Avast being intrusive

[psychospacecow]

I turned on my computer today only to find that Avast had installed its own browser called safezone and a stupid price suggesting module called safeprice. I'm considering dumping avast in favor of an anti-virus that doesn't act like malware, but before I do that, I was wondering if anyone else has dealt with this in the past and if so, how to get that off my computer w/o removing avast as a whole.

[Petie]

Avast and, to be honest, most commercial anti-viruses (and especially their free offerings) have become pretty much worthless, bloated, sales pitches. Dump it and either go with a paid solution (Malwarebytes Pro or ESET, for instance) or stick with something like Microsoft's free Security Essentials and some common sense (along with Malwarebytes free to run manual scans, just in case).

[DarkGrievous7145]

I removed avast pretty shortly after installing it

My laptop doesn't have anything right now, but I was using a combination of:

Malwarebytes (free, ofc..)
Tdsskiller (i most likely misspelled this, i always do)
ESET Online Scanner
a few online url and file scanning services

on my desktop. Seemed to work pretty well.


Petie, you're absolutely right about what commercial AV's are these days.
It's also just wonderful most of them now lack any form of shut-off switch/button.
Pretty sure one of my friends says he doesn't use them at all, anymore. They waste resources, are bloated with ads, essentially hi-jack your computer, detect the wrong files, and tend to miss some of the legitimate threatening or unwanted programs.

However,
I personally wouldn't rely on anything created or endorsed by microsoft, though. I've already had numerous problems with the programs they endorse, and some of the stuff that they've made is complete crap. I've never relied on or trusted the security features or add-ons. Can't say I've heard anyone recommend them, either. That's just how I feel, but also, if these tools were particularly useful, why would it be practically mandatory to install some form of AV, or to scan links or files, or be so extremely cautious while on the web? Maybe they're more reliable than their reputation (or past reputation, I don't give too many programs a second chance, nor do I bother researching them, except how to remove if it's one of...THOSE) would suggest, but I still don't feel confident using them.

[Jinzo-Advance]

I had to deal with something similar for a Firefox addon that installed with another one I installed. I used Google to figure out how to get rid of the addon I didn't want. I'll go one step further and give you a bit more advice. Get a registry cleaner and run it after you manage to remove it just so you get it off your registry along with any other potential registry issues. I use Wise Registry Cleaner for tidying up my registry. Word of advice: it can clean your recently used list, so you may want to review what it detects before deciding what you want it to clean up.

[Kosheh]

Petie, you're absolutely right about what commercial AV's are these days.
It's also just wonderful most of them now lack any form of shut-off switch/button.
Pretty sure one of my friends says he doesn't use them at all, anymore. They waste resources,  essentially hi-jack your computer, detect the wrong files, and tend to miss some of the legitimate threatening or unwanted programs.

I didn't know free antivirus programs were worse than Norton Antivirus (who literally prey off of people that just bought computers who don't know any better with automatic yearly subscriptions)

ESET

hahahahahehehehahahahahaha what a humongous dweeb why would you even suggest that, who the HELL uses this antiquated pizza shit anymore

* Kosheh has ESET NOD32 installed on all of his machines, literally nothing has touched my computer ever despite the shady shit i've waded through on the internet. 

At this point I'm not even sure I could suggest anything else.

stick with something like Microsoft's free Security Essentials and some common sense

most people probably would if it was not literally only supported by Windows 7 (XP refuses to work because it's OLD, as does Vista; 8 and 10 replaced it with Defender which actually scored lower than even Avast) I love suggesting this to clients, but the sad truth is that not many people use 7 anymore and you've got to contend with big crapola juggernauts

I'm not calling you out here or anything Petie it's just Security Essentials is really good but their newer products aren't (also, people unsurprisingly don't have much common sense either nowadays)

---

That said, when it comes to free options, Petie's right: if you're running 7, Security Essentials is a great option. 

If you're running anything up to Windows 8.1, BitDefender is also a great option. Currently it's what I recommend to clients here at my job if they're looking to use something lightweight and free. Like Avast, it requires you to make an account with them (but this one you can actually use to monitor stuff with). However, given the way the way their free antivirus works (on startup, it makes a fake "virus" that just auto-flags and then catches it to make sure things are running at optimal speed) it isn't yet compatible with Windows 10. The only time it'll nag you is if you don't register. Like ESET, Bitdefender originates from Eastern Europe (the progress bar shows up in Czech for some curious reason when you install it)
BitDefender Free runs on anything from XP to 8.1.

If you're running 10 or even XP, Avast isn't a terrible idea, either - but nowadays just be ready to uninstall SafeBrowser and SafePrice once you finish installing it. Avast is a huge company and can't make money just on antivirus installs alone and mailing list subscriptions alone, so it's gotta install those things too to make a little side money (even when you uninstall it - y'know how it gives you that survey? Yeah that page load gives them like 1/5 of a penny) The paid versions of Avast come with WebRep - that's just Avast's way of keeping you safer than safe.



Oh yeah don't forget to turn on Silent mode right after you install Avast otherwise you're in for some lady's voice blowing out your speakers every time you do a virus scan.