[SHAME] Avira partners with Ask.com, Uniblue

http://computerhelpforums.net/topic/38275-avira-has-partnered-with-uniblue-and-ask-toolbar/ 

I received that notification today.  Don't accept the install of Ask toolbar & remainder will "install".  After reboot, there is no Ask toolbar present.  Makes you wonder how well Avira AntiVir functions?  May have to return to AVG Free.

Do you really think this is a problem? Maybe it is the best thing that ever happened to them. Few things are really free. At some point in time all the free products have to bring in some revenue or equivalent value. (Excluding GPL)

I received that notification today.  Don't accept the install of Ask toolbar & remainder will "install".  After reboot, there is no Ask toolbar present.  Makes you wonder how well Avira AntiVir functions?  May have to return to AVG Free.

Do you really think this is a problem? Maybe it is the best thing that ever happened to them. Few things are really free. At some point in time all the free products have to bring in some revenue or equivalent value. (Excluding GPL)

My gripe is that it disables the webguard if not installed.
From the admin on forum.avira.com

Well feel free to use this toolbar to get our Webguard function for free. Because of infected webservers it is strongly recommend to use such pre-scanning technology like our Webguard.

If you don't want to use this toolbar no Webguard will be installed and you'll not nagged again. This toolbar works with MS IE and Mozilla Firefox. If you use Chrome as default browser you won't see a toolbar but Webguard will work in the background.

I just got a WinXP Security Update & after required reboot, Avira asked to install it again.  If this continues, I'm dumping Avira.
http://www.avira.com/en/support-for-home-faq-detail/faqid/861

[Moderator]

Do you really think this is a problem? Maybe it is the best thing that ever happened to them. Few things are really free. At some point in time all the free products have to bring in some revenue or equivalent value. (Excluding GPL)

Read this again...then consider your observation.

Coincidentally today i received notifications for both an Opera update (my default browser) and Avira (free). Did both simultaneously. Now my Avira says i am "Guard=active however the webguard=unknown". Which i believe is NO protection currently exists for web scanning. Also my web pages are displaying differently in that CH for instance is behaving erratically when scrolling a page. Turning the mouse wheel even a little can cause the scroll to go through half or more of the page.My speed dial loads extremely slowly now. The newest version of Opera is 11.50. How much of this is due to Avira and how much to Opera (or the combination) i do not know. I gather from the post above that IF i can eventually get the "webguard" installed i am going to be obliged to accept a another toolbar (Ask) which i have always declined from other sources in the past. It looks like Avast may be in the offing soon for this computer.truenorth

Now my Avira says i am "Guard=active however the webguard=unknown

Just got this similar problem on my Win 7 system. The umbrella icon shows(fold) Avira Personal guard is off but under Control center and notification, the guard is active. Under Task manager, avgnt.exe is visible. Have removed internet connection for the meantime as to look for possibly reinstalling Avira again and see what comes up then. Did full scan with Mbam, no threats or infections. Checked on Windows defender and is disabled.

jason, What you may find is the following. After a complete shutdown of the computer on the next start (this one) a box pops up in the lower right of the screen offering an enhancement to your browsing experience with Avira. If you accept it goes through a process uf installing the components for "Webguard" . Then your umbrella will open with all components active. As to the "Ask" toolbar in Opera 11.50 it is available (along with 16 others) in a drop down menu (but not visible otherwise). My scroll in Opera is as stated now on steroids. But i suspect that is not Avira related. So i guess i will stick with Avira for now. truenorth

I was really waiting for some issues regarding the Avira/Ask toolbar effect. I was hesitant to install and took a pause for any findings presently. It seems you are running some trouble(?) on your Opera browser.

Jason, Don't know your browser so the effect of the Avira "webguard" installation could be different on the "Ask" toolbar. But no issues with Opera re that. My default is Google and it is still displayed as previous and is NOT in the drop down as is Ask. Prior to the update (today) with the Opera upgrade a small rotation of the mouse wheel would move me up say one item on a CH forum view. Now it will go at least 3 -4 on the slightest wheel rotation. Somewhat annoying as i generally overshoot where i want to go to. I may have to see about a slow down on the scroll wheel function if i cannot adjust to this new phenomenon.truenorth

... with the Opera upgrade a small rotation of the mouse wheel would move me up say one item on a CH forum view. Now it will go at least 3 -4 on the slightest wheel rotation. Somewhat annoying as i generally overshoot where i want to go to.

truenorth, does that happen regardless of what website you're viewing?  Since web pages vary in length and, therefore, the length of the slider on the scrollbar varies, do you see any difference in the scroll speed when viewing pages of different lengths?

Edit to correct wording in first sentence.

soybean, It is a bit early to determine the scroll relevance to other web sites. However on the ones i have visited since the 2 updates it seems to occur on all of them all.truenorth
P.S. If memory serves me correctly i believe you also use Opera. Have you done the update to 11.50? Do you notice a similar phenomenon?

Indeed, I am using Opera but I'm still using version 11.11.  I'll submit another post here when I make the update to version 11.50.

I can tell you my Opera scrolls more aggressively than Firefox (3.6.17).   In other words, for a given web page, I need to turn my mouse wheel more with Firefox than with Opera to scroll the page the same distance. 

Jason, Don't know your browser so the effect of the Avira "webguard" installation could be different on the "Ask" toolbar

I have just reinstalled Avira Personal (10.0.1x) as the update for Avira 10 SP2 with free search and toolbar from Ask was made only for this machine. I am used to the simple Antivir Guard enabled and without the additional extras, Webguard and Toolbar. So far no more notifications from SP2 after newly installed Avira updated.

It only occurred to me after my last post re soybean's question (this aging delayed memory thing) that on the same computer where the updates for Avira and Opera are currently installed that i also have IE 6 on it. So this morning i had a look at the scrolling on IE6. There is a definite difference. If i turn just one tick on Opera it can jump 3-4 paragraphs up or down. Whereas in IE 6 the movement would be appropriate to the one tick move of the next item up/down. To compare the Avira toolbar difference on IE 6 versus Opera is as i have already stated the toolbar is not visible in Opera (it is accessed by a drop down menu). Whereas in IE 6 it has created an actual additional toolbar all related to a new search engine and a monitor of Avira Guard and Webguard status. It is a full width toolbar going from one side of the screen to the other (as opposed to being combined with an existing toolbar). I do believe one can delete(disable) the Avira toolbar but doing so will also disable webguard (not a desirable event). truenorth

Question from an ignorant one. 
As I at present use AVIRA and have not accepted the toolbar, so have webguard disabled, would it be safer/better to switch to AVAST or AVG? I originally switch to AVIRA some years ago after some problems with AVG. 

Windows 7 Premium.
COMODO
Spyware Blaster
Winpatrol

PS
If I should have posted this elsewhere please move it, but thought other unenlightened readers reading the post might have similar thoughts?

pantherman, If you don't mind i shall take a bit of liberty with your post (question) . You do not mention your browser (which in my experience would affect MY decision).If perchance you are using Opera or believe you would not be adverse to trying it. Then as i stated the Webguard and associated search engine toolbar that it creates is not a problem. The only other browser i am in a position to comment on re the choices is IE6 and that is referenced in my earlier post.I suppose within the narrow parameters of your own proposed choices i would chose Avast over AVG. truenorth
P.S. One choice i would absolutely be against would be to use Avira without Webguard.

Thanks for that Truenorth.
I use Firefox 5.0.
I should have mentioned that, but also have, but rarely use, Opera.

AVG-Free works fine with FF5.0, performance on my computer is the same as with Avira.

Thanks for the replies. I am giving AVG a try.

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