Avast's huge screw up.

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number69

[H]ard|Gawd
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I like Avast, i've been using it for years but they had a major league fuck up last night. They released a definition update that produced a shit load of false positives on systems. They fixed the issue but it was pretty bad.

http://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=377

So reading their forums is pretty fun today because there's many pissed off people ranting. I don't blame them, mistakes happen but this false positive was nailing everything... programs, windows system files, etc...So a lot of people were just clicking "delete" on the Avast warning box, lmao. Many people did a boot time scan and and deleted system files and then couldn't boot back into their OS. It happened on my GF's laptop, I clicked "no action" I knew something was wrong with Avast, it was flagging shit left and right.

On one hand you think people would have common sense and think about what is going on for a minute and not go ape shit deleting files. On the other hand you have regular everyday people who don't know better and trust their AV.

Nice fuck up Avast.

By the way, I don't give a shit if you use MSE or Avira(which has always had consistent false positives).
 
AFAIK Microsoft hasn't done this yet.
Eset has not either.
I've not heard of any major issues with Avira either though.

Take it what it's worth, but Avast now joins the ranks of AVG.
 
TechieSooner said:
AFAIK Microsoft hasn't done this yet.
Eset has not either.
I've not heard of any major issues with Avira either though.

Take it what it's worth, but Avast now joins the ranks of AVG.
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Avira has always had a pretty high rate of false positives. Read AV Comparatives.

People have bitched about Eset since version 3x.

One mistake in a virus definition update that was fixed hours later does not put Avast on the same level as AVG. It's the first fuck up i've had with Avast in four years.

Don't be a sheep. I feel like there's a bunch of drones on this forum at times.

Again I don't give a shit, just relaying some news on Avast.
 
I think its you who should be reading more AV reviews. Avast and AVG blow, why defend it? What do you gain?

Install MSE and profit.
 
1, I'm not "sucking" anyone off, I'm helping people keep their computers safe and secure by letting them know of a superior product.

2, Every thread? So two threads = every thread to you? Interesting.

3, I gain the knowledge that I know I did my part to help keep others from installing a sub-par, inferior product then some other options out there.
 
TechieSooner said:
Ditto.
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+2

What do you gain by sucking off Avast in every thread, number69?

Use what you want, you're a big boy, I'm sure. You can make your own big boy decisions. Do you always jump down the throats of people who suggest something that might work better? I certainly hope not.

We recommend MSE because it is a proven superior product, and has worked out better for most of us than Avast ever had. If you don't want to use it, don't. But don't be a huge asshole about it.
 
TheGamerZ said:
+2

What do you gain by sucking off Avast in every thread, number69?

Use what you want, you're a big boy, I'm sure. You can make your own big boy decisions. Do you always jump down the throats of people who suggest something that might work better? I certainly hope not.

We recommend MSE because it is a proven superior product, and has worked out better for most of us than Avast ever had. If you don't want to use it, don't. But don't be a huge asshole about it.
Click to expand...

Oh no, the gang is backing each other up, look out.


What's every thread?

I started a thread called "Avast's huge F up". I then went on to basically lay into them in the post. Does that really sound like i'm sucking Avast off? Whose throat did I jump down? I knew the usual people would come in like robots and post "MSE, MSE, MSE"...which is why I posted I really don't give a shit if you use MSE or Avira. It was a bit of technology news.

Read some other AV reviews? The robots here worship AV Comparatives. What happened Avira hasn't gotten the Advanced+ rating in a while so lets find some other review sites?

I do use what I want, you can use what you want, don't care. This thread basically turned into a product A vs. product b. thread thanks to the first response.

If somebody doesn't use MSE as their AV there's no reason to be a huge ass about it.
 
