Avira AntiVirus free version shows 'scareware' ads.

It's come to my attention that Avira GmbH, the company behind the well known quality Antivirus/Security suite programs, unfortunately have teamed up with some well-known 3rd party crapsoftware vendors. Ask.com and Uniblue to be precise.

With the coming release of Avira Service Pack 2 (for Avira 10, currently still in beta), the users of the free Avira AV are offered the 'Webguard' component, normally only available in the paid-for version.
However, when installing the 'Webguard' component, you'll also install an Ask.com toolbar and set Ask.com as the preferred search engine. The latter can be reversed of course and likely the toolbar can be uninstalled but be warned!

UniBlue (from Malta) is a company that sells (imao) below-par scareware.
Their registry cleaner called ' UniBlue Registry Booster' doesn't do anything that the free version of CCleaner can't do.
UniBlue is well-known as an affiliate-marketing software vendor that tries to scare customers into buying their stuff.

I find it very, very unfortunate that at this moment, Avira is teaming up with Ask.com and UniBlue to bring in more money and even have the gall to call Uniblue a 'Trusted Partner'. While it's Avira's right/prerogative to go this route, I am dumbfounded by this move.
So, be warned.
Consider carefully if you want to use their upcoming 'Webguard' component and accompanying Ask.com misery and certainly do NOT buy anything from UniBlue.

Also, those who have entered their emailaddress when installing Avira AV, will likely receive emails from UniBlue. Consider it to be garbage which belongs in your spambox.

So, if you see an ad like the one below, disregard it by clicking the OK button below, don't click on ' Run a free scan', it will only try to scare you into buying a product you do not need;



More on this can be found at the Avira forum link, at DSLReports.com link and at WildersSecurity.com link
Hopefully, Avira GmbH realizes very fast that it has made some very stupid mistakes and hopefully it will backtrack on the decisions made. Sigh.
Mind you, all this only applies to the free AV version.
If you have Avira Premium AV, you will not have to uninstall any Ask.com toolbar and you'll never see a Uniblue ad.

Free 'Avast 6.0 AV' and 'MSE 2.0 AV' are excellent alternatives of course. I'll keep an eye on AVG and PCAV, perhaps it's time to change the AV list...

 

Hi Baserk,

Thanks for the heads up.

I keep seeing the Uniblue Ad even when I manually update the definitions ... but I keep ignoring it ... just click away past it.

But for sure I will watch out for the upgrade installation ... after watch you have posted I will Opt only for the Regular Avira and they can keep the Webguard ...

G!

 

I have no intention of installing Webguard anyway, so I'll be fine as long as I can continue using the free version of Avira without having to install the Ask.com toolbar or anything from UniBlue.

 

I am not going to install the webguard (which is going to be crap anyway).

 

Its sad to see the day when an antivirus who has upholded a lot of reputation crashes and adds "scareware" Still sticking to MSE

 

Avira has always run ads with their software but even so I was hoping to try their free anti-virus. I will have to disregard their products and try out Avast instead.

 

Hi Calvin,

What are you using right now!?!

G!

 

I don't see any Uniblue ad, but I have the pop up process (avnotify.exe) disabled through the advanced security setting.

I will continue to use Avira free. MSE and Avast both have it's own disadvantages. I don't see any reason to switch.

 

I am using Microsoft Security Essentials right now.

 

ditto. just block the avnotify.exe process. there's numerous guides online how to do it and get updates without the massive pop up that avira uses. I don't mind the extra 3 minutes of work on install because I think Avira is the best all around AV for me.

 

According to Baserk's post Avast has better detection rates and it's compatible with Defender.

Why is Avira better for you?

I'm trying to decide between Avast and Avira.

 

Avast uses more CPU when downloading files. Recently Avast tagged the Windows system service "svchost.exe" as malware. This should be one good reason not to use Avast.

 

OK and you guys don't mind that Avira says it's incompatible with Windows Defender?

