I've posted a few times about how intrusive AV programs have become.
More than once I got replies like the poster had no idea what was
intrusive about AVs.

They're were either dumb or lying in an effort to defend the singular
obsession AV users seem to have toward their AV programs.

Below is someone who agrees with me.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/2572002906850412943/

Jul 14, 2018 @ 3:23pm
Good non-intrusive antivirus?
Avast has finally annoyed me enough to decide to stop using Avast and
switch to something else. Here's the oh-so-many things that Avast did
(avast claims to have a game mode, but it doesn't actually add my
games to the games list):

1. Kicked me off a competitive Overwatch match (resulting in me
deranking from diamond to plat) to remind me that the average
ransomware bill is $1,077.
2. Every time Avast reminds me that apparenlty there's 150GB of junk
on my drive (games).
3. Every time avast tells me all the programs that are slowing my PC
(ironically, Avast pushes more CPU and RAM usage out of my system than
any other program)
4. randomly gives me threat detected popups on completely safe
webpages (such as youtube and facebook).
5. Didn't stop a real threat (my school's website got infected, and
Avast did nothing to stop the malware, redirect popups, etc)
6. Reminded me that I should use a VPN (despite that I already am
using a vpn)
7. randomly gives me threat detected popups while my computer is
idling and I'm doing nothing.

So what's a good antivirus that's not intrusive? I'd even be willing
to pay for something non-intrusive at this point.
------------
Anyone ready for a freebie sandbox proggie?

http://www.toolwiz.com/lead/toolwiz_time_freeze/

http://www.toolwiz.com/lead/toolwiz_time_freeze/

https://sandboxie.en.softonic.com/

Toolwiz's TimeFreeze is much simpler than Sanboxie.

Or better, don't use these memory residents and be smart! Don't click
and run bad stuff. If suspicious, then scan them manually and online.

Merle@invalid.com wrote:

> I've posted a few times about how intrusive AV programs have become.
> More than once I got replies like the poster had no idea what was
> intrusive about AVs.

> They're were either dumb or lying in an effort to defend the singular
> obsession AV users seem to have toward their AV programs.

> Below is someone who agrees with me.

> https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/2572002906850412943/

> Jul 14, 2018 @ 3:23pm
> Good non-intrusive antivirus?
> Avast has finally annoyed me enough to decide to stop using Avast and
> switch to something else. Here's the oh-so-many things that Avast did
> (avast claims to have a game mode, but it doesn't actually add my
> games to the games list):

> 1. Kicked me off a competitive Overwatch match (resulting in me
> deranking from diamond to plat) to remind me that the average
> ransomware bill is $1,077.
> 2. Every time Avast reminds me that apparenlty there's 150GB of junk
> on my drive (games).
> 3. Every time avast tells me all the programs that are slowing my PC
> (ironically, Avast pushes more CPU and RAM usage out of my system than
> any other program)
> 4. randomly gives me threat detected popups on completely safe
> webpages (such as youtube and facebook).
> 5. Didn't stop a real threat (my school's website got infected, and
> Avast did nothing to stop the malware, redirect popups, etc)
> 6. Reminded me that I should use a VPN (despite that I already am
> using a vpn)
> 7. randomly gives me threat detected popups while my computer is
> idling and I'm doing nothing.

> So what's a good antivirus that's not intrusive? I'd even be willing
> to pay for something non-intrusive at this point.
> ------------
> Anyone ready for a freebie sandbox proggie?

> http://www.toolwiz.com/lead/toolwiz_time_freeze/

> http://www.toolwiz.com/lead/toolwiz_time_freeze/

> https://sandboxie.en.softonic.com/

> Toolwiz's TimeFreeze is much simpler than Sanboxie.

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Merle,

> They're were either dumb or lying in an effort to defend the singular
> obsession AV users seem to have toward their AV programs.
>
> Below is someone who agrees with me.

[snip]

Point #1 : thats the AV company /trying to educate/ but alas, doing so at a
to the user in-opportune moment.

Though maybe when that person would have taken the time to figure out how
that "game mode" you spoke of works and added overwatch to it that would not
have happened. Besides that, I've been told that several AV products have
a "pause" mode that stops most of its activity, especially for such "I can't
be interrupted or slowed down" moments.

Point #2 : Same here. Learn which options the product offers and use them.

