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Make Avira AntiVir (Free Edition) More Usable

For years now I have used the free edition of AVG Antivirus, but recently I switched to Avira AntiVir (free edition). I still like AVG, but a number of reports (such as this one) show that it suffers in comparison to AntiVir. While my system has not had a virus in a long time, I decided to give AntiVir a whirl. I like it, for the most part. However, there are a couple of easy hacks improvements that one can make.

file:///Z|/Mis%20documentos/Make%20Avira%20AntiVir%20(Free%20Edition)%20More%20Usable%20_%20TipsFor.us.htm[14/09/2009 3:25:47]

Make Avira AntiVir (Free Edition) More Usable | TipsFor.us

Disable the Annoying Popup The free edition of Avira AntiVir comes with an nagging popup window that rears its ugly head after each update (usually) every day, begging you to consider upgrading to the premium version. The popup is easy to dismiss, but annoying nonetheless. I understand that Avira needs to make money, but every single day is excessive. Anyway, here is how to disable it: Windows XP Pro: 1. Start - Run - Type secpol.msc 2. Click on Software Restriction Policy - go to Action (at the top) - Create New Restriction Policies 3. Right-click on Additional Rules (on the right) - Choose New Path Rule

4. Now click Browse and find the avnotify.exe file (C:\Program File\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\) 5. Make sure the security level is set to Disallowed and click OK. Done. What you have done is disallowed the execution of avnotify.exe, which should suppress the popup window. Windows XP Home (and Media Center) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Boot into Safe Mode (repeatedly press F8 after boot) Login under the Administrator account Navigate to C:\Program File\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe Right-click avnotify - Go to Properties - Security - Advanced Look under the Permissions folder for a listing of all the system users. Do the following for all the users: Edit - Traverse Folder / Execute File - Deny - Click OK Reboot (into Normal mode) when finished

I dont have Windows Vista, so I cant comment on that. If some willing user wants to figure it out and comment below, please feel free. Make Updates Invisible By default, when AntiVir updates itself, it will spawn a new (minimized) window that can interrupt any full screen application that you are using, such as a movie or a video game. To change this, set the Display Mode to Invisible . 1. 2. 3. 4. Launch AntiVir and click the Scheduler tab. Right-click on Daily Update and choose Edit job Click Next until you reach the Display Mode screen Choose Invisible from the drop-down list (see screenshot)

There. Now AntiVir will no longer interrupt full-screen applications. If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe for future updates. Related posts: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Make AVG Antivirus Updates Silent An Overview of Free Antivirus Programs - Part VII - Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic Unlock and Delete Stuck Files with Unlocker An Overview of Free Antivirus Programs - Multi-Part Series An Overview of Free Antivirus Programs - Part VIII - ClamWin An Overview of Free Antivirus Programs - Part IX - McAfee Security Center (AOL Special Edition)

This entry was written by Brian and posted on August 15, 2007 at 9:27 pm and filed under Antivirus, Software. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.

14 Responses to Make Avira AntiVir (Free Edition) More Usable 1. Tomica Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 10:07 pm

file:///Z|/Mis%20documentos/Make%20Avira%20AntiVir%20(Free%20Edition)%20More%20Usable%20_%20TipsFor.us.htm[14/09/2009 3:25:47]

Make Avira AntiVir (Free Edition) More Usable | TipsFor.us

Very Useful Tip, thanks 2. Daniel Says:

September 11th, 2007 at 5:55 pm

As a Vista Business user, I imagine your secpol.msc method would work, but I used a slightly different approach. Navigate to the Avira program directory (C:\Program Files\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic, in my case), right-click on avnotify.exe, and go to Properties. Go to the Security tab in the window that appears, and hit Edit. In the Permissions window, go through all the users and click Deny by Read & execute. Then hit OK as many times as necessary and you should be ad-free! 3. habibbijan Says:
September 11th, 2007 at 9:58 pm

Daniel - Good to know that disabling the popup works on Vista as well, and thanks for providing an alternative method. 4. Dennis Says:
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:12 am

habibbijan, you have done a good job giving detailed information right here. But I cant follow your instruction to disable the popup in my Windows XP Home edition. I cant see any option or tab that allow me to choose Security Advanced. By the way, do you have any information to disable the popup in Windows 98? 5. aaaaaaaaa Says: fuyfuy 6. Roobix Says:
December 15th, 2007 at 12:15 am December 9th, 2007 at 12:21 pm

@ Dennis - to do this in XP Home, boot in Safe Mode, log in as an Administrator, then navigate to the avnotify.exe file, right click, and youll find a security tab. 7. F u r u y Says:
December 20th, 2007 at 6:51 am

Nice! Its really annoying that pop up. Good to know that there is a way to disallow the execution of files you dont want to run, didnt know that. 8. sue Says:
January 16th, 2008 at 3:02 am

Thanku veddy much! 9. Expert Says:

January 22nd, 2008 at 8:58 pm

Awesome information you got there Habibijan! It helped me. THank you very much! 10. linuxamp Says:
January 24th, 2008 at 11:10 pm

Thanks for the very useful tips. Just another note, some host firewall software are also able to block file execution. 11. rajeev Says:
January 25th, 2008 at 11:50 pm

Thanks for the excellent tips regarding avira. 12. Michael Says:
April 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pm

file:///Z|/Mis%20documentos/Make%20Avira%20AntiVir%20(Free%20Edition)%20More%20Usable%20_%20TipsFor.us.htm[14/09/2009 3:25:47]

Make Avira AntiVir (Free Edition) More Usable | TipsFor.us

Hello, thanks for the tip. I use Windows Vista Business, and I want to confirm that I was able to use the Windows XP Pro tip successfully. I didnt bother using the alternative method posted by Daniel because I had no need to. 13. Dr. Mac Says:
May 7th, 2008 at 9:00 am

Greetings folks. Thanks for these excellent reviews. The easiest method for disabling that pop-up is extremely simple and does not require any of the steps mentioned above. Simply go to the Avira program folder and find the avnotify.exe file. RIGHT-click over that file and click on Rename Then simply change the last letter of the .exe to something else - I use x - so it now looks like this : avnotify.exx Done! No more pop-ups! Best wishes and enjoy. Dr. Mac 14. Dr PCfix Says:
May 21st, 2008 at 5:25 pm

Dr Macs advice wont work as avnotify.exe will be replaced by any update if its detected as missing or has changed as the AV self checks itself (as it should) using MD5 hashes of its components, it will retrieve any missing or damaged files on update stick with the security-permissions method of denial as this works and i agree if it wasnt for the aggressive popup advertising nags there would be no need to take these steps Leave a Reply Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website

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Make Avira AntiVir (Free Edition) More Usable | TipsFor.us

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