Avira AntiVir - best antivirus program of this or any generation - and it's free!

[VinnyTAMU]

I have been using Avira AntiVir for the last year and a half and I love it.

 

[c627627]

Well guys, of all the false positives, one was real. I made a contribution to the mighty Avira database! The file from post #31 of this thread was real.

Check it out:

 

[c627627]

That was fun. I just scanned this file - nothing.

I then clicked on immediate manual update - sure enough - my contribution was there.

I scanned again *Bam* Detected!

 

[muddocktor]

Well, Avira made a believer out of me last night. I had just finished upgrading the cooling on my daughter's main machine and was messing with it and it still had the old AVG 7.5 version installed. Since that is being replaced with AVG 8.0 which I don't like, I decided to install Avira on it. First I ran a complete scan with AVG 7.5, which turned up nothing. Then I installed Avira on it and after having it update I ran a scan on the system with Avira and it turned up 18 viruses and trojans. Now a few months ago my daughter had gotten that computer infected with some crap and I had AVG clean it up, but evidently it didn't do the job very well. So now I need to do your nag screen kill option to Avira on that machine and finish replacing AVG 7.5 off of the other crunchers I have that are still running AVG 7.5 and AVG 8.0.

for Avira Antivir!

 

[petteyg359]

Any instructions for getting rid of nag on XP Home? There is no security policy.

 

[c627627]

There's something about it in post #1

• For Windows XP Home you would need to boot into safe mode and log in as Administrator, then go to
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe
and right click on it > Properties > Security > Advanced > Edit > Select options not to let it execute for all users.

 

[muddocktor]

c6, I just had a nag screen pop up on an XP Pro SP3 machine that I had disabled nags on like you posted. Any idea if they have implemented a different way to nag you to buy it?

 

[c627627]

This is why Drive Image files are so important.

But yeah, first step is to repeat the process of getting rid of the nag screen, then do a total uninstall-reinstall of Antivir.

I did upgrade to SP3 for a month or so and do not recall any nag screens popping up. I had to revert to SP2 as SP3 did slow down my Athlon XP machine.


In a month to month 1/2 I'll be on Nehalem and will be able to test this on a fresh XP SP3 slipstreamed install.

 

[muddocktor]

I'll monitor it for a while before I do that. If it only pops a nag screen up once a month or something like that I won't bother with it. But I just hate daily nags screens.

Avira has impressed me though; they might even get me to give them some money for a paid-for version.

 

[YOO]

i have been using avg free for years now and never had a problem. should i give avira a try? i hate trying new antivirus software.

 

[madhatter256]

Give Avira a shot. I have had it detect more trojans than avg has in the past.

 

[BossBorot]

I too switched from AVG and couldn't be happier

 

[Dapman02]

i have been using avg free for years now and never had a problem. should i give avira a try? i hate trying new antivirus software.

I'm using antivir and have been for a few months
I don't do anything to get virus's, but I do appreciate the quick scans and light program

 

[lemings]

I'm using AVG currently, I shall give this a shot though.

 

[Super Nade]

This seems to be a good, fast product when compared to AVG and Norton. I am running it on my x64 W7 system at home.

 

[Angry]

Been using the free version since I saw it on a few DVR systems that I installed with a friend. (The DVRs he orders comes with it from the builder). It recently saved me along with Spybot awhile back when I loaned a friend my external drive. Set it to update everyday and scan at 3am. Never an issue...*knocks on wood*

 

[YOO]

alright i installed avira antivir to give it a try. now i get this message once a day




wtf? can this be RAM related or the something wrong the software?

 

[c627627]

Most people do not get this error. As with any software, system specific errors appear sometimes.

I assume you tried uninstall-reinstall. I suggest posting here:
http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?page=Board&boardID=135

Good luck.

 

[redduc900]

To disable the splash screen in Vista x64 or Win7 x64, using the latest v9.0 of AntiVir, the registry key is located in a different location...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

The String name is still avgnt, but instead of adding /nosplash to the end of the string value (as was the case w/ previous versions), the /ns switch is now added to the Value data...

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avgnt.exe" /min /ns

 

[c627627]

Yes.

Other changes in the newer versions include a config wizard. I recommend allowing the configuration wizard to keep the default extended threat categories.
(UNCHECK: Appication (APPL), Games, Jokes, Security privacy risk, and Unusual runtime compression.)

If you add more, you get a headache from permission nags.


My other updated notes on the rest of the settings are:

Subscription to new virus definitions for this program does not expire. (It is renewed automatically when it expires.)

In case of problems, in order to extend the license without reinstalling the product, download the current license file.


hbedv.key Product License Key File is available on the official download page.
In case of subscription problems, download the latest key file from
http://dl2.avgate.net/down/windows/hbedv.key

and copy it to
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop

Options:
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avcenter.exe
> Configuration (Right middle part of the window) > CHECK: Expert mode (upper left)
> Scanner > Scan > Action for concerning files

then
> General > Security > UNCHECK: Show notice if the virus definition file is out of date
then
> Update > Download and install product updates automatically (recommended)


To disable Notifier nag screen: Windows 2000/XP Control Panel > Administrative Tools [in WIndows 7, click on System and Security first] > Local Security Policy > Right click on Software Restriction Policies > Create New Policies > Right click on Additional Rules > New Path Rule... > Browse... to the path of avnotify.exe default is
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe
> Set the security level to Disallowed > OK




For Windows XP Home you would need to boot into safe mode and log in as Administrator, then
go to
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe
and right click on it >
Properties > Security > Advanced > Edit > Select options not to let it execute for all users.


To disable AntiVir splash screen: right click on its shortcut > Properties >
Next to Target: add /ns to the existing path.

To disable AntiVir splash screen if it automatically starts at bootup, use program such as
Startup Control Panel > HKLM / Run TAB > right click on avgnt > Edit... >
add /ns to the existing path of the program so that it reads
"C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avgnt.exe" /min /ns


To submit a suspected virus, go to
http://www.avira.com/en/support/submit_suspicious_files.html
to upload it.


Manual updates can be downloaded from:
http://dl.antivir.de/down/vdf/ivdf_fusebundle_nt_en.zip
or for older versions of Windows:
http://dl.antivir.de/down/vdf/ivdf_fusebundle_9x_en.zip
Unzip the downloaded file and copy all the contents to
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop
or
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
overwriting existing files.


It is possible to transfer virus definitions between systems if Antivir version is the same so that it contains these files:
aecore.dll
aeemu.dll
aegen.dll
aehelp.dll
aeheur.dll
aeoffice.dll
aepack.dll
aerdl.dll
aescn.dll
aescript.dll
aeset.dat
aevdf.dll
antivir0.vdf
antivir1.vdf
antivir2.vdf
antivir3.vdf
avewin32.dll
avpack32.dll
avrep.dll
unacev2.dll


Using two AntiVirus programs at the same time:
If there are two AntiVirus programs installed, you should not have two AntiVirus *Guard* programs active at the same time because this would slow the system down, Windows may even have problems booting with two AntiVirus guard components being active. So if installing AntiVir on a system where there already is an AntiVirus program installed, do not install AntiVir guard.

Also disable the guard component of one program if using another program to scan an entire disk drive.


Default log file location is
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\LOGFILES
or
C:\ProgramData\Avira\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\LOGFILES


For older versions:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\LOGFILES
C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
or
C:\Program Files\Avira AntiVir Personal\
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Avira AntiVir Personal\LOGFILES


EDIT 2015: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...tall-2015-freeware-antivirus-Avira-version-15