Avira not completing scans

Alan_Cross

I installed Avira as my anti-virus freeware as it was recommended as the best thing since sliced bread at the time. (A couple of years ago)

However, for no apparent reason, recently it has begun to stop scanning half way through or less and causes Vista to close.... this, despite giving me regular reports that it has 'updated successfully.

I am getting cheesed off and am wondering what people recommend. Should I uninstall and go back to AVG, or what?

mykeblack

If you're using Windows Vista, probably the best free software is Microsoft Security Essentials which isnot only free, but also consumes very little memory when running in the background. It auto updates via windows update.

You can get it at microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

Alan_Cross

mykeblack wrote: »

If you're using Windows Vista, probably the best free software is Microsoft Security Essentials which isnot only free, but also consumes very little memory when running in the background. It auto updates via windows update.

You can get it at microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

Thank you. That would be about the first time I've ever heard a Microsoft product actually recommended on these pages!

Is it a genuine anti-virus programme or just a spyware hunter like Spybot? I take it there is a difference from the windows 'defender' software which comes with Vista?

mykeblack

Windows defender is installed as default on Vista, and is used to scan for and remove known spyware only. MS Security Essentials is a full AV program which is a lot better than defender since it detects and protects against more threats.

When you install MSE it should disable windows defender and take over it's functions.

The only caveat is that you need a fully licenced and verified version of windows - which I assume your are using anyway...

aliEnRIK

Usually when avira fails to complete scans its due to something else running that shouldnt be

Download HIJACK THIS (Make sure you click 'DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION')
http://www.filehippo.com/download_hijackthis/
Click MAIN MENU then DO A SYSTEM SCAN AND SAVE A LOGFILE(Takes seconds) then post the log so we can see whats running
(do NOT do anything else with Hijack but scan and post the FULL log)
If you get a message that you cant write to the hosts file then Press the SHIFT key, and whilst holding it RIGHT CLICK and select RUN AS (admin)

fiddiwebb

Which version of Avira personel are you using?

The latest version is 10.0.0.567

As RIK says it's usually down to something else running that is not allowing Avira to perform a complete scan.

Avira has a small footprint and also a better rate of detection than MSE, you could try uninstalling whatever version of Avira you have and re-installing the latest version but would advise following Riks advice first to try and determine what is causing the problem.