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number69 said:
I then went on to basically lay into them in the post. Does that really sound like i'm sucking Avast off? Whose throat did I jump down?
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Hmmm
number69 said:
Avast is far from shit.
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Rather contradictory creature, aren't you?



number69 said:
I do use what I want, you can use what you want, don't care. This thread basically turned into a product A vs. product b. thread thanks to the first response.
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What kind of thread were you meaning it to be? You didn't ask any questions and ranted about an Anti-virus product performing poorly. The natural response would be for people to post about better alternatives.

Either you can live with that or stuff it and go somewhere else.
 
number69 said:
What's every thread?
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I'm just using your own logic against you. You know, the same logic that led you to accuse criccio of sucking Microsoft off.

number69 said:
I do use what I want, you can use what you want, don't care. This thread basically turned into a product A vs. product b. thread thanks to the first response.
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More like after the original post.

number69 said:
If somebody doesn't use MSE as their AV there's no reason to be a huge asshole about it.
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We're not. You come here and create a thread basically damning Avast, and then go back to it and say you will not try anything else. Sounds like one of those abusive relationships that you're too afraid to get out.

If I were going to bitch and moan about a product, I'd sure as hell try out some of the alternatives. If a certain brand chicken had given me food poisoning, I sure as hell wouldn't eat it again, even if they had solved the issue.
 
TechieSooner said:
Hmmm


Rather contradictory creature, aren't you?




What kind of thread were you meaning it to be? You didn't ask any questions and ranted about an Anti-virus product performing poorly. The natural response would be for people to post about better alternatives.

Either you can live with that or stuff it and go somewhere else.
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They F'd up, doesn't mean I think they're shit. I'm sure you've fucked up stuff in your life, do you consider yourself shit? Maybe you do.

You're right I didn't ask any questions, I just posted a bit of news and the post dwindled into me responding to you about your bullshit. Don't mind a debate, it's a forum but this isn't a debate it's silly.
 
Lol, this thread went to crap in two posts.

Anyway, this is a very huge fuckup from them, anytime you delete system files as false positives, you have some butt kissing to do. They man not be "AS" bas as AVG, cause AVG has really jacked up over the years. but this isn't good.
 
number69 said:
This thread basically turned into a product A vs. product b. thread thanks to the first response.
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Right. Because in your FIRST/ORIGINAL POST you didn't bring up competetors. Oh wait...
number69 said:
Nice fuck up Avast.

By the way, I don't give a shit if you use MSE or Avira(which has always had consistent false positives).
Click to expand...






number69 said:
I just posted a bit of news and the post dwindled into me responding to you about your bullshit.
Click to expand...

Let's evaluate what I said shall we??


TechieSooner said:
AFAIK Microsoft hasn't done this yet.
Eset has not either.
I've not heard of any major issues with Avira either though.

Take it what it's worth, but Avast now joins the ranks of AVG.
Click to expand...
Microsoft hasn't done it. Eset hasn't done it. I haven't heard of any issues like this with Avira. Avast now has done the same thing AVG has done.

What's bullshit about that? It's factual.

If you don't like facts then you're arguing with the wrong person.
Welcome to the iggy list.
 
TheGamerZ said:
I'm just using your own logic against you. You know, the same logic that led you to accuse criccio of sucking Microsoft off.



More like after the original post.



We're not. You come here and create a thread basically damning Avast, and then go back to it and say you will not try anything else. Sounds like one of those abusive relationships that you're too afraid to get out.

If I were going to bitch and moan about a product, I'd sure as hell try out some of the alternatives. If a certain brand chicken had given me food poisoning, I sure as hell wouldn't eat it again, even if they had solved the issue.
Click to expand...

Yawn. The old.. lets create shit that I never said to have a point. I never said I wouldn't try anything else, you said I said that, I never said that. Insecure people do that, they put words in people's mouths in order to create a point.

I've tried MSE, i've installed it dozens of times on systems, Iive tired Avira, i've tried and almost everything, it's what I do. MSE is a good AV, yes you can feel good about yourself for using it. I never had issues with Avast before, I don't think about it to be honest. I never had a reason to switch AV's on my own system.

