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dyanne1020
join:2009-12-03
West Newton, PA

dyanne1020 to AB57

Member

to AB57

Re: False positive in Avast! or is it real?

Yes, I'm glad that I finally joined. Misery LOVES company.

I've been a lurker for sometime, just readin' about other problems that I've had. Many here seem to be very knowledgeable.

I'll probably be back to lurking in the "how do I transfer files from my old pc to my new one" or "how can I set up security on my modem/router" area now. lol

Oh that reminds me...I have Avast on the new laptop, but I haven't used it in a few days. When I turn it on, should I just do the update like I did here?

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

said by dyanne1020:

...I have Avast on the new laptop, but I haven't used it in a few days. When I turn it on, should I just do the update like I did here?
I don't see why not.
Having been powered down, it wouldn't have been affected by the buggy definitions file, and any definition file it now adds will be a newer, non-buggy release.
dragonfly888
join:2009-12-02

dragonfly888 to SparkChaser

Member

to SparkChaser
I'm happily using Avira Antivir since last night. It was a simple "flip" (download Avira, uninstall Avast, install Avira) to the new program. I hope to be able to trust Avast again in the near future... but I am not holding my breath.

Keizer
I'M Your Huckleberry
MVM
join:2003-01-20

3 recommendations

Keizer

MVM

said by dragonfly888:

I hope to be able to trust Avast again in the near future... but I am not holding my breath.
I don't understand comments like this. You can trust Avast right now with the same confidence that you had before this issue happened. It was a rare virus definition issue......one that I have never seen in all the years of using Avast. Matter of fact, you can probably trust Avast even more now because the creators are going to be watching every little move they make.

pog4
Premium Member
join:2004-06-03
Kihei, HI

pog4

Premium Member

said by Keizer:

Matter of fact, you can probably trust Avast even more now because the creators are going to be watching every little move they make.
LOL! I was about to say something similar.

The folks at Avast are (hopefully) being hyper-vigilant about things right now. Perhaps not quite the case with Avira or AVG.

...or, in a metaphysical sense, it's just going to be some other AV's turn for a major screw up.

By hopping around from vendor to vendor, there's a risk of basically hitting every red light, so to speak.
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38632383 (banned)
join:2009-09-25
Houston, TX

38632383 (banned) to Anon

Member

to Anon

Re: False positive in Avast! or is it real?

said by Mele20:

Geez...I am getting so fed up with ALL AV programs. ...Avira 10 beta has no Ignore button either but that is early beta and if we testers have any influence it will be readded.
Concur ! I just had a customer report his Avira kept finding and blocking a file ( just one temp file ). Turns out the machine was crawling with a variety of malware. MBAM removed 4 gruesome looking nasties, trojans etc ( over 70 infected items including many registry entries ). A final pass with Kaspersky utility found and cured another virus. My conclusion is that I had better get the paid version of MBAM and ditch everything else.

La Luna
Fly With The Angels My Beloved Son Chris
Premium Member
join:2001-07-12
New Port Richey, FL

2 recommendations

La Luna to Anon

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to Anon
said by Mele20:

..... and don't go to strange sites.

Define "strange sites".

And how do you know it's "strange" if you've never been there? Or are we all supposed only go to computer and security sites like you apparently do?
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lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME

lordpuffer to onDvine

Premium Member

to onDvine

Re: False positive in Avast! or is it real?

I was forced to re-format....However, afterwards I loaded Avast again and I assume it is fixed, as it is behaving fine. Re-formatting is fun for me.....It's like having a new relationship. You have to work at it and hope that it works....lol

jabarnut
Light Years Away
Premium Member
join:2005-01-22
Galaxy M31

1 edit

jabarnut

Premium Member

said by lordpuffer:

I was forced to re-format....However, afterwards I loaded Avast again and I assume it is fixed, as it is behaving fine. Re-formatting is fun for me.....It's like having a new relationship. You have to work at it and hope that it works....lol
I'm glad everything is working fine again for you.

