Avast 6

Well, I guess it was bound to happen... as should be expected with any NEW  (or MAJOR upgrade of a) product, we're starting to see reports of bugs/glitches:

from  http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=72269.0    , reply #12 by Vlk:

"there's a little problem in the Windows XP implementation of the AutoSandbox. It is offered less often than it's supposed to... ([in] Vista/W7... it works correctly).

This bug has already been fixed in the internal branch, and will be part of the next program update".

apparently most users (myself included) are finding that WebRep isn't functioning properly yet.  Instead of getting website ratings, the "bar" is simply grey, saying no ratings are available for this site --- not even for avast itself!!! :emotion-4:    avast acknowledges, saying it's a server problem.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=72272.0

avast's SCRIPT shield is currently supporting only IE (not FF &etc)... and even for IE, only the 32-bit version

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=72162.msg602057#msg602057

David.

I installed Avast6 from the automatic update. It went uneventful; However, I had a funny Comodo icon in my task bar next day when I booted my PC first thing in the morning. Mind you I had rebooted A6 after the install and it seemed OK. I rebooted and had this 4 files being unrecognized by Avast which I have to tell Avast they were trusted and should be allowed.

The Avast Sandbox also opted for picking on some comodo files, but it decided they were OK and allowed them automatically. Also it seems that the sandbox did not recognize Dell's and Creative's famous CTMBHA.dll filter control but did not sandboxed it because DLL/SYS files are not supported. See picture:

About WepRep. Since it was on and off sporadically and it seems that WOT and WepRep in IE at the same time was giving my IE8 and error at launch time, I uninstalled it.

All and all Avast is working as good as always in my PC now, and since I have been using Avast for the past 10 or more years, I can say that I am very satisfied with it and its new improvements.

Hi Hernan,

As noted above, so far I've had to tell Avast's Behavior Shield to trust 3 processes:

C:\Program Files\Intel\Wireless\Bin\WLKEEPER.exe --- a service (automatically run on boot-up) which, as clearly indicated, is related to my Intel Wireless adapter, that "manages your network connection trying to eliminate noise and improve performance".

C:\Program Files\D4\D4.exe --- "Dimension4", a purely-optional time-synchronization utility I like to automatically run on startup.  and

C:\HJT\HijackThis 2.0.4.exe --- was ASKed about HiJackThis the first time I tried running its scan.

I'm sure there'll be more "inquiries" in the future... I'm not sure why it's been only these 3 (so far), as I have many other "sensitive" programs/services automatically running at start-up.

[I'm assuming you have your behavior shield set to ASK...]

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as for the auto-sandbox, i likewise had the identical message about "CTMBHA.dll not being sandboxed because [sandboxing of] .dll/.sys files is not supported".   however, in contrast to your screenshot above, my sandbox did not pick up on any comodo firewall files.   there could be two explanations for this difference:   1) as noted above, among the "glitches", in XP [which I'm using], the auto-sandbox is not picking up on everything that it should be.   or 2) I'm using an "ancient" comodo, version 2.4, which could behave (and be detected by avast) differently than newer versions [which I'm assuming you're using].

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webRep is basically off [grey, no data available] for me.   it seemed to work at first, but not much thereafter.   I have both WebRep and WOT in FF; and WebRep, WOT, & TrendProtect in IE; but they open just fine (i.e., no IE launch errors here).

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Despite the glitches, like you, I am still mostly satisfied overall with avast.   they claim to have located the Sandbox problem in XP, and will release an update for it soon.   As for WebRep, it's lack of functioning is certainly not a critical issue... especially for people who have another "site adviser" like WOT already running.

David.

Yes, I have seen yours and every one else's posts in Avast forum. 

About Avast Sandbox is like Vlk said, you also mentioned it in a post above, is not working right in XP, and we can see it in our systems. I suppose you have a Creative app in your PC since you said above that CTMBHA.dll was also detected by Avast Sandbox, but at the same time it did not detected, or it did, but it recognized MIDIDEF.EXE, also a Creative file, as a trusted file. Also I have these 2 Microsoft files, winspool.drv and rasapi32.dll, that should have gone through without detection, but they did not.

About WepRep. Also mentioned here by Vlk that they are working on it. Would it not be better to wait for more votes to really trust Avast WepRep? Because it is just, how would I say???, being born, just a baby.

BTW. It was working this afternoon:

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=72361.0 

Hernan asked:  "Would it not be better to wait for more votes to really trust Avast WepRep? Because it is just, how would I say???, being born, just a baby".

at present, I am not putting any faith in the WebRep "toolbar".  You're absolutely right, until there are significantly more rating's "votes"... until we know that such "voting" is in fact "reliable" (rather than hackers "stuffing the ballot boxes" to deceive people)... I will view WebRep as simply being "decorative" (colorful).   It's working again at the moment... But so far, I've only seen it showing GREEN (good/safe), even on pages that WOT or TrendProtect flag as being red/bad. by the way, I believe they also say that they will give it access to their own internal database of viruses/malware... which would be more "professional".   in fact, they only thing they really need "voting" on are lesser-known, "unpopular" pages.  

