What is Active Virus Shield (AVS)?
Active Virus Shield is AOL's new security offering for antivirus and anti-spyware protection. This free service is based on Kaspersky Lab's anti-malware technologies and it features some of the latest innovations present in Kaspersky Lab's products.¹

In large part, AOL security solutions are intended to address a segment of the user community that does not currently have anti-virus defenses or do not necessarily keep up-to-date with their anti-virus protection. As an important aspect of their new premium services, they have developed Active Virus Shield (AVS). AVS is available as a download only.¹

More information about this product is available here: www.activevirusshield.com

Controversy Regarding AVS End User License Agreement and Security Toolbar
AVS has come under fire regarding some portions of it's EULA. AOL is said to be promoting spam and some has gone even further and has labeled AVS as a form of adware.

Active Virus Shield's security toolbar is based on a product with a questionable reputation. An earlier version of this software, known as the Softomate toolbar, is flagged as adware by Kaspersky's own anti-virus products.²

More information can be obtained at:

http://www.castlecops.com
http://www.pcworld.com/

Regarding Commercial Usage for AVS

The EULA explicitly states that AVS is only for personal and not for commercial usage. However according to yingfan from this thread, he has received a confirmation e-mail from AOL that AVS is also free for commercial use. I would like to point out that from a legal viewpoint, it would still be illegal to use AVS commercially unless AOL changes the EULA to reflect that. The matter has also been brought up in the Kaspersky forums in this thread and the answer is still a No.

My Own Humble Opinion
I have been using AVS for some time now and I'm very satisfied with it. To date I still haven't received any "promotional materials" from AOL or if I did, maybe it has already been filtered by Gmail's spam filter. AOL has said that it would change the EULA because of the controversy but that has yet to happen.

Regarding commercial usage, my take is that AOL would want the software to be used as much as possible even commercially but I think they won't change the EULA to reflect that because that would directly comes in conflict with Kaspersky's business. In short, I guess AOL won't take any actions if you're caught using AVS commercially but it's still a NO legally.

How to: Offline Installation for AVS Without Online Activation
Note: You still need to get the license key online first. This guide is for subsequent offline installation of AVS

1) Obtain an activation code from AVS via email.

2) Generate a license key using the activation code at https://activation.kaspersky.com/

3) The next time you install AVS, make sure the .key file is in the same location as AVS setup file. That way, it won't have to activate online.

A general installation and configuration guide is available at http://www.drtweak.com. Note that AVS will flag mIRC as riskware if you enable "Potentially dangerous software..." in the Protection Menu.

¹ : Quoted directly from http://www.kaspersky.com/faq?qid=194134869
² : Quoted partially from http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126803-p...cy/article.html

This post has been edited by nessus: Jan 3 2007, 03:41 PM

basicly, it's KAV 6.0.0.299 (latest is KAV 6.0.0.303) without web anti-virus and proactive defense




read more: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=142224

Some issues regarding to AVS:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126803-page,1/article.html

Active Virus Shield is the best free AV i've used so far in my battle against the evil Worm.Brontok.AA virus. It has password protection for locking the settings, quick online updates & a simple GUI. My only negative comment about it is that I can't manually select the file types that I want to scan in the manual scanner settings. I highly recommend this AV to anybody & everybody that has a Worm.Brontok.AA infection.

This post has been edited by The Punisher: Sep 20 2006, 05:04 PM

How about doing this??



I like AVS because it's more reliable than other free AV's.

Although sometimes my system will lag a bit.

so far anyone have try this AV? comment please

This post has been edited by Pdot: Sep 17 2006, 11:48 AM

Ok la, although it lags my pc a bit while scanning...
Pentium III...

erm, it detects virus in zipped files where other anitvirus can't detect...
I like this feature...

Even in installers it still can detect virus encrypted inside, the only thing matters is time.

It sounds good from the way it looks..But i still stick with AVG..don't wan put so many antivirus program too many if not my notebook hang later

But seriously AVS is way better than AVG.
Despite the fact it might lag your pc a bit more, it provides better protection.
You might reconsider whether to change or not.