You guys are harping on this because you're bent that I don't use MSE, lol, it annoys you. Grow up.
 
k1pp3r said:
Lol, this thread went to crap in two posts.

Anyway, this is a very huge fuckup from them, anytime you delete system files as false positives, you have some butt kissing to do. They man not be "AS" bas as AVG, cause AVG has really jacked up over the years. but this isn't good.
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Finally. Yes it is huge F up. Yeah they're doing damage control over at the their forums. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.
 
That's where you are mistaken. We aren't bent over anything, we are just baffled why you use and continue to defend an inferior product for what seems like no reason at all.... Right after taking the time to make a thread about a huge fuckup they just had.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
criccio said:
1, I'm not "sucking" anyone off, I'm helping people keep their computers safe and secure by letting them know of a superior product.

2, Every thread? So two threads = every thread to you? Interesting.

3, I gain the knowledge that I know I did my part to help keep others from installing a sub-par, inferior product then some other options out there.
Click to expand...

You may not even be the person i'm thinking about, I confuse names on here often and my response to you was a bit harsh.
 
criccio said:
That's where you are mistaken. We aren't bent over anything, we are just baffled why you use and continue to defend an inferior product for what seems like no reason at all.... Right after taking the time to make a thread about a huge fuckup they just had.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
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People have their reasons, and they don't have to make sense to you. Maybe they paid for a year of AV and want to use that entire year.

And TechieSooner, i think you are the ONLY guy in history to every openly ignore the 69
 
criccio said:
That's where you are mistaken. We aren't bent over anything, we are just baffled why you use and continue to defend an inferior product for what seems like no reason at all.... Right after taking the time to make a thread about a huge fuckup they just had.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

I don't think it's inferior, does it have the best detection rate of all AV's? No. Does it have the worst? No. It has been scoring the Advanced+ title for a while now at AV Comparatives. I also think their support forums are excellent, you don't see actual developers posting responses to people with many products, free or paid. You see developers responding to people on the Avast forums almost daily.

When people keep jumping into the thread and start putting words in my mouth to defend what they use and make their point that's where things go south.

Anyway, to each his own.
 
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Okay, so after a thread where everybody bad mouthed Avira, AVG, Avast, Microsoft and ESET, can somebody name the "Switzerland" of AV products that everybody likes? :confused:
 
k1pp3r said:
And TechieSooner, i think you are the ONLY guy in history to every openly ignore the 69
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??????
Your definition might be different than mine, but even if it is I don't see within the context of what's been said how that makes sense.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Eset has had several bad FP def releases.
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The latest one was last week actually. I use their online scanner once in a while on my machine and use it for clients as well. Last week it tagged the Avast self defense shield driver as a trojan and a file in another benign program...TuneUp Utilities. So if people who use Avast ran the ran same deal and decided to delete that Avast file, their AV was now crippled, that's if Avast would even let a program delete that, which I doubt. If they also had TuneUp Utilites and deleted the file it found..well program no worky after that.

I also notice Eset tags certain other AV files and malware removal tools on occasion.

Either way they updated their definitions the next day and all was well.
 
Wait a second, Avast released a bad update, which was fixed within 24 hours, and they're in AVG's league now? What the shit?

Seriously, one of the best AVs out, and totally free, had a bad 24 hours, and now they're being grouped in with a bloated mess of an AV like AVG. Overreact much guys?

Eset has had issues, and people still LOVE them.

Avira had some issues, and they're loved. And the false positives thing? I used Avira for 2 years, and I never had a FP, with heuristics at max.

MSE is good and light, but it's NOT the end all be all of AV. Frankly, I like it for customers' computers due to simplicity, but it hasn't wowed me yet.

Avast has steadily been one of the best for years. Yet for 24 hours of a bad update, they're now considered shit.

As for that "switzerland" of AV products? Up until YESTERDAY, it was AVAST!

Seriously, some people here need to sit back and put this in perspective.
 
