Avast identifies Angry Birds as a threat on my system despite never installing it.
Avast identifies Angry Birds as a threat on my system despite never installing it.
I'm pretty sure the Avast I downloaded is genuine, yet it's behaving oddly. It recently prompted me to register for the free version, which I delayed for a few days before finally providing my email. Since then, it keeps appearing as a pop-up (refer to picture 1). I haven't installed it on my PC recently. I used it on my Android a while ago but removed it a year prior. The strange part is that after agreeing and having it delete it, he asks me to change my homepage. Why would that matter? (See picture 2). I allowed it, then tried Chrome and Firefox and switched back to Google. About a day later, he sent another pop-up claiming I had Angry Birds and insisted uninstalling it for safety. Is this normal, or did I somehow install a fake Avast trying to redirect me to Yahoo?
Get the free MalwareBytes version and run a scan. Check if Angry Birds is available for Chrome on Firefox.
I don't really have anything beyond adblock, Avast security software, and a few Google docs tools. I mentioned I never installed the game on my PC, just on Android. After a note appeared in Avast with an error report, I closed it without saving. I also noticed something odd about the extension source. I looked in AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data/Default/Extensions and saw 12 folders there. Is that typical with only three add-ons installed?
We updated our slightly new prebuilt version for Christmas, added Avast and paid for it. Recently (over the past few days) it’s been acting like an angry birds extension, giving only a 1 out of 5 rating. It keeps appearing even after we told Avast to remove it. Neither Firefox nor Chrome displays an extension with that name. The operating system is Windows 8.1. In Firefox (probably) the default search engine switches to Yahoo rather than Google. His dad doesn’t want any malware because we have Avast installed… What is this “extension” actually doing?
I discovered another issue in the Browser Cleanup window (the initial one). You can click on the left side and pick the specific browser causing the problem. For me, it was Chrome. Then I deselected the option that says "Exclude add-ons with a good rating." Now I see around a dozen add-ons, likely all the ones I've ever installed, even on old computers. Some of them are games I played a long time ago before buying my current PC. I suspect the problem relates to Chrome. These files are tied to my Gmail account, so when I reinstalled Chrome and linked it to Gmail, the issues persisted. Still unsure why Avast insists on changing my home page to "fix" it—especially since it doesn’t actually resolve anything. It feels like one of those sneaky software packages that messes things up when you're not careful. Changing all defaults and home pages might help, though Yahoo isn’t terrible either. What the hell is going on with Avast? I thought you were cool!
I possess the top antivirus solution currently available. It is named XProtect along with the TSM Adware Removal Tool. Letting these jokes slide, this appears to be a trojan; if I were you, I’d safeguard your crucial files, use DBAN, and begin anew.
I face the same issue again. The Angry Birds add-on isn't visible in Chrome settings or extensions, yet Avast claims it's present. I follow the usual steps—selecting Bing—but Avast says it's gone, only to reappear later. It seems my homepage changed after I switched back to Google. This behavior is odd; if it were malicious, they’d likely include Google as well to avoid raising alarms. It might be an Avast false positive, indicating low user ratings instead of a real threat.
Chrome includes Angry Birds as a pre-linked application in the "apps" section. The game isn<|pad|>, so it isn’t saved locally and isn’t actually downloaded. It appears to be marked as "annoying" because it’s only accessible online and must be played through the internet unless you choose to download it yourself.
Dear Philippe, I’m facing the same problem. Running Windows 7 with Chrome. This seems to be a significant turning point for Avast, once a trusted antivirus, now suggesting a misleading statement (Angry Birds isn’t a malware extension) to push us toward using Bing or Yahoo instead of our usual search engine. I expected more from them. At this stage, we should consider other antivirus options. No more Avast.