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Avast 3rd-party updates?
Si_Crewe
Posts: 40,202
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Been using Avast for several years and never had any problems with it and, more importantly, I don't recall it ever pestering me to update anything.
After installing the most recent update (I think that's when it started, at least) I notice that Avast is now pestering me to install the latest versions of Adobe Air, Java and some other things.
I must say, pop-ups always give me the heeby-jeebies and seeing my AV software asking me to install 3rd-party updates is quite un-nerving.
It seems like there's the potential for somebody to create a malicious pop-up which looks like the Avast updater and actually gets you to install malware.
Anybody else noticed this with the latest version of Avast (or had it with previous versions) and is it a good idea?
I'd rather my AV was self-contained and simply auto-updated itself as required from it's own server.
After installing the most recent update (I think that's when it started, at least) I notice that Avast is now pestering me to install the latest versions of Adobe Air, Java and some other things.
I must say, pop-ups always give me the heeby-jeebies and seeing my AV software asking me to install 3rd-party updates is quite un-nerving.
It seems like there's the potential for somebody to create a malicious pop-up which looks like the Avast updater and actually gets you to install malware.
Anybody else noticed this with the latest version of Avast (or had it with previous versions) and is it a good idea?
I'd rather my AV was self-contained and simply auto-updated itself as required from it's own server.
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Open Avast, click on Software Updater and then click 'stop' if you don't like it.
Most of the stuff it checks are things that, by not updating, could be security risks but, yes, there's a possibility this could be compromised but, then, so could many things.
I guess it's all to do with the licensing and use of PD software.
Just seems a bit clunky and unneccesary to me though.
www.cloudantivirus.com
Free edition works for me & it updates in the background
"Thank you for your email.
The support stops at the same time as the Microsoft' support.
If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me".
So now you know.
I think Avast is getting a bit bloated now, not sure if I'll change yet though. Don't really like the Software Updater - it picked out Java (update doesn't progress on my PC), Adobe, winzip, micro-torrent and a couple of other things. I can see it would be useful to someone less familiar with software updates, but I've switched it off now.
To clarify those updates that are stopping are for the XP version and Avast is still nippy, I wouldn't class it as bloated, just the new UI doesn't do it any favours. I didn't notice any significant slow down due to the software updater but switched it off as the popups were annoying.
Agreed.
Trouble is, if you intend to rely on something like Avast to do your software upgrades for you, it needs to be either a reasonably comprehensive list (which is not what Avast is for) or a very limited list of core applications and security-sensitive drivers. At the moment the Avast software updater seems like an afterthought that needs more work.
Yup, sorry. Previous poster to mine mentioned XP so I forgot to include it in my post as I also use XP. Agree with comment on the new interface though and perhaps it isn't bloated but it seems to be heading in that direction, unfortunately. I've also switched off the software updater but may turn it on now and again to see if it does find updates.
Unless it's a Java update that is know to have a major security flaw! That's one of the reasons I switched the Software Updater off.
Yes I'm getting that too - after a reboot it seems to re-enable itself.
I've just had it flag up there's a critical software update to download, but I downloaded Java 7 yesterday and it's saying I still have version 6.0.290.11 and there's a 6.0.390.4 available.
So that's one that's getting added to the "ignore" list and the software updater being switched off (again).
There was a tick-box that I'd missed in the actual settings, I'm hoping that's done the trick but haven't done a reboot to test it yet...
ETA: scrap that, didn't work...
see post #2 here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=116445.0 <-- this worked