Well MSE is very good and criccio and techiesooner had every right to make their points, I jumped on criccio a bit so that was my bad. We all know how I feel about Avast. It's definitely not in the same league as AVG because of this one mishap. People get fiery when they talk about AVs and I maybe should have not have even posted the thread when looking back at it. I was just posting some info and things got a little out of hand.
 
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TechieSooner said:
I haven't heard of it if it's the case... ???.
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You must be very lucky then.......

False positive of certain Windows System files in March of 2009

False positive of Word Documents in November of 2008

False positive of Adobe CS3 products in September of 2008

Any time any AV vendor puts out a bad update, somewhere a group of people are saying " OMG <insert AV vendor> sucks, you need to switch to <insert another AV vendor>

Some of our clients were affected by the above mentioned NOD32 FPs, but you don't hear us complaining or switching because of it.
 
As I said before, this isn't on the same scale as what AVG and Avast just did. Those two... As widespread and obvious the issue it demonstrates shortcomings in their QA.
k1pp3r said:
It was a lame attempt at humor lol, i guess it didn't catch
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After many hours I finally got that, by the way...
 
Never liked avast the many times I've tried it.
Just another reason I'm glad it's not on my machine ;)
 
SJConsultant said:
You must be very lucky then.......

False positive of certain Windows System files in March of 2009

False positive of Word Documents in November of 2008

False positive of Adobe CS3 products in September of 2008

Any time any AV vendor puts out a bad update, somewhere a group of people are saying " OMG <insert AV vendor> sucks, you need to switch to <insert another AV vendor>

Some of our clients were affected by the above mentioned NOD32 FPs, but you don't hear us complaining or switching because of it.
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Those were fun huh? :rolleyes: I recall each of those 3 very vividly...had to reach for the backup tapes and restore data quite a few times for the PDF and Word issue. Luckily that one with the Windows system files (dllhost and winlogon) didn't hit me hard.

I don't know if you were using Eset a few years ago, but back then their XMON method was different, it had a few bad def releases where it would bring down the entire Exchange infostore.

Techie you can't go making blind claims like that. I'm an Eset reseller...for years, they're still my favorite "pay for" brand...amongst others we sell. Yes over time all AV brand will release bum definitions with FPs...but when you say "... AVG and Avast seemed to have really screwed up on this one."....go click on the link SJ put above...this one.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=235510&highlight=eset+false+positive
Do you know how a computer behaves when a critical operating system file such as dllhost or winlog gets bagged?

Do you know how much fun that is?

You state "Eset hasn't done it. ...What's bullshit about that? It's factual."

Uhm..go click on those 3 links above again..and see what's "factual". You cannot go making blind claims like that without actually knowing the facts.

Now I'm not a fan of Avast...so I really don't care about trying to stick up for them. But clicking on the link to Avasts faq page about this FP alert...I read "Among the files affected were high-profile programs produced by Adobe, Realtek, sound card drivers, various media players etc." and it makes me to "whoopdie doo". Yeah, an inconvenience, but at least, from the limited information I've read so far..at least it's not critical operating system files required for bootup.

All brands of AV will have FP scenarios now and then....having been a reseller and installing and managing other brands at clients networks over the years, I can recall other brands having FP issues too. It's especially fun when it's on servers..and even more so when it's on mail servers..I've lived through some Symantec and McAfee blunders with those.
 
k1pp3r said:
All AV models are broken, so there
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Pretty much, but AVG and Avast went above and beyond the normal slipup every so often, that's my point.

But just looking at AV Comparitives, I know Avira is 74% and Avast is 53%. Thats a good difference.
It puts Avira into the "Above Average" category, Avast into the "Average" category, with your POS like Norton and AVG into "Below Average".
 
A handful of system files getting flagged (And the update was removed after 10 minutes, if that's worth anything... Avast took over five and a half hours) is a huge difference between HUNDREDS of files getting flagged.
 
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