However, I can't help but think of the many thousand's of users who don't even know what "re-format" means, let alone how to go about doing it and re-installing all of their programs (many of which probably came with their original configuration, on their "Best Buy" computer the salesman talked them into buying..along with the extended warranty package, of course).

I'm afraid many won't even know where to begin, when it comes to getting everything back to "normal".
I'll bet the "Geek Squad" is making a TON of money today! (In fact, I passed one of their vans this morning...first time I've ever even seen one in my rural neck of the woods).

I didn't happen to catch the news last night on tv, but this fiasco should have been (or may have been), a headline.

lordpuffer
Legalize It Joe!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-19
Old Town, ME

lordpuffer

Premium Member

I agree....For the average user, this is a costly pain. For me, it's just a nuisance and a reason to freshly install an OS.

sobergeorge
Premium Member
join:2003-01-09
Forest Hills, NY

sobergeorge to onDvine

Premium Member

to onDvine
After checking yesterday making sure that everything seemed "was" stable on my computer. This morning I removed Avast from my XP laptop. Then went back to the Avast website and got a new copy. Installed and then did a boot scan. No sirens went off. YAY!!!! Turned off auto update Finished the installation, put my key # in and got the new update from today. So far no problems

Keizer
I'M Your Huckleberry
MVM
join:2003-01-20

1 edit

Keizer

MVM

said by sobergeorge:

This morning I removed Avast from my XP laptop. Then went back to the Avast website and got a new copy. Installed
Just curious why you would do that? This wasn't a program issue, it was a virus database issue that was resolved with a new virus database.

Imagine the thousands of users that actually were away from their PC during the short time the bad database was out there in cyberspace. They would later turn their PC on, it would update with the fixed virus database, and they would be none the wiser.

sobergeorge
Premium Member
join:2003-01-09
Forest Hills, NY

sobergeorge

Premium Member

Just curious why you would do that? This wasn't a program issue, it was a virus database issue that was resolved with a new virus database.

I was still getting "False Positives" on my laptop every so often yesterday. Even after getting the new update. So I went to the Avast User Forum and checked through a lot of the different threads and read where a few people who were still getting "False Positives" Deleted the program and installed a Fresh copy.
So I took the chance. And so far I'm a happy camper.

Florida Dan
Premium Member
join:2001-07-06
Boynton Beach, FL

Florida Dan to Keizer

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to Keizer
said by Keizer:

Imagine the thousands of users that actually were away from their PC during the short time the bad database was out there in cyberspace. They would later turn their PC on, it would update with the fixed virus database, and they would be none the wiser.
That would be me. Just got back from a business trip during which I turned off the home rigs and my traveling companion netbook is running Avira. Now all is well at home with the Avast ones and I was spared the angst experienced by so many...except that I can certainly relate to it.

Keizer
I'M Your Huckleberry
MVM
join:2003-01-20

Keizer

MVM

said by Florida Dan:

said by Keizer:

Imagine the thousands of users that actually were away from their PC during the short time the bad database was out there in cyberspace. They would later turn their PC on, it would update with the fixed virus database, and they would be none the wiser.
That would be me. Just got back from a business trip during which I turned off the home rigs and my traveling companion netbook is running Avira. Now all is well at home with the Avast ones and I was spared the angst experienced by so many...except that I can certainly relate to it.
Glad ya missed the fun!! I was curious as to why the Avast team didn't immediately roll out the old/previous virus database as soon as they caught on? Although it would have been outdated, it probably would have save many people the grief. I may be asking this out of ignorance, as I have no clue what their process is when updating their virus database.