Point #3 : I don't even believe that it said just that, as its a "water is
wet" message, absolutuly useless. Someone left something outof the story
....

And again, theire might be some settings gouverning this behaviour.

Point #4 : How would he have know that those pages where in fact safe ?
And no, just because a webpage comes from a big company does not mean they
"thus" are safe.

Point #5 : Someone doesn't quite know how regular AV products work. You
cannot recognise something if you never got across it before. Its *the*
inherit flaw of most AV products.

Point #6 : How would the AV product know that a VPN was already in use ?
Taking about intrusive, be glad that that it /didn't/ know.

A "don't remind me again" option for it would have been nice though. Though
who knows, maybe that option was available all along but the guy simply
didn't know.

Point #7 : Again, someone who doesn't know how a 'puter (and programs
thereon) work. That the guy is "doing nothing" doesn't automatically mean
the 'puter is idling. In fact, resident AV products are often written to
wait for times like that so it can do some of its work without
inconveniencing the user.

Bottom line: You might have found someone who agrees with you, but he might
well be part of the "either dumb or lying" group you mentioned earlier.
Definitily not a good reference.

> So what's a good antivirus that's not intrusive?

I can't help you with that I'm afraid. Other than on a blue monday long,
long ago I've never used them. Besides, your definition of "good" and "not
intrusive" are likely rather different from mine.

Regards,
Rudy Wieser

On Thu, 15 Jul 2021 23:56:58 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>
>> I've posted a few times about how intrusive AV programs have become.
>> More than once I got replies like the poster had no idea what was
>> intrusive about AVs.
>
>> They're were either dumb or lying in an effort to defend the singular
>> obsession AV users seem to have toward their AV programs.
>
>> Below is someone who agrees with me.
>
>> https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/2572002906850412943/

DEL

>Or better, don't use these memory residents and be smart! Don't click
>and run bad stuff. If suspicious, then scan them manually and online.
>

This "memory resident" crap is when they lost me as a customer a long
time ago. I want to choose my own utilities to run, such as which
firewall to use.

One single AV that can cost you anywhere from $19.95 to over $100 is
never enough to catch the plethora of malware crap being generated
today. And i agree that the over 70 AV scans provided by VirusTotal
is a much better choice than paying money for just one.

How many of the millions of users even know what the term "resident
program" even means? I think all that fancy crap ends up confusing
the average ignorant user more than it helps. Although, the AV boys
did solve the problem of users who didn't know to update by making
that an auto function.

The AV companies have become rather devious - dishonest - with their
lowering their ridiculous prices but insisting in many cases in auto
renewing your program at a much higher price for the 2nd year. In
many cases you gotta search like crazy to find the price for the 2nd
year.

Have you seen Eset's price for their Eset Protect Advance for one
year? It's $310 for 5 devices for a single year! Their NUTS!

I think my freebie way is best: A freebie sandbox nothing gets
through. Check every single downloaded file with VirusTotal. A simple
firewall to keep all the junk from calling home. I use the old Sygate
firewall. It presently tells me that a seemingly simple backup
program like AOEMI - which does work beautifully - has a resident
feature named ABService.exe* which one cannot turn off. If you do, it
turns itself back on. It is constantly Listening...for what?

Oh, yeah, XP's own simple firewall to keep junk out does work nicely.
The Shields Up site proves that. It and Sygate seem to be getting
alone quite nicely for a very long time.

My choices ain't 100% perfect maybe, but their a damn site better than
all the "protective" junk being sold.
++++++++++++++
*ABService.exe is part of Backupper Service Application and developed
by AOMEI Tech Co., Ltd. according to the ABService.exe version
information.

ABService.exe's description is "AOMEI Backupper Schedule task service"

ABService.exe is digitally signed by ChengDu AoMei Tech Co., Ltd.

ABService.exe is usually located in the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\AOMEI
Backupper\' folder.

None of the anti-virus scanners at VirusTotal reports anything
malicious about ABService.exe.

