Vocal Voices

On the laptop, we have a paid version of AVG. AVG has just done a periodic update which actually required a restart (this occasionally happens).

On rebooting, from the desktop, I opened AVG to check all was OK - but what happened was that the AVG Zen dashboard pop-up window was "overridden" by a similar sized advert for a gaming company. There was no obvious means of closing this down, only "play now". I didn't click on it, I closed down the computer. When I restarted it, the same sequence happened, but this time it was a different advert for a lottery draw. Again, no obvious method of closure. Yes, we do have an adblocker installed, FWIW.

I downloaded Malwarebytes Free and ran it, but it didn't pick anything up. Eventually found that I could close the pop-up window by right-clicking on the AVG icon on the Start Bar and closing the window from there.

I then reopened it, and this time, the Zen window was not overridden by an advert, but displayed correctly. I was then able (from this) to access the AVG Protection dashboard - and this also came up OK. Ran a full computer scan and it merely picked up a couple of tracking cookies. (Side issue: I haven't got the free SuperAntiSpyware installed on that machine, but I might just download it now).

Closed and reopened AVG, everything now seems normal.

Looking at various forums, there does seem to be a few threads complaining about AVG adverts popping up and being difficult to get rid of, but these are mainly for AVG products / upgrades, not for non-AVG adverts for games or lotteries. Nevertheless, I can't help feeling that it's not some malware we've picked up, AVG is sponsoring these adverts.

Any thoughts, folks?

Osiie, when I was reading up for the other thread on AV I also saw many complaints about AVG pop-ups, but they were with the free version and for AVG products and services. However, I also read some things about pop-ups and the Zen dashboard, some of them from outside AVG.

You problem seems similar yet different. You have a paid up version so you should, in theory, be able to stop notifications and pop-ups from something like: Options>>>Settings>>>Appearance and then unchecking anything to do with advisor or notifications.

Even if that works I think I would still raise a ticket with AVG because gaming and lottery pop-ups do not sound to be part of your deal with AVG and they could well be malware/adware rogues getting through AVG's defences.

Has it recognised the subscription Ossie? It should tell you in the info about the app.

It may be that it thinks it's running in free mode after the update.

Thanks, guys. I'll check those various angles next time we boot it up.