was to uninstall Avast (or any other third party AV programme) and rely on Windows Defender, which is inbuilt into Windows 10 (along with its firewall), and that under Windows 10 separate AV programmes are unnecessary.

Uninstalling Avast, incidentally, was no problem for me, so perhaps there is another unrelated problem in your case.

I did that and have had no problems at all, touch wood (taps head).

If you're not running W10, though, I'd recommend you stick with an AV programme. As I said, I wonder whether your problems are not, in fact, related to the Avast software. A quick way to check would be to uninstall Avast (if you can) and try a different AV programme.

Re: Avast free anti virus

Thanks for your reply JBR. Hope you can understand any of this:

I went into JL today and thought I'd ask a techy guy re trying to get rid of Avast and his opinion of other free AV progs. He said you can't beat Windows Defender. He also gave me the JLTS number so they could guide me through if uninstalling Avast turns out problematic, which he confirms can happen (all sorts of files and stuff deposited in the registry or something).

No, I'm not running W10 - it's Win8.1. I made the decision initially to uninstall Avast and try Avira or AVG. But I'm going to sit on it for a while as I only altered the working this evening and so far, touch wood, I'm on here and there's no whirring and I've not had anything slow down or got cut off. But having said that it was worse later on in the evenings.

As an aside, I had the blue screen recently and a message 'hardrive corrupted expool'. So I had a look around and in Windows updates found an update relating to the Samsung tablet I used when I downloaded a photo of leaves that I put in the Gardening thread. I restored the laptop to an earlier date (before the update), used Ccleaner and Malwarebytes and everything seems ok but believe it or not in the 'view your updates installations' it still says it's there and I can't find it anywhere! (hope you can understand anything of that)

As an aside, I've done 4 'restores' trying to get it back on track.. Can you do too many restores do you know? I use the same restore date, ie before the blue screen.

Re: Avast free anti virus

Yes JL are very helpful although, unless you bought your computer from them and it's still under warranty, I'm surprised they're willing to sort out your technical problems.

As I understand it Windows Defender, at least the version that comes with Windows 10, is an effective anti-virus programme. As for W8, I'm not sure that it can replace a stand-alone AV programme.

Well if things improve if you replace Avast then, logically, that may be the culprit. I can only say that I never had any such problems with it.

What's still there? The 'update relating to the Samsung tablet'? And this is on your computer?

As far as I'm aware there is no limit to the number of restores you can do. Do you mean that if one restore doesn't solve the problem, you'd like to do another restore but to an earlier date?

I hope this is of some help, but I can't claim to be a 'computer expert'. I'm sure there are others better qualified than me on here!

Re: Avast free anti virus

Most of the free AV programmes go through a cycle. When you first download one (after reading good reviews about it) all seems fine but some time later a new version comes along and if you haven't set auto-updates to disabled you will get the new version.

Often the new version runs terribly slowly affecting everything on your PC. The culprit is usually the actual "active scanner" process that is perpetually running. It's the process that checks every file or programme you download or run.

Some years ago I used AVAST but it went through this cycle and once this slow version was installed, well, in some respects you'd be better off having a virus because things were so slow as to make the PC unusable. So you switch to the next free AV programme, maybe AVG, Comodo etc and off you go again.

My advice to people as ever, is to disable updates for every piece of software you have on your PC. Only update software where you definitively know what is in that update and where you have a genuine need for its benefits. Installing a new version of something "just cos it's there" is foolish in the extreme imo, but each to their own.

Re: Avast free anti virus

It is hard to find a program which offers less protection against viruses or malware than Windows Defender. The bloke in the shop knows nothing if he did he wouldn't be working there.

Just google "Windows defender review" and look at the sheer number of damning reviews, it is hopeless (but better than nothing)

Personally I use a paid anti virus program but free AVG or Avast are used at the Broadband for Seniors kiosk I run with computers running operating systems from Vista to Win10 and we have had no problems.

As someone said earlier try deleteing or disabling your anti virus program if the problem ceases then that is your problem. Download AVG or some such, uninstall Avast and install the new one. Otherwise you will have to look elsewhere.

Re: Avast free anti virus

I used Avast for years without trouble, then after it downloaded an update every time i switched on the computer it downloaded 120MB of data soon mounted up and it took time to find tit was the culprit.

I cleared it, and got AVG, so far no problems, but im not loyal to any so will change at a drop of a hat.

Re: Avast free anti virus

Quote from Bruce: "Just google "Windows defender review" and look at the sheer number of damning reviews, it is hopeless (but better than nothing)"

It seems there are conflicting views:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/w...rotect-your-pc

http://www.howtogeek.com/220232/how-...on-windows-10/

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/is-win...ugh-windows-10

(and others)

although from the latter site, this caveat:

"To be honest, Windows Defender only gives baseline protection, which means, it is only good enough for users for regular day-to-day surfing.
For those who mainly use social networks and may download the occasional file here and there, Windows Defender should be just fine.
If you download a lot of torrent related files from the web, then we doubt Windows Defender would provide enough protection."

Thankfully, I'm quite circumspect.

Re: Avast free anti virus

I have been using AVG free for years without any problems but recently they have been up to the same tricks as Avast. I also did several restores but bits of the old AVG version remained unseen even after removing everything I find.

recently, I had to get my laptop repaired and the guy put me onto eset smart security. I did a free trial and my laptop performed better than it ever has. Even my internet connection has been stable. I have now downloaded for around £49 per year as it really does seem worth the cost.

Re: Avast free anti virus

For those who mainly use social networks and may download the occasional file here and there, Windows Defender should be just fine.

I don't agree with the logic of that. It might only take clicking on one link to get infected no matter what the site.

All the tests I've seen show that Windows Defender is not all that good. It is possible that malware will never be come across while using it and therefore people will say how good it is. This is usually the reason people say any AV program is good. For example: "I've been using --- for years and never had any trouble".

Yes, that will nearly always be the case but wait until unlucky enough to encounter malware that an AV program doesn't know about. That's when the programs with higher detection rates stand a much better chance of protecting a computer.

As regards Windows Defender, I'd say that if using it, install a couple of other compatible security programs to run alongside it. A few might be: MBAM Pro, HitmanPro.Alert3, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit or Sandboxie.