Avast - Grimefighter

[ayjay]

I've used Avast free AV for quite a while now, it works just fine.

 

The 2014 version has something called Grimefighter attached (for some users) which claims to be able to make my PC run quicker by disabling stuff - currently 4 apps and 20 System settings.

 

Bearing in mind I'm happy with how my PC is running I've been ignoring it.

 

Is there any way to find out exactly what it wants to disable?

 

 

 

[kirisute]

I've not used it but if it's similar to the AVG tune up then it will disable non essential startup items, tweak registry settings amd remove certain startup/ running apps that it considers a pain.

They do work, but can disable certain bits and bobs you might make use of or want running. So be careful.

They usually gave a quick restore function though so you shouldn't struggle to get back to how you were if you ahead.

[ayjay]

They do work, but can disable certain bits and bobs you might make use of or want running. So be careful.

 

That's what bothers me - it doesn't matter how good it is, it doesn't know what I want to use, however infrequently that may be.

 

I could set up a restore point before I do it, but if something comes to light 3 months down the line I may not want to restore things to that far back.

 

I think, on balance, I'll continue to ignore it, or even remove it altogether if possible.

[kirisute]

As I say: most of them have in built restore features....so snythung they change should just be a click away from restoring.

[Steve Walker]

I would hope that if you click that button it tells you exactly what it is about to do, but I wouldn't bank on it.

 

Biggest performance hog on my old PC is Skype. That and Apple's stuff. Luckily, my new PC has 32 GB of RAM and a 4GHz quad core i7, so it seems to be coping ok

[Newt]

my new PC has 32 GB of RAM

My how this PC thing has grown. I remember running an Apple II Plus that I upgraded from the original 16Kb to 64Kb of RAM which was all it could deal with. I wanted to add a 5Mb external hard drive (mine only had floppy drives) but the $3000 price tag in 1980 dollars was a bit more than I could manage.

 

16Kb = 16,000 bytes

64Kb = 64,000 bytes

5Mb = 5,000,000 bytes

32Gb = 32,000,000,000 bytes

[kirisute]

Skype is a ram whore! Awful piece of software! If I must use it I use it on my ipad!

For pc I use google hangouts now more than anything.

[ayjay]

I would hope that if you click that button it tells you exactly what it is about to do, but I wouldn't bank on it.

 

 

I don't think it does, I've tried to interrogate it to find out exactly what it wants to do but it's not telling - I'm not clicking on it in the hope of finding out - I think I'll just ignore it or turn it off, at least until I can find out more.

 

I'm no PC expert but I know more about what I want and don't want by now than the spotty 16 year old that wrote the programme.

[ayjay]

Looking for a new skin as my current (very old) one won't work with the latest Firefox version, (I'm still on v.28 and it's pestering me to update to v.33) and I stumbled on this:-

 

Current Avast versions offer a bugged version of "Browser Cleanup", which accidentally removes Firefox add-ons without any proper reason!
Although Avast is currently working on fixing this issues, it is highly recommended to remove or disable "Browser Cleanup" until problems are fixed.

 

I'm glad I've ignored the Grimefighter thing up to now, I may not have the bugged version but once it's done it's too late.