For what it's worth, in addition to the color ratings (Green/good, Yellow/average, Red/bad), they also indicate the "strength" of their assertion... no votes (grey bars)... a small number of votes (1 bar highlighted)... a "medium" number of votes (2 bars highlighted)... or a large number of votes (3 bars highlighted).

Bottom line for me for now:   I place my faith in WOT.   And I will allow WebRep to "entertain" me.  (I will at least take note of any site they rate red/bad.)   [Since I don't discern any slowdown in my system/browsing, I will keep it around.   But if things were slower, I'd remove it until it (possibly) "matured".]

for non-avast users who are interested in learning more about it, I just edited my first post above to cite:

General description/overview of avast's features: http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download#tab3

the avast WebRep ratings are now starting to show up in doing Yahoo searches... in my case, immediately to the left of WOT's ratings.  

Ironically, Yahoo search itself currently has a YELLOW (average) rating in WebRep.   first yellow site i've encountered.   (have not seen any red yet.   mostly everything seems green, except for the non-rated greys).

WebRep ratings are also now showing up (intermittently???) on FaceBook, next to people's names [because these are LINKS to their profiles], and next to posted links to other pages.   Kinda "distorts" the look of FB... way too messy/crowded... need to get used to it.

EDIT:  now the WebRep are only showing next to links posted on FB, not next to people's names.   this is much more "attractive"/tolerable.  of course, since WebRep is a "work-in-progress", who knows whether this change, which I deem for the better, was really an intended change [as opposed to a flaw in the ratings working]...

I've been following the developments with the release of Avast! 6 with interest.

As many of you may know, avast! Free (probably 4.x) was my last free AV of choice for XP, and my reasons for changing to a paid AV had nothing to do with any problems with avast! I also realize new AV versions can have "birthing pangs".

FWIW, some observations (and forgive me if I play Devil's Advocate here):

Is avast! free attempting to do too much?

- I've watched as avast! free grew from a ~10 MB download of my last version to the current ~60 MB. Download size does not necessarily correlate with CPU usage, but one wonders why the need for such an increase. MSE remains a 7.5 MB download. Even my current paid AV is only a 40 MB download.

- I'm on record as being against using security suites, for various reasons. All these modules and functions of avast! 6 strike me as analogous to a suite, in some fashion. Jack of all trades, master of none. Incorporating an alternative to WOT being but one example. Incorporating a sandbox being another. When other free standalone programs can provide these functions, I wonder about the need for an AV to include them.

- I've seen too many useful security programs bloat themselves out of (recommended) existence over the years, and I would hate to see avast! join their ranks.

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As a non-user of avast! I look forward to answers from those that use it.

Joe,

I'll do my best to try to reply to some of your questions:

1) download size:   Since I used the program's internal updater to "update" (i.e., change) from avast5 to avast6, I have no idea how large the download for me actually was.   It only took a minute or two... and I don't have a fast connection.  [relatively "slow" DSL].  

Aside from bootup, when among other things, it's checking for definition updates... and when the real-time scanner kicks in (e.g., when I'm opening a new program/file), the "background" CPU usage of the avast service & user interface is registering zer0.  [in fact, as best as I can tell, WinPatrol is using more CPU that avast.   (Please note, this is NOT meant to be a "slap" at WinPatrol, but rather, an amazing complement to avast)].

Avast5 uses about 100 Meg LESS RAM than avast4 !!    And 5.1 reduced the number of running services to only 1 (from 3 services running in 5.0)  [Or maybe this latter change was from 4.8 to 5.0?? I can't say with certainty now].  

So as far as CPU/RAM are concerned, there is no slow-down / bloat... both 5.0 and 6.0 run even "leaner" than 4.8

2)   "suite" aspects:  

the WebRep alternative to WOT.   purely optional upon installation --- in fact, it was the only option that prompted me for the update from 5.1 to 6.   also, very easy to disable/enable at any time.    the avast interface even separates IE from FF, so you can activate WepRep in none, either one of your choice, or both.   In short, this component is not forced on users.

It's definitely undergoing "birthing pangs".   Wasn't working for several days.   Apparently, avast underestimated the needs of their server, to handle all the requests for information.   But it seems they've fixed that now.    As for "reliability" of the ratings, in terms of user submissions, it's still way to early to see how this will pan out.   As noted above, almost every (rated) site I've personally encountered has been GREEN --- even those that WOT and/or TrendProtect rate RED.   I've not encountered a single RED site yet.   And only one YELLOW (Yahoo SEARCH).    So, again as stated above, I intend to  keep it around as "window dressing" --- UNLESS I sense that it is slowing down things.    One aspect that I believe DOES have potential is that it's rating links on FaceBook pages --- something that WOT does not do.   When I start seeing some REDS or YELLOWS on FB, that will definitely be a positive sign for WebRep.

