Jack says Avast does a great job protecting his computer and we only recommend Emsisoft because we are greedy!
I have been using Avast for years – free version. You claim you tested a lot of antivirus programs before you decided to endorse Emsisoft. Yet, in all the years I’ve had Avast, I’ve never had a bit of trouble – I’ve never had a virus. I feel you are only recommending Emsisoft because you get a cut and so you run down Avast and other free antivirus programs in order to increase sales. So what do you have to say about this? Are you telling me that Avast is not protecting my computer? Jack
Our answer
We don’t recommend Avast because we have seen too many times where it offers no protection (or very little protection) from malware and PUPS. It has nothing to do with money. Emsisoft is simply the best at protecting computers from malware, PUPs, viruses, Trojans, rogues and other undesirables. We continue to stand by our endorsement.
We have noticed many times that both AVG and Avast install toolbars. We also noted that neither one accurately, consistently and thoroughly detects PUPS. We found major flaws in AVG and Avast when it comes to detecting malware and pups – and malware and PUPs are things you are almost certain to encounter every single day. Most antivirus programs detect viruses – viruses are old technology. Malware and PUPs are different; they are much more sneaky and hundreds of new malware and PUPs are loaded onto the Web every day. And we have personally seen dozens and dozens of computers, supposedly protected by Avast or AVG (and Norton and McAfee) which were loaded down with malware so badly they had to have help getting rid of it all and Something is just not right about that.
And we certainly don’t think that Avast or AVG or any security program needs to be hijacking your browser’s search (like AVG) or installing toolbars (like Avast, AVG, Norton, McAfee and others) or hijacking your preferred browser home page. We will continue to recommend Emsisoft – not only as a great antivirus but also as the best antimalware you can have on your computer. As long as they continue to provide their customers with world-class support and a world-class security program – you can bet we will continue to endorse and recommend them. We aren’t going to be intimidated by the few who think we’re only recommending Emsisoft because we get a commission – we could have made hundreds of thousands of dollars by putting malware in our stationery files and we could have made tens of thousands of dollars be recommending 3rd-party firewalls (which are not necessary) but we never did and we never will. We recommend Emsisoft because we believe in it and in the support team and company behind it. It ranks highly on independent lab tests and we use it on our personal computers and so do our family members. We cannot help what some people think. We continue to support, endorse and recommend Emsisoft.
Further, on this issue of Avast’s credibility, read the following by How To Geek…
“Avast Antivirus Was Spying On You with Adware (Until This Week)
And to address Avast specifically, we found the following article by How To Geek, extremely interesting – and we think everyone who uses Avast should be aware of it. We have not had time to verify the information presented in the article, but given our experience we can tell you we believe this article is factual.
We warned you at the beginning of the year that many of your browser extensions are spying on you, tracking what you are visiting, and even inserting ads into pages. These aren’t just no-name developers either: even Avast, one of the most trusted antivirus vendors was in on the game.
Before we go even one step further, it’s important to note that they recently disabled the spying “shopping” feature in their browser extension. So if you are running the latest Chrome with extensions updated, you are fine. For now.
So Avast has stopped integrating the spying extension, but this is about the principle: you should be able to trust your antivirus provider. Why are they adding a feature that spies on your browsing, inserts ads… and all without properly notifying you?
And why, at the same time, are they claiming to stop spyware, even uninstalling other shopping extensions from other vendors, while they were doing the same thing they are supposed to stop? … “
What would be your evaluation of Panda free Antivirus.
Almost anything that says “anti-virus” will protect you from viruses – the trouble with that is that viruses are substantially more rare than PUPs and Malware. Though Panda (like others) claim to protect you from malware, we have not see that to be true.
I know everyone wants to believe that they can get something for nothing that works as well or better than something you have to pay for — and sometimes that is true. We, in fact, had numerous opportunities for sell Norton, McAfee, WebRoot and others for huge commissions yet we continued to recommend Microsoft Security Essentials — that was back at a time before Microsoft virtually abandoned MSE and MSE went from a top-ten antivirus to one of the worst. We had no choice but to stop recommending it. At the same time Mawlwarebytes sold out to malware distributors and their program became worthless. And while they claim to have reformed, we have found a lot of malware on computers protected with Malwarebytes.
We spent a lot of time testing all kinds of antivirus programs and antimalware programs after both MSE and Malwarebytes turned sour. Naturally we tested all the free ones first – including Panda. And all of them lacked even minimal malware / PUPS protection. That’s the reason why 80-90% of all computers we work on via Cloudeight Direct tat are having problems are having problems because of malware and PUPs and not viruses. In almost 3 years of repairing computers (thousands) we have seen a handful of virus infection – less than 10. But we have found a lot of malware on the majority of computers we worked on. And in many of those cases, the malware and PUPs were the cause of their computer problems.