No basis of "hanging" worry... AVS does not have Proactive Settings... In that case, it has a very low chance of causing conflicts... Just give it a try... Shouldn't cause any problems...

yeah, just give it a try, if satisfied with the performance, may consider upgrade to kaspersky

I installed AVS today replacing Avast. It detected and removed a group of Worm.Win32.Brontok.n infected files in my thumbdrive.

That is good news, at least. I wonder... Brontok epidemic is that bad...? Seems like many post in LYN about thie Brontok Worm... (I never had the good luck to be infected by one, if you get what I mean...)

LOL

seem is time for me to change AV for my lappie

thankx for the comment

This is for scanning a single file, what I wan is to specify the file "extensions" to scan (example; to scan only EXE files on the whole HDD and skipping the other files that aren't EXE)

This post has been edited by The Punisher: Sep 27 2006, 01:35 PM

Most likely you might have a "good" time adding excludes... It is not going to be so fast...

upgraded to kaspersky also.. no laggy happens.
Germany soft just like their car (Merz, BMW, audi) = Reliable + Safe.

Kaspersky is Russian

Antivir is German if I am not mistaken, but yeah, kaspersky is Russian. LOL.

but cant ur avast delete it mer?

Russian.. so kaspersky taste good like Vodka lo...

Wanted to switch to this one, but still very much comfortable with Antivir (a really effective free antivirus I can say, helped me detect some viruses in few occassions)

By clicking, "Get it Now", you acknowledge receipt of, and agree to the terms of the Active Virus Shield License and User Agreement and Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive electronically from us periodic notices about Active Virus Shield and other services that may be of interest to you. Click the "No Thanks" link below if you do not agree to any of these terms.

click no thx nothing happen...

do u guys get spam?

EDIT: this makes me dun wanna dl this program.but so many people recommending this software though(even the mods n staff) so pls post ur experience with this AV

This post has been edited by prash: Oct 18 2006, 01:24 AM

I use my WinXP machine as non-admin user. Lately AVS is giving me a weird problem. It seems to be running according my processes list. But it is not appearing in my tray icon. So I can't open AVS control panel at all.

Everything seems fine when I login as administrator.

So bear in mind if you are a non-admin user. It might give you problems. I have yet to find out whats wrong with my AVS, let alone solve it.

Maybe AVS needs a process for the tray icon and it is not runned at first boot? Consider checking on that. Cheers !

I'm running AVS on my pc now.

But somehow a critical area scan of my pc included

" system memory, startup objects, boot sectors, c:\windows and C:\windows\system32" took more than 6 hours to finish..........

I wonder why.......
Is AVS so slow?
Friend of mine using Kaspersky isn't that slow

Is your memory full? Sometimes inadequate memory and too many running processes can cause hyper-slow functions. Good Luck.

do i need to uninstall my current AV to instal AVS ???

using NOD32 now ( still in trial )

Well you can consider doing that. But AVS should not have any conflicts with NOD32 because AVS has no proactive defense function.

is better to uninstall ur old AV and install AVS
just to avoid conflict

so AVS better or NOD32??

i know i should not compare Pay(NOD32) with Free(AVS)

but just want to know normally paid AV will better than free AV?

now trying on Antivir

anyway, i'm using this AOL AVS currently, user friendly and easy update.
Recommend it

Free or not free, many users like to base their opinions on this factors. I would suggest you search up av-comparatives and read their reports. THen you will know which AV is good. Cheers!

How u determine that?

Ctrl-Alt-Del (Task Manager)

If your Page File more than half, Performance 100% at constant rate, computer working at full load.

just use cacheman xp on systray can know it in realtime.

Page File is at around 2 bar out of 10bars....

so I conclude that it isn't high.....
still it takes a lot of time....
even scanning a pendrive takes far longer time compared to avast....

Compared to Avast... Tell me what settings did you put? Avast - thorough? and so on..

eg.
on Avast, scan through a 1gb pendrive may take less than a minute

but AVS........2 minutes?