[On a Side note:   I  still have TrendProtect running in IE... and I have no idea if  it's even being maintained any more.   the version has not been updated in years.]

in terms of the AutoSandbox, I've not experienced it yet on my main PC.   It did prompt once on my wife's desktop --- when I tried to run a PRINT TO .PDF converter.   Avast5 allegedly included a "code emulator" module [for "suspicious" programs]... which would seem to be sandboxing by another name.   I think one of the differences between avast's AUTOsandbox, and a program like SandboxIE, is that avast's [free] AUTOSandbox only offers to kick-in when it encounters what it believes to be a "suspicious" program.   whereas sandboxie allows you to  run your browser(s) [or any other programs] in a sandboxed environment WHENEVER THE USER CHOOSES TO DO SO.   On it making selective choices --- assuming its criterion for sandboxing is valid --- I definitely can see that as being in the realm of an anti-virus program:   I'd much rather it advise/warn me that something "looks fishy", and protect me... than just run it unsandboxed, and perhaps allow the infection to get through.

the autosandbox can easily be enabled/disabled from within the User Interface.   and once enabled, it can be set either to AUTOmatically sandbox "suspicious" programs, or prompt to ASK me whether to sandbox a "suspicious" program.   in terms of ASK, I can further let it know whether it's a one-time permission, or an ongoing/future permission.

All in all --- especially since I don't run SandBoxIE on a regular basis --- I think Avast's autosandbox feature is potentially a big plus [well, once they fix the "under-usage" in XP glitch].   I'm seeing positives being added, without negative repercussions.

For testing purposes only, I tried running 3 anti-rootkit scanners, to see how avast 6 would react... and all 3 were "intercepted" by the Behavior Shield, which sought my permission as to whether or not these should be allowed to run.

Joe.

Yes, like you I am a bit concerned that Avast is growing in size, but it seems that is the tendency of all programs now; However, this new A6 is working with less impact on my machine, I even dare to say that even less than Avast 4.5. I have only two files active, AvastUI and AvastSVC, taking about 8,800 KB of memory. When I do a full sweep my PCU average 19% used with peaks about 50%, and the use of memory increses about 50MB overall. I have a humble Core 2 Duo not the new i cores.

I have had Norton, McAfee, and AVG running in my PCs, and about 10 years ago a cousin of mine ask me to try this new Czech AV, and I have not gone back, as a matter of fact this last PC came with McAfee and even though I ran out the subscription, I would not buy McAffe and change it for my Free Avast ever.

Like David said; There are a few things in this A6 that need polishing, but that is expected in any new program version, and now more than ever, when we have so many different OS; XP, Vista, W7, servers, and 32 bits and 64 bits softwares, wow! I think it was you that said that it is amazing how programmers can do so that so many different programs can run in one computer without problems. Beg your apologies if it was not you, may be it was David.

Yes, all in all, Avast6 is working as expected. Yes, I would not trust WebRep just yet (it can be uninstalled very easily ). As David said, most sites are green where they should be at least yellow. Compare same sites with WOT in screenshots below:

Also "Behavior Shield" is extremely active in my XP, alerting me of programs that should be white listed, and I have also noticed that the only differences between "Allow and Allow and trust the program" is that when choosing "trust the program" it is placed in "Trusted Processes" list, however, at least in my machine, it does not matter which of the two commands I choose, the file is not detected again either way. It could be a glitch, or it could be XP since most of these programs are being developed for the new OS.

Finally I really hope these improvements in Avast are not taking it to the same road that AVG took. A program I used to enjoy and to recommend to my friends. I really hope.

Hernan, no problem... it's obvious that we were both composing our repsonses at approximately the same time.

"[Avast] was a fairly simple program,...  I was concerned all these extra features might prove confusing to a new user".

For average users who are content to accept all the avast defaults... to just let it sit/run in the backgroung unless/until (potential) virus/malware is encountered... or perhaps use it to run an ocassional system scan... that much is simple enough.   But if you want to tweak it --- as I'm sure you would --- there's a  plethora  of settings to go through and consider.   For example, each of its many shields individually offer their own "expert" settings for what to do should avast encounter a virus, a PUP, or a "suspicious" program.   If memory serves me, their default is to quarantine.   Of course, I have changed just about every such setting to ASK me.   Don't want to risk the possibility of a massive F/P demolishing my system.

( EDIT:   If you [or others] are contemplateing trying/switching-to avast, you might consider (re-)reading my first impressions upon switching to avast5 http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/virus-spyware/f/3522/p/19317234/19638081.aspx , where I discussed a lot about the shield settings, in the 3rd paragraph under the heading "the first reboot".)

The user interface was completely revamped from 4.8 to 5.x/6.0.   the old 4.8 was often compared to a "media player" --- the new one looks more like a traditional anti-virus program.   With anything new, it will take a bit of getting used to navigate your way around things.   I think the first time, it took me a half hour to peruse through everything, via their help files.

yes, the sounds are still (optionally) there... and ON by defualt.   You can turn the voices off if you wish.   Oh, and they changed from a man's (low pitched) voice in 4.8 to a woman's (higher pitched) in 5.x/6.0