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Anyone Here Use Avast?

post #1 of 15
3/22/11 at 11:55am
Thread Starter 
When I went to log onto Yahoo yesterday to check my e-mails, I got a "malware warning" pop-up thingy from Avast. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I went to the Avast website forum to see if I could find out anything. Apparently, there were quite a few people who had the same thing happen to them - and not just with Yahoo. Has anyone here who uses Avast have that happen to them?
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post #2 of 15
3/22/11 at 5:48pm
I used to use it when I used windows, my DH still does.

That warning means you had something, likely a script on a site, trying to get through. Avast caught it and warned you. Do a full scan later when you're not using the computer.
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post #3 of 15
3/22/11 at 6:40pm
I don't use Avast. I use Malwarebytes. It puts a pop up window on the screen when it blocks a malicious website. I expect that is what you saw.
I agree with Strange_Wings. Before you go to bed, set your Avast to do a full scan and leave it running or do it during the day when you are not using the computer.
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post #4 of 15
3/22/11 at 7:29pm
Thread Starter 
I'm wondering if there is some kind of weird thing going on with Yahoo - or if maybe I really wasn't on Yahoo's website. A few weeks ago, I had a weird looking log-in page, which I knew wasn't legitimate just by looking at it, so I didn't log in. I reported it to Yahoo, and they wanted me to take a screenshot of the weird-looking page, but it hasn't happened since that one time. I don't think that I'm the only one who's possible being "attacked" (or whatever it is that you call it) because as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't the only one who encountered the problem. I'm wondering if it's some kind of glitch on Avast's end. It seems kind of strange that other have encountered the same thing....

I ran a quick scan with both Avast & Malwarebytes: would that be enough to detect anything? FWIW, when that pop-up thingy occurred, it reported that whatever the virus was was blocked....
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post #5 of 15
3/22/11 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
This is part of what I read on the Avast forum:

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=74355.0

By the sound of it, the problem was looked into and fixed. But I'm not sure as I'm certainly not very hip when it comes to all that technical talk.
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post #6 of 15
3/23/11 at 6:17am
I use Avast, and I periodically get the pop up warning about something. The last time it was Yahoo's search, and I got a "Trojan" warning. I also use "Site-Advisor" from McAfee. It's a free download (for either Firefox or IE). It puts a small button on the task bar that stays green when all is good. If you come across something questionable it goes grey if there's an unknown, or red for something actually detected.

What's so cool about it is that it puts little checks on websites when you Google to show if they are cool or not.
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post #7 of 15
3/23/11 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katkuddler View Post
I use Avast, and I periodically get the pop up warning about something. The last time it was Yahoo's search, and I got a "Trojan" warning. I also use "Site-Advisor" from McAfee. It's a free download (for either Firefox or IE). It puts a small button on the task bar that stays green when all is good. If you come across something questionable it goes grey if there's an unknown, or red for something actually detected.

What's so cool about it is that it puts little checks on websites when you Google to show if they are cool or not.
Thanks for the advice. I'll look into it.

I ran another quick scan last night with both Avast & MBAM, and nothing was detected. I'll probably run a full scan later today, when I'm not using the computer. I didn't want to run one overnight, because if something's detected, a warning "siren" goes off and you have to quarantine the virus (or whatever) if one's detected before the scan continues - and I certainly didn't want to be hopping out of bed every so often if that were the case. My computer also automatically shuts down after a certain period of time, and I didn't think the full scan would be completed before the computer shut itself down - in which case, the scan would be interrupted....

for all your help, y'all!
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post #8 of 15
3/23/11 at 3:24pm
I used to use avast faithfully. The do have problems the odd time with random false warnings. About 2 years ago, they had a major bug where avast would report everything as a virus. It was a mess. But they fixed it pretty quick. If you're using trusted sites and it gives you a warning, I'd ignore it. Or just run a quick scan if you're nervous. Its usually nothing though.
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post #9 of 15
3/23/11 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuvMyParker View Post
I used to use avast faithfully. The do have problems the odd time with random false warnings. About 2 years ago, they had a major bug where avast would report everything as a virus. It was a mess. But they fixed it pretty quick. If you're using trusted sites and it gives you a warning, I'd ignore it. Or just run a quick scan if you're nervous. Its usually nothing though.
I remember that. It freaked me out! I thought I had all kinds of viruses & malware & whatnot because of that...

I already did run a quick scan - with Avast & Malwarebytes. Nothing was detected.
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post #10 of 15
3/23/11 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KittKatt View Post
My computer also automatically shuts down after a certain period of time, and I didn't think the full scan would be completed before the computer shut itself down - in which case, the scan would be interrupted....

for all your help, y'all!
You can reset the timer (in your settings) to stay on. Then after you're done go in again and set it for how long you wish it to stay on.
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post #11 of 15
3/23/11 at 7:45pm
I used to--when I used a PC. The PC was rather crappy so I had to switch to Microsoft Security Essentials which is a bit lighter of a program.

As a side note, periodically, go to start-->run-->msconfig-->startup

That will tell you what you are always running in the background while the computer is on and what it is starting up when the computer turns on. This has been incredibly helpful for me in the past to make sure I didn't have something starting up with the computer which was not authorized by the manufacturer (like a virus!) as well as making the computer start up quicker.
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post #12 of 15
3/24/11 at 3:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SubconsciousMe View Post
I used to--when I used a PC. The PC was rather crappy so I had to switch to Microsoft Security Essentials which is a bit lighter of a program.

As a side note, periodically, go to start-->run-->msconfig-->startup

That will tell you what you are always running in the background while the computer is on and what it is starting up when the computer turns on. This has been incredibly helpful for me in the past to make sure I didn't have something starting up with the computer which was not authorized by the manufacturer (like a virus!) as well as making the computer start up quicker.
How can you look at this and know which ones are the real thing and which ones are a virus.
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post #13 of 15
3/24/11 at 4:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946 View Post
How can you look at this and know which ones are the real thing and which ones are a virus.
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post #14 of 15
3/25/11 at 8:30pm
Yea... guess I didn't explain that, huh?

Generally speaking, I only had programs running that were by the manufacturer. If I ever had questions about authenticity of a program, I googled it and came across an answer.
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post #15 of 15
4/15/11 at 3:25am
If you are periodically getting warnings, there is something wrong with either your security or your browsing habits. Try to jump straight to websites you want to visit via bookmarks/favourites, don't search for sites that you already know about. Use Firefox, instead of Internet Explorer & consider using the addon NoScript which will stop sites from working properly until you approve them. It's a little bit techie to use, so it may not be best for you, but NoScript really is a great way for browsing safely. You could also look at using Prevx with Safeonline to replace Avast. I find Avast to be the best free AV product, but Prevx is better.
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