We have found no antivirus/antimalware that protects computers as well as Emsisoft. And while most people would not believe this — if we found a free one that worked as well or better, we’d recommend it. But so far, we have not. And we do continue to test free antivirus whenever we find a new one that we haven’t tried. We see computers protected(?) by Norton, McAfee, Avast, AVG, Trend Micro and others – full of malware and PUPs. Not many use Panda but we did test it and found it very ineffective in protecting users from what they’re most likely to encounter – malware and PUPs.
i see some people r still moaning but what ive read since i started with cloud 8 i think your website is great and you offer a lot to the people out there you have the best interest you offer people ok some we have to pay for but also you offer a lot for free
THANK YOU CLOUD 8
In response to “Jack says Avast does a great job protecting his computer and we only recommend Emsisoft because we are greedy!”
I subscribe to many newsletters, but only trust you guys.
I’ve used many anti-virus programs since Windows 3.14.
Emsisoft has great tips and customer service.
Jack is uniformed in his comment.
Here is a site with many ‘user-reviews’ of Avast: http://www.freewarefiles.com/review_17_244_2165.html . Read the reviews and you will see that you (TC and EB) are correct and Jack is out in left field as far as PC Security is concerned. With free Avast, you definitely get what you paid for.
Amen to Robert’s remarks!
In response to “Jack says Avast does a great job protecting his computer and we only recommend Emsisoft because we are greedy!”
I subscribe to many newsletters, but only trust you guys.
I’ve used many anti-virus programs since Windows 3.14.
Emsisoft has great tips and customer service.
Jack is uniformed in his comment.
“How-To Geek” also posted that Avast was spying on us, until this week when they got caught. http://www.howtogeek.com/199829/avast-antivirus-was-spying-on-you-with-adware-until-this-week/
I have been with you guys for years and will continue to be…I know you have our best interest at heart and tell us the truth! I appreciate that so much, Emsisoft is the best, it is well worth the cost to know I am fully protected, Thank You! I also know that you will not do anything just for the money, if anyone has been with this newsletter any length of time at all, they know that! This Jim guy must be a newbe!
My sister was using Avast for years. I installed Emisoft on her computer, removed Avast, and ran a scan. It came back with 483 malware & PUP problems! Virus’s are not the problem today, all the malware & PUP’s are.
I have been with you since the 1990’s. You have never steered me wrong nor led me in the wrong direction. You have kept my computer running very well and your suggestions have helped me keep my computer running smooth. Thank you for everything you do for us without resorting to making money from all the BIG NAME PROGRAMS who are not looking out for us!
Well Kudos to you guys. If anyone questions your integrity all they have to do is read your response to this derogatory and curt question/comment. You took the time to give a long and thorough and very professional explanation without once sinking to this accusatory person’s level. He didn’t deserve your decency but I know you really did it for others who may be confused about why you no longer support Avast.
You’re better “men” than I. If after reading your newsletters this person thinks you’re just self interested exploiters I would have told him he was too stupid to respond to. 🙂
I Totally Agree with Amy Demo! Both of You’s are Wonderful to Follow on Computer Issues!!
Jack does not know , well you know but I have always been of the opinion you guys deserve to make some well. JACK, MONEY! and I think what you are doing is in line with your creed. I am very happy for you both having an income stream of some kind I would have it that you make a million soon . I would say it was the advice I have had over the years from Cloud Eight my computers have always run till they change OS and I have to buy a new one . Hunt up more money making deals if you can ! Yea!!!!
I was ticked off to hear someone was badmouthing you guys and your integrity. I have been with you guys for years and years, and I have to say everything I know about computers came from Cloudeight Info Avenue newsletters! I have followed your advice on every program I have on my computer and you have never steered my wrong. I see other people that come to my grooming business complaining about their computer troubles all the time. I ask them what they use for anti-virus/ anti-spyware/anti-malware and they look at me like I have 2 heads! Everyone knows Norton is the best right? Ha ha. I tell them to check out Emsisoft and point them in Cloudeights direction so they can get educated about their computers. Some people thank me….others ignore me and continue to have troubles and end up buying new computers rather than try to fix old ones! I trust Cloudeight and anyone who thinks you’re greedy is not living in the real world. You guys Rock! Oh….and your renewal for Emsisoft for current members is less money than going directly to the Emsisoft site…..greedy? I don’t think so!
Jack be nimble
Jack be quick
Change to Emsisoft
Give Avast the flick
In Australia, giving something ‘the flick’ means ‘get rid of it.