I have been a long time user of the fabulous Avast anti-virus, simply because it has never let me down. It must have protected me from thousands of malware attacks and phishing sites since I started using it in 2009. So when I visited my nana last week and she asked me to install some software to keep the virus troubles out, I naturally downloaded Avast anti-virus for her on her new Samsung notebook computer. But as soon as I came back home, she called me and asked about many warnings and alerts coming from Avast antivirus. I realized that my dear nana is not so aware of the malware threats and how to respond when Avast asks about suspicious files, so I decided to switch her copy of Avast antivirus into the “hardened mode”.
Hardened mode of Avast antivirus is for inexperienced users who get easily perplexed when seeing those alert messages where Avast finds something suspicious (not necessarily malicious) and do not know what to do. In the hardened mode, Avast takes the reins in its own hands. Instead of asking the user what to do with a suspicious file, it just blocks it until further analysis. Here is how you can enable the hardened mode in Avast antivirus:
- Double-click on the Avast anti-virus icon in the notification area. You can also right-click on it and choose Open Avast user interface.
- When Avast anti-virus interface opens up, click on the settings icon near the top-right corner that looks like gears.
- In the Avast anti-virus settings, choose General section and then select Hardened mode from the list of options. You can choose whether you want the hardened mode to be moderate or aggressive. The moderate level runs a deep scan on all suspicious items and blocks them until they are found clean. The aggressive level of the hardened mode relies on the Avast’s online database of the clean items and blocks all items not found to be white-listed.
- Click on the OK button to save the settings and you are all set. Avast will no longer bother you (not as much as before) and still give you the best protection in the world.
If you do not already have installed Avast anti-virus, then grab a copy from http://avast.com/