On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 07:52:56 -0500, Merle@invalid.com wrote:

>On Thu, 15 Jul 2021 23:56:58 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>
>>Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>>
>>> I've posted a few times about how intrusive AV programs have become.
>>> More than once I got replies like the poster had no idea what was
>>> intrusive about AVs.
>>
>>> They're were either dumb or lying in an effort to defend the singular
>>> obsession AV users seem to have toward their AV programs.
>>
>>> Below is someone who agrees with me.
>>
>>> https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/11/2572002906850412943/
>
>DEL
>
>>Or better, don't use these memory residents and be smart! Don't click
>>and run bad stuff. If suspicious, then scan them manually and online.
>>
>
>This "memory resident" crap is when they lost me as a customer a long
>time ago. I want to choose my own utilities to run, such as which
>firewall to use.
>
>One single AV that can cost you anywhere from $19.95 to over $100 is
>never enough to catch the plethora of malware crap being generated
>today. And i agree that the over 70 AV scans provided by VirusTotal
>is a much better choice than paying money for just one.
>
>How many of the millions of users even know what the term "resident
>program" even means? I think all that fancy crap ends up confusing
>the average ignorant user more than it helps. Although, the AV boys
>did solve the problem of users who didn't know to update by making
>that an auto function.
>
>The AV companies have become rather devious - dishonest - with their
>lowering their ridiculous prices but insisting in many cases in auto
>renewing your program at a much higher price for the 2nd year. In
>many cases you gotta search like crazy to find the price for the 2nd
>year.
>
>Have you seen Eset's price for their Eset Protect Advance for one
>year? It's $310 for 5 devices for a single year! Their NUTS!
>
>I think my freebie way is best: A freebie sandbox nothing gets
>through. Check every single downloaded file with VirusTotal. A simple
>firewall to keep all the junk from calling home. I use the old Sygate
>firewall. It presently tells me that a seemingly simple backup
>program like AOEMI - which does work beautifully - has a resident
>feature named ABService.exe* which one cannot turn off. If you do, it
>turns itself back on. It is constantly Listening...for what?
>
>Oh, yeah, XP's own simple firewall to keep junk out does work nicely.
>The Shields Up site proves that. It and Sygate seem to be getting
>alone quite nicely for a very long time.
>
>My choices ain't 100% perfect maybe, but their a damn site better than
>all the "protective" junk being sold.
>++++++++++++++
>*ABService.exe is part of Backupper Service Application and developed
>by AOMEI Tech Co., Ltd. according to the ABService.exe version
>information.
>
>ABService.exe's description is "AOMEI Backupper Schedule task service"
>
>ABService.exe is digitally signed by ChengDu AoMei Tech Co., Ltd.
>
>ABService.exe is usually located in the 'C:\Program Files (x86)\AOMEI
>Backupper\' folder.
>
>None of the anti-virus scanners at VirusTotal reports anything
>malicious about ABService.exe.

How about this deceptive nonsense from Viper?

VIPRE Antivirus Plus

Top-rated security that won’t slow down your PC. VIPRE Antivirus Plus
offers you essential protection. Plus, you'll get active advanced
protection to stop the newest malware threats.

RegularPrice: $54.99

Now: $14.99 73% Savings

When you click on the Cart, you get this:

"This is a yearly subscription product. After 12 monhts, a yearly fee
of $54.99 is due starting with the next billing cycle."

How in the heck does anyone except an ignorant user - the vast
majority of computer users - pay for this crap - at those prices?

On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 08:17:09 -0500, Merle@invalid.com wrote:

>On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 07:52:56 -0500, Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 15 Jul 2021 23:56:58 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>>
>>>Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>>>

Read this page for how ridiculously complicated these AVs have become.
This AV needs someone to post a Web page on how to remove the damn
thing. But - there's even more interesting stuff on the page about
TotalAV. It shows how ludicrous these AVs have become.

https://botcrawl.com/totalav/

On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 08:38:14 -0500, Merle@invalid.com wrote:

>On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 08:17:09 -0500, Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 07:52:56 -0500, Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 15 Jul 2021 23:56:58 -0500, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>>>
>>>>Merle@invalid.com wrote:
>>>>
>
>Read this page for how ridiculously complicated these AVs have become.
>This AV needs someone to post a Web page on how to remove the damn
>thing. But - there's even more interesting stuff on the page about
>TotalAV. It shows how ludicrous these AVs have become.
>
>https://botcrawl.com/totalav/

Oh, wonderful! I read further down on the page and now they want you
to buy a second program which can remove your AV! Ha!

Simple hint: Get freebie registry backup Erunt. Save registry before
crappy AV install. Load registry backup. Reboot. AV's legs are gone
out from under it. Use DEL key. Bye-bye AV.

Whatever happened to the KISS Principle, folks?

(Keep It Simple, Stupid!)