 

Avira antivirus is not a top 10. Gives many false alarms, detection is weaker than Avast and MSE. Avira does not update automatically. Be done manually. This is the worst thing for a virus, because viruses are removed four per minute and Avira does not detect. Avira is weak to repair. Avast is the best free antivirus and beyond. It has a lot of protection, has the best detection, the best scanning speed, the best repair. Do not slow down the system.

 

Every sentence in this post contains erroneous information. Can one post contain so much fail?

 

I actually disagree with virtually everything in that post.

edit: Phil, why are you deciding between those two and not MSE?

 

I never get any false alarms except with obvious things (winloader.exe, etc). Avira can be set up to update manually. There's actually a big menu under the configuration options that allows you to set up auto updates so I'm not sure what that's about. Currently my Avira is using up barely a few cpu cylces and has held 1.6 MB of ram for use. So it's pretty resource light. Active scanning does take a while, but doesn't load up my C2D more than 20-30 percent, and the scanning process priority can be altered if you are doing some heavy multi tasking. As for repairing and detection, that's an issue of personal experience. Avira has never failed me, and I don't use it in combination with anything else like Defender or that stuff. But if you want to go to reviews, I can find just as many dubious sources saying that Avast has lower trojan (specifically) detection rates than Avira or AVG for that matter so...

And as for the other post that asked why I prefer Avira to Avast personally? Avast, to me, comes with a bunch of stuff I have no interest in using (web/email/IM/P2P shields, site ratings plugin?! sandboxing environment kind of), and it makes for a more clunky, bloated UI in my opinion. I like the light and no frills utility of Avira, and just because it doesn't come with all that stuff doesn't mean it has weaker protection for what I actually need it for, just basic active and passive AV protection. I don't get virus through email attachments and P2P transfers or IM/Chat. I use Common Sense 3.0 for that one

 

@ Hungry man: Detection rates.
Avast! Free Antivirus 6.0......98,4% - 19 FP
Avira AntiVir Personal 10......97,5% - 9 FP (includes 3rd party advertising)
MSE 2.0............................... 95,8% - 1 FP (create a (daily) update task)

The detection %-scores and number of 'False positives' are from the AV-Comparatives April 2011 'on-demand' test.

 

That's with them at "max" settings, which is gonna give you a big performance hit. MSE doesn't have that.

Low false positives (which MSE ranks above those in) is more important to me along with low resource usage.

 

Ya ! Avast 6 free is the best and coplete antivirus free ever. Avira is too far for that. Avast make automatically update - Avira will not.

 

I can understand your preference.

Personally I'd rather catch a few more viruses along with the FPs.

As for performance differences, I haven't noticed any difference.

Is there a good review that shows Avast being significantly heavier than MSE?

 

NO MORE DISINFORMATION. Seriously, it's incorrect and some people may actually use this thread to help them choose a free A/V program.

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I don't know why you can't get Avira to update automatically. You can ... fairly easily, configure updates to search engine/virus definitions and product updates independently. Stop telling people Avira doesn't or can't auto update. I don't think there's ANY A/V that doesn't auto update...

 

My free Avira updates automatically every single day.

 

Spam post.

 

Not sure about any reviews -- can't remember. But I have personal experience on multiple machines and it gave quite a performance hit.

The fact is that Avast will TELL you that on max settings you'll see performance degradation.

If you're looking for security do not rely on an antivirus.

 

No brothers. Avira antivirus is the worst I've seen vreodata.Avast has many advantages over Avira:
boot-time scan
-advanced heuristics
Real-time shields
Shield-mail
web-shield
Shield-script, and more
-autosandbox
-WebRep
Power repair Avast is the best of all free antivirus, even more than some commercial.
Automaticaly update. Avira does not update automatically. It's only in setting but does not update automatically. I installed Avira and i held a week, during which he had no update. After 7 days I said I had to do I update manually. The antivirus. Avast has about 1 million downloads weekly, and Avira 100,000 downloads weekly . It's a big difference. So let the comments made elsewhere, comments from users who do not know what antivirus and what uses ALA. A bad user use a bad antivirus, and a smart user will use a smart antivirus.

 

Anecdotal evidence. Which means nothing.