AVS Uses Kaspersky Scanning Engine. Kaspersky is SLOW BUT DETAILED. LOL. I doubt there is somethings wrong. But I will try my best to source for the problem, hopefully if there is any. Cheers!

Gonna format my old P4 Desktop, and will give AVS a try instead of using my trusted Antivir

this is a good antivirus, except it has no real time protection, the most useful component.

It does have real time protection (as in whenever files are accessed in HDD/CD/FlashDrive, it gets scanned and virus is detected), but the missing function is proactive protection

Quoted from kaspersky website
This post has been edited by samurai1337: Oct 30 2006, 10:32 PM

No doubt, but from my view, without proactive protection, even if it uses signature-based real time protection, it will not detect at least half of the malware we get, and it might miss many polymorphic viruses too. So, I still feel that RTM (Real Time Monitoring) needs to be a bit more extended rather than just scanning files on the spot.

so AVS can delete the brontok???...my college have been attack by brontok...i want to install it at my college..

What's the scaning part (total scaned) at active virus shield? it keep increasing even though i didn't scan any thing.I found out i can play pause and stop it.
It keep increasing what happen if i stop it ?

I think it keeps on increasing when your OS receive incoming files from your flash drive, floppy, CD or even from the web, AVS will scan it for you.

If you stop it, no scanning will be done.

This post has been edited by samurai1337: Nov 3 2006, 12:10 AM

When i start my pc , it also increase without any cd , no internet or no flash drive.
Just start my pc it continue scanning.If i stop it , will it still protect from virus ? Sometimes i feel like my pc a bit slow after install AVS

Not really just incoming files, whenever files are being accessed, AVS scans.

I don't think the real time scanning engine will affect your system THAT much, and if you stop it, the risk of getting infected will of course be relatively higher

thanks for telling.So is this antivirus power full ? and what is real time scan that being mention that AVS don't have this feature ?

I mentioned it in post #43

Basically, it's a more proactive approach that scans your memory processes, registry etc., other than just file access.

happy with the software thus far, not a resource hog as claimed, make me consider want to upgrade to kaspersky

i just downloaded it and using it now,does it come with firewall? because before this i was using panda titanium,it came with firewall,antivirus,and antispyware, what bout avs?do i have to install another firewall like ZA? and referring to what u guys said,u mean when we access to a harmful file,it wont stop us on time? and some virus auto attack our pc it wont block automatic?

AVS doesn't come with a firewall. Purely an antivirus.

@darude87:
If you OPEN a file, it will scan. But if a virus is new OR a highly-skilled polymorphic virus (Imagine the virus changing clothes every second), then, it might not be able to block efficiently. Cheers!

any reason why i didn't receive the activation code yet?
tried with several e-mail adress but no luck

have you check on you spam/junk section should be in there...

checked ur spam mail? i got it once in my spam mail ^^
AVS kinda good la..not resource hogging and can pause or play whenever u wan...it also keep scanning the files that enters ur pc
however i turn off the startup object scanning.. make my pc lag at startup only ~

I got mine in inbox. Using GMail FYI.

And one activation code can be used on multiple PCs FYI.

ok thanks, got it..
btw, first update size 7MB?!!

its normal... "/..it updates the program

sorry my bad. just use this antivirus and i'm very satisfied with it, compared to avg free.

just a quick question related to diff user acount who access AVS. i'm running win2k, install AVS using an account with admin rights. Then i created a "user" account, but i cannot find AVS running in taskbar. further check under task manager, found entry of avp.exe running. also try to run AVS as it is listed in the start menu, nothing responded.

my question is AVS running on normal "user" account. i try to check on the setting of AVS but found nothing related...

sifu sifu sekalian, pls advise??

I notice that scanning takes longer than avg, so far i haven't seen a noticeable diff between the 2 except that AVS takes much longer 2 scan my pc compared to avg free.

Can i ignore certain file, because Active Virus Shield detect one crack file as virus. Thanks

yes you can ignore it..., as for me, i just delete/run on another PC (if you have any)
keep in mind, most cracks/key-gen do have spyware/malware/virus and not to mention, it's wrong to disscuss in here...