SparkChaser
Premium Member
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA

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Not sure if this happened to others but I was still getting worm triggers after the fix. It turns out that when I did a restore from the chest there was old stuff in it and got moved back to the drive. I was infecting myself, it would seem.
lacroix
join:2009-12-04

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Member

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So long Avast, it's bin a gud ride (almost 5 years), but when yu trashed my comp I came a gunnin'; have now put yu out to pasture and have bought me a new hos' named Avira, a bit touchy with fake snakes and other vermin, but seems a winner, within the five best at least.
Adieu
Le Boule
join:2001-09-20
Selma, AL

Le Boule

Member

»blog.avast.com/2009/12/0 ··· more-720

Ender3rd
join:2001-07-15
Connecticut
·Frontier FiberOp..

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I've been following the thread with great interest and concern for those who have been adversely affected. I am also perplexed. I have two machines here that run Avast that are set to automatically update. Both machines have been turned on in the morning, and off in the evenings. Both have been automatically updated right up through vps 091204 as of today.

Neither of my machines has given any false positives or exhibited any issues. Three of my friends and neighbors that I set up with Avast have also not experienced any difficulties. All of us are running XP/SP2 and Avast program version 4.8.1356 (which appears to NOT be the latest version).

Has anyone figured out why some of us have emerged completely unaffected?

La Luna
Fly With The Angels My Beloved Son Chris
Premium Member
join:2001-07-12
New Port Richey, FL

La Luna

Premium Member

Your machines may have been turned off when the funky update was pushed. If you turned them back on and you got the corrected update instead, you wouldn't have seen the issue. That's how I understood it from reading the thread.

Ender3rd
join:2001-07-15
Connecticut

Ender3rd

Member

Your thought is the only one I could think of as well. Since my machines and those of my friends/neighbors don't run 24/7, we may have missed the issue (thankfully).

Regards,

Ender

chris231989
join:2006-02-12
Joplin, MO

chris231989 to onDvine

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i too had avast report several files infected with Win32:Delf-MZG. Aready formated and reinstalled os though. Thought it was wierd that i was unable to find any external storage infected after reinstall.

prancer
@rr.com

prancer to onDvine

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I use avast among other things, including spybot and I've used adaware and microsoft security essentials in conjuction with avast and havent ever had a false positive. I think one of the things we're not looking into is that adware and malware can attach itself to files and make the whole file look like a virus or some other malware.
I personally had a piece of adware attached to an MP3 that wasnt infected when I copied it from the original album. CDs dont come with viruses on them generally.
Another thing: Are you paying for avast? Or are you using the free home edition? Be thankful that they're gracious enough to offer you a free version that works as well as it does. You get what you pay for is basically what I'm saying. If you want better service, pay for it. Don't expect them to keep fixing things all the time if their not getting paid. Put yourself in their shoes.

ltsnow
Premium Member
join:2006-04-08
Valdosta, GA

1 recommendation

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to Le Boule
I think it's pretty amazing that they were so honest in their apology. They admitted a human error. Nobody seems to do that anymore.

jabarnut
Light Years Away
Premium Member
join:2005-01-22
Galaxy M31

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jabarnut

Premium Member

said by ltsnow:I think it's pretty amazing that they were so honest in their apology. They admitted a human error. Nobody seems to do that anymore.
I have to agree with you there.
quote:
I apologize to each and every one of you—I realize that security is fundamentally about trust and you have to trust your security provider. We made a mistake here and it won’t happen again.
Pretty refreshing to see, actually.
From some of the follow-up comments (as well as a some comments in this thread), there are those who aren't willing to forgive and forget. (And depending on how badly they were effected, I suppose you can't really blame them).

Still, I do commend Avast for not giving everyone a bunch of BS as far as an explanation, which we tend to see far too often these days.

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

1 recommendation

AB57

Premium Member

said by jabarnut:

said by ltsnow:I think it's pretty amazing that they were so honest in their apology. They admitted a human error. Nobody seems to do that anymore.
I have to agree with you there.
quote:
I apologize to each and every one of you—I realize that security is fundamentally about trust and you have to trust your security provider. We made a mistake here and it won’t happen again.
Pretty refreshing to see, actually.
Yep.
Except probably he should have left off the "and it won't happen again" because . . . . well, you know . . . in case it happens again.