Proof by numbers? Check these OPSWAT global 'free antivirus' usage percentages. link.
MSE 10.66 %
Avira Personal 10.18%
Avast Free AV 8.66%
AVG Free 7.92%

If marketshare % would define intelligence, you'd be at 3rd place. Not first.
But marketshare numbers don't say everything. Just use what works well for you.
If that's Avast, fine. If not, also fine.

 

Please keep respect for each other.

If someone posts wrong information, post the right information. No need for name calling.

If someone is breaking the forum rules please use the 'Report Post' button.

 

Avira failed me today by letting a rogue, fake antispyware through. I guess I'm switching to Avast!, as I'm already fed up with false positives with Avira...

 

Avast has more false positives than Avira though, so you won't have much luck in that department. You could try MSE instead for less FPs.

 

On a relevant note, after defending Avira, I have to let it go. Today an product update gave me some crap about a toolbar. Apparently you can't have their "new" webguard without some stupid ask.com or whatever.com toolbar taking over your FF. I don't use FF, so I didn't install it. If you DONT install it, it tells you that webguard isnt on, and the umbrella stays closed. The implementation is wrong. I switched to MSE. Either let webguard function without your toolbar, or give us the option to not install that component completely and keep the umbrella in "open" active mode. Good freeware never lasts...

 

I recently dumped Avira when they were requesting installing the Ask toolbar. That and I hadn't disabled the nag screen after installing on this laptop. However, possibly a bigger factor was the closed umbrella and recently installing Comodo Firewall. After a little research it seemed Comodo's AV made enough gains to give it a try.

However, when I had it, I scheduled 6 updates a day using the scheduler.

 

Avira received enough complaints after the update that they decided to issue another "update" to fix the "closed umbrella" problem. If you use the program's update feature you can download and install a new program update that will keep the umbrella open even if you choose not to install the ask.com toolbar and webguard. The previous free version of Avira Personal didn't have the webguard anyway, so for me it's no big deal not to have it in the new version (I wouldn't install it even if it came without the ask.com toolbar since it tends increase the load times for some sites). If you haven't already done so, update to the latest release. When you get the pop-up asking you to install webguard, click on install then click on modify on the next screen. Make sure that the ask.com boxes are not checked off on the next screen before you proceed with the installation. Avira will then install the latest product version without the optional webguard and toolbar and your umbrella will remain open.

 

Awesome, thanks for that info. I update definitions often, but product updates not as often - so I assumed it was a new and permanent feature. I guess I was just late to the complaint party...

I tried MSE, and it was ok. I Even tried avast again, and it was decent but the webshield and network shield kept triggering my comodo, and the script shield doesn't even work with chrome. Back to Avira! I did like the webguard feature though, I hope Avira can get it to work with chrome and without an ask.com toolbar.. otherwise I'll just be sticking with the basic avira

 

Are you sure about this? I just updated Avira and the umbrella is still closed. (I don't have the WebGuard)

 

If simply updating Avira through product update to the latest version didn't open the umbrella for you, click "install" when you get the pop-up offering webguard. Then click "modify", make sure webguard and Ask.com are unchecked, then click "finish". You should get another pop-up saying that your computer needs to be re-started. Re-start your computer and your umbrella should be open and remain open.

 

At Raymond.CC blog, a cool 'trick' is available to install the Avira WebGuard without having to install the pointless Ask.com toolbar.

I'm not going to copy/paste the procedure here, as per Raymond.cc TOS, but if you'd like to use Avira Free and use the WebGuard component without the toolbar, check Raymond.cc webpage here.
You'll only need to create a registry value or you can simply download one from that page. Enjoy!

 

i'm not jumping on any bandwagon for anything, but honestly, avira failed me twice in this manner. the last one, where the spyware actually got downloaded by itself, installed a program itself, and then ran and started to corrupt my file system all with avira still running and not doing a thing to prevent it. after this, i decided to uninstall avira off all my systems and switched to microsoft security essentials.

 

semi off topic: avira needs a UI overhaul IMO, they could make things a lot easier to follow.

Still, not bad for free I guess.