The AVS update is currently 7.4mb rite... but i only manage to download 5.7 only... Can anybody tell me wat is happening...??? Will it affect my AVS? Thanks...

u can try manual update it instead.

Manual update is easier than auto update

It's probably because the connection is affected by the outage of ISP that most of us are suffering

I could download the whole 7.4MB yesterday morning though

I also can't finish the whole update, sigh...thanks to the earthquake causing the line problem.

yeah mine too, but i do manage to finish it all after re-tried couple of times..., it's not big deal for me...

Waa....so many people using AVS. Btw, it is a nice antivirus powered by Kaspersky.

Wan to ask if i disable the startup scanning, is it ok with that??

yeah, nothing's wrong will happen, it just it'll start faster and you can always scan it manually...

Thanks ..

it will make our system more vulnerable, doesnt it?

nah, i think disable AVS or any AV yes, vulnerable, but disable scanning start up objects, i think it just disable scan start up and we can always scan it manually or anytime. but as for me, i enabled all scanning options besides i don't have any issue to make disable here and there...

Just a heads up. I've updated information regarding AVS in the first post

Thank you very much for the heads up

On second thought, does it work?


Since there's no activate using existing license key option in AVS. That function is only available in Kaspersky...

but dun do tat as nowadays thumbdrive once plugin pc will autorun virus which is strigger inside the effected thumbdrive.

Yes it does . I won't post it up if I haven't tried it.

Oh ok thanks for clearing that.

need help here..



any solution for this..?

just apply for a new key

try it already..i have 3 keys obtain from them but the probem still there..

i think you chould clean uninstall AOL AVS (with manually delete those registry made by them) then only you can re-install with the also newly key ...

owhh..manually delete registry..? wow..for a long time i havent touched my registry

Hi mdzaboy, by the look of the pic you posted, are you running 2 network cards at once or are you running a wired and a wireless connection at once? There's a very rare issue with Kaspersky KIS v6 and I think it also applies to KAV v6 where running two network controllers would trigger the error you're getting. You could clarify the problem by disabling one of your network controllers, then restart and see if the error still occurs.

If you're running a ppoe connection, I don't really know if it would trigger the problem or not. You could try setting your modem to router mode to test it out. Try this only if the above paragraph fails to solve your problem.

Normally customers would contact Kaspersky to get a new key which eliminates the problem but because AVS is free, I think they won't provide you with tech support. There's currently no fix for the issue either. What you can do now is see if the above solutions work for you or not. If they don't you can try applying for keys until one of them works (I have no idea if this would work or not). If all else fails, use another free AV. There's a few which are pretty good

hurm..last time i download and installed kaspersky trial ver..yerp i have 2 avaiable newtork running.

but for sure theres no prob runnin the kaspersky using the 2 networks that i have..i think should be the registry prob since i haven't touched the registry yet..

well i think i go for u recommandation 1st..


edit - typo(fenin )

installed on winxp, imo it work perfectly.

installed on several win98, mostly got probs.
1st, it cant access internet/intranet from internet explorer but can auto update. after uninstall it can access internet dee. cant even retrieve email from a local email server, only can retrieve when i disable mail anti virus.
2nd, access network neighbourhood damn slow.
3rd, always hangs when using multiple software.

for 2nd and 3rd, i already set to lowest requirement.
so sad... if only it work on win98...................

my conclusion,

AVS is good cos after install sure got a bunch of virus got detected that my old av does not detect, such as avast, avs, norton.

AVS on winxp a bit lag but still ok compared to others, no complaint from user.

AVS on win98, i wont recommend it, everyday listen to complaintS..............
btw my win98 pc spec is not low p4 2.4g, 256mb ram.

yes AVS caused a bunch of problems for me too in win 9x platforms, mostly errors with dibeng.dll which was solved with either an upgrade or a downgrade of the graphics card driver.

nessus..i guess my avs works rite now..thanks to u man..

now i need to disable my other network card..sighh

Glad to hear that . If its such a hassle just use another free AV.

i tried avast in my win98 w/o problem, u can try it too.

Respect, and I just can't help it, how the hell you know that?