For those that use Avira

d4mo

Senior member
Jun 24, 2005
588
0
0
Do you use the advanced Heuristics or do you have them turned off.

I don't know if I had a false detection or a real one today. It was a trojan in my driver.cab. I have no idea how I would have gotten it.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
7,514
126
I use the advanced heuristics. You'll get some false positives, but it isn't hard to figure out. As said above, you can run through other scanners online. You can also compare the dates with the rest of Windows. If it looks like it shipped with Windows, it's most likely ok. That's assuming it isn't some kind of warez copy of Windows of course :^D
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
3
0
And while I agree with Lxskllr who points out all AV's have some potential for false positives, you can also get better Avira results by checking expert mode.
 

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,043
174
116
I have that option on now and I haven't run into anything questionable yet...
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
7,514
126
I have that option on now and I haven't run into anything questionable yet...

I get about 12 hits every time I scan from different system tools I have, many from my UBCD4Win folder. As long as you know the pedigree of the programs you have, you should be ok. It might not be the best for noobs, as they may not know the difference between a real hit, and a fp.
 

thescreensavers

Diamond Member
Aug 3, 2005
9,930
2
81
I have no FP's on my computer I got everything on. and to be honest I rather have an FP then none at all.

Like your guarded by an oversensitive guard who doesn't like brush movement and has to check it out.
 

takt

Junior Member
Mar 19, 2010
3
0
0
Yup, got it enabled at medium detection level.

I don't actually care that it reports false positives since it's telling me something may potentially be wrong. It's my job to figure out more information about it (like using VirusTotal as per above post) and decide whether to risk a possible infection on my PC.

On the flip side, it is a bit sensitive, but it's saved me a few times now.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,402
8,038
136
In the last 24 hours I've gotten what I think are my first positives using Avira Free, IIRC on two different laptops when starting Firefox. I have the default Avira settings, which I suppose are "medium." From the above, I gather that there's more than one setting.

What do you do when you have a positive? Quarantine?

Here's what I see in the positive I just encountered on this machine:

--------------------------------------------------

A virus or unwanted program was found!

What should happen with the file?

C\Users\<my name>\...

Contains recognition pattern of the HTML/Infected.WebPage.Gen HTML script virus

O Repair (grayed out)

O Delete

O Rename

o Deny access (the default)

O Ignore

[ OK ]

-----------------------------------------------------


On the other machine, the first time I got the message, I chose "Deny access." Next time I got it I chose Delete. That was yesterday. Today, with this other machine, I chose to "Delete." Is it better to Quarantine? What do you do?
 
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lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,363
7,514
126
It depends on if I think I may want the file, or if I suspect a FP. If I know I don't want it I delete. If there's some doubt I quarantine.
 
May 13, 2009
12,333
612
126
I use Norton Internet Security 2010. It doesn't slow my system down and I haven't had a fp from Norton in years. It's also always near the top in avcomparitives tests. It's not free but worth every penny.