The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Avast! 7

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by harrypoker, Feb 24, 2012.

  1. harrypoker

    harrypoker Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    23
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    harrypoker, Feb 24, 2012
    #1
  2. Baserk

    Baserk Notebook user

    Reputations:
    2,503
    Messages:
    1,794
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    ^It certainly is a major upgrade again and especially for a free program.
    Enhancements have been made in the Autosandbox (and manual sandbox in the paid version).
    Downloaded files are checked online using ' Filerep', an 'in the cloud' reputation score system. Unknown files can be executed in the sandbox, shielding them from your OS and data, while the AV continues to check for malicious behaviour.

    For FileRep, you need the Webshield enabled and for 'autosandboxing' you need the File System Shield enabled.
    Keep in mind that after installing, Avast might take some time to populate the cache of known clean files.
    Because this is an AV that offers an abundance of options, including a behavioural blocking component, a sandbox and several different shields, keep in mind that you might experience a conflict if you already have a program with such functionality installed. Then choose if you want to keep that program and disable the specific shield, or vice versa.

    Give free Avast 7 a try, it's worth it.
     
    Baserk, Feb 25, 2012
    #2
  3. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    1,272
    Messages:
    5,201
    Likes Received:
    2,073
    Trophy Points:
    331
    You know... just what exactly is classified as 'malicious behavior'?

    An individual can do a type of work on their computer only to be classified as 'malicious' by the AV (while its anything other than that) and completely ruin what you've been doing.

    I had this happen with Avast several times while transfering files (or working on them) and it was annoying to say the least.
    I think it's a great free program that offers a comprehensive array of software protection, but I also think it's starting to look a bit more like a 'nanny' (which I suppose can be fine for those who aren't proficient with computers), and it's sandbox feature is seriously annoying for when I'm executing certain files I know are fine.

    It's one of the reasons I switched over to a different AV.
     
    Deks, Feb 25, 2012
    #3