The problem with the free version of Avira Antivir, however, is that it constantly pop-ups an annoying advertisement asking you to buy their premium version, usually after the signature database update. It's not the first time that their pop-up made one of my games crash while I was playing in fullscreen, so I set out to eliminate this annoyance.
Important: You'll have to disable Antivir's "Product Protection" first in order to do this manipulation:
- Open Avira Free Antivirus.
- Press F8 to open up the options (or from the menu, go to Extras > Configuration).
- Click Expert mode to enable advanced options (button turns yellow).
- On the General Tab, click Security.
- On right side Uncheck all boxes on the Product protection section.
Now let's disable the culprit responsible for these ads, a file named avnotify.exe.
- Go to the Antivir installation folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop
- Right click avnotify.exe and select Properties.
- Under the Security tab, select SYSTEM and click Edit...
- Tick Read & Execute in the Deny column, and click OK.
You can now (and should) revert back Antivir's "Production protection" in the same manner we've disabled it.
Reboot your computer and enjoy an advertisement free antivirus.
Update:
It seems there is still another way Avira can show us ads (using a file called ipmgui.exe) in the form of notifications in your lower right screen. If you wish to get rid of these messages too, simply repeat the steps above for the file ipmgui.exe found in Antivir's installation folder. Also, don't forget to enable the "Production protection" after you're done, it's very important.
Very usefull, thanks you.
ReplyDeletehi, I followed your steps up until 2.-the Properties of the exe file. There is no security tab and no system tab. can you help please!
ReplyDeleteyou don't have windows admin access (possibly)
Delete@elenska
ReplyDeleteYou will need Administrator rights for that tab to appear (it says right up there).
Does what it says on the tin.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the sites I looked at for this problem, this was the only one that made me aware of the in built "Product Protection".
How great is the internet. Thanks.
I used a method that is even simpler for the BIG (notify.exe) ad that works. But, now that I've just noticed the smaller (in the lower-right corner) ad popup, I will use the same method for that as well.
ReplyDeleteOpen Avira, click on "quarantine" towards the bottom on the left panel. Click on the "+" sign at the top of the window. Browse to "notify.exe", highlight it, then click "open" to add the file to the quarantine list. Now, just repeat those same steps for the "ipmgui.exe" file.
Close out Avira's window when done. Now you're totally ad free. :)
Update :
ReplyDeleteUsing my previously mentioned method to disable the smaller popup that occurs at the lower-right of the screen doesn't work, I still get the ad annoyance.
If anyone knows a way to disable that one for Windows 7 Home Premium, please let me know. Thanks :)
I am the sole user of my computer, how do I enable the administrative rights for windows xp?
ReplyDelete@alza689
ReplyDeleteControl Panel > User Accounts > Click the user account you want to give admin rights to > Click "Change account type" at the bottom > Select "Computer administrator" and finally the "Change Account" type button.
I think I have full privilege on my existing user account as an administrator since I need to create a new account for in order to change the account type. Yet I cannot view the security tab in the avnotify property tab. My user account has the admin rights as verified from computer management window. I am afraid there is another glitch. Nonetheless Thank you for the tip. I cannot change the existing account as I am privileged with the same rights on change account type.
ReplyDelete@alza689
DeleteIt actually depends on the version of Windows XP you have. Windows XP Home will not allow you to have the security tab as it's enforced by default. You will need to reboot into Safe Mode to see the Security Tab. If you have Windows XP Professional, however, refer to this guide on Microsoft's website:http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/acl_sec_tab.mspx?mfr=true
Moreover, while Avira Antivir is a very good antivirus, I would recommend people use Microsoft Security Essentials if they want a stress free experience: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download
Will disabling the pop ups lower my security?
ReplyDeleteNo it shouldn't reduce your security in any way. However it's very important to remember to turn product protection back on as that left disabled will reduce your security.
DeleteIs this still a viable solution for disabling the ads? It seem like Avira disable and revert the security on each update.
ReplyDeleteReally all I did was use windows search to find impgui.exe and avnotify.exe and threw those two files in the recycle bin and having no problems. I also have kept BGPkiller in my start menu just to see if if avira tries launching that crap
ReplyDeleteI tried renaming ipmgui.exe and windows spat back I lack the permissions even though I'm an admin on my pc :/
DeleteAvira Free Antivirus download which is an award-winning product that provides comprehensive protection against all types of threats, secures your data, protects your privacy and ensures your PC remains virus-free.
ReplyDeleteSome users say that it does not help, and also avnotify should not be blocked if you want to see virus descriptions from Avira's website when Avira finds a virus.
ReplyDeleteBetter suggestion might be to add ipmgui.exe to Windows Firewall forbidden rules. From a post on Avira's forum:
Start > Run > wf.msc >
Advanced Settings > Outbound rules > New rule > Program >path: %ProgramFiles% (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\ipmgui.exe >Block > Domain + Private +Public > Name: Block Avira Pop-Up
Done.
If ipmgui cannot retrieve the pop-up content from Avira servers, it won't launch because it has nothing to display.
But not sure if all Windows editions have such detailed firewall settings.
Ooooo. I may try this if the original guide doesn't work too well. I don't mind pop ups saying update done or virus found but telling me once every 4 hours to buy premium is annoying as.
DeleteI for sure disabled the ads using Local Security Policies on my Windows 7 Pro PC. However every time the program tries to call that module I get a different pop up from windows so sadly not a good option. I'm hoping your guide works. I haven't restarted yet but those pop ups sure are annoying.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIs still relevant?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete