How to disable the ad popup in AntiVir

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 16, 2006
Updated • May 8, 2013
Antivirus, Security
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23

AntiVir is one of the most popular free antivirus solutions out there right now for the Windows operating system. It's free for non commercial use and updates its virus definitions regularly just like the professional version. The free version however displays an advertisement popup after each update, usually at least once a day which can be really annoying.

The ad does not really change that often and there is not really a purpose in displaying it regularly to users in my opinion.

I would like to show you how to disable this advertisement without tampering with the rest of AntiVir. This workaround is only working under Windows XP.

  • Run "secpol.msc" which opens the local security settings.
  • Select software restrictions policy on the left and there additional rules.
  • Right click in the window on the right and chose new path rule.
  • Click on browse and navigate to avnotify.exe. (normally in program files/ AntiVir Personaledition Classic/).
  • Select disallowed as the security level and hit ok to close the dialog.

We have not disallowed the execution of the program, and it is this file that is being used to show the ads. This should work for as long as Avira is not making modifications to the process.  If that is the case repeat the steps to disallow the new named exe as well.

Update: Avira has changed the path of the program from version 9 on. It is now located in C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop.

A second option that you have, for instance if you do not have access to the local security settings for instance. In Windows Vista and newer Windows systems, you can right-click the avnotify.exe file and select Properties from the context options. Switch to the security tab in the window that pops up, and select Advanced there. Locate the permissions tab and there System. click Edit > Locate Traverse Folder / Execute File, select deny, and hit ok twice, then yes, then ok twice again.

Update 2: You may need to add the file ipmgui.exe to the list of blocked applications as well.

If you are using Windows Vista or newer, you can alternatively do the following if you have access to the Local Security Policy.

  • Use the Windows-r shortcut to bring up the run box.
  • Type secpol.msc and hit the enter key.
  • Select Software Restriction Policies > Additional Rules.
  • Right-click the item and select New Path Rule.
  • Paste the full file path of avnotify.exe and ipmgui.exe here.
  • Set the security level to disallowed.
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Comments

  1. john neeting said on November 23, 2010 at 3:50 am
    Reply

    Tried the notify trick but my edition of Avast 4.8.1335 has no such file not even a DDL of that name so there must be another file [ maybe in the REG] that does it.

  2. Mona said on August 12, 2010 at 11:37 pm
    Reply

    trlkly/trlkly2, you rock my WORLD! :)

  3. Dave said on April 7, 2010 at 3:25 am
    Reply

    Nag screens never appear in beta products, but are usually added to the final product release. So we will have to wait until its released to know.

  4. vadim said on March 25, 2010 at 5:28 pm
    Reply

    In the new antivir (currently in beta testing, but already in the final stage), they finally have removed it.

  5. Rahul said on March 25, 2010 at 7:48 am
    Reply

    Neat one.

  6. NeoApocalypse said on November 10, 2009 at 8:44 pm
    Reply

    I can confirm that this brilliant fix also works on Windows 7 (Ultimate 64bit)

    Love it! Thanks

  7. Anonymous said on October 26, 2009 at 2:22 am
    Reply

    thank u

  8. Gabriele said on May 6, 2009 at 1:16 pm
    Reply

    @Alicson,

    How to postpone the nag screen about restarting after updates (you cannot completely disable it .. but you can make it popup every 24 hours instead of every few minutes..)

    http://thebackroomtech.com/2007/10/12/how-to-delay-the-windows-automatic-updates-reboot-nag-screen-and-the-automatic-reboot-after-applying-updates/

  9. vadim said on November 12, 2008 at 2:24 am
    Reply

    Thanks for the tip! isn’t it amazing that software that is supposed to protect from unsolicited annoying behavior such as virus, is exercising exactly this behavior itself. Would be interesting to ask creators of Antivir what’s the rationale behind their product not detecting itself.

  10. trlkly2 said on June 12, 2008 at 5:08 am
    Reply

    YESTERDAY I DIDN’T HAVE TO HAVE MY COMMENTS APPROVED. WTF IS UP?

    Yes, trlkly=trlkly2
    I’d prefer the second one be posted, or my original fixed.

  11. trlkly said on June 12, 2008 at 5:03 am
    Reply

    Crud. I didn’t notice the lack of backspace!

    Here is the first command I mentioned (in parentheses)

    cd \\Program Files\\Avira\\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic

  12. trlkly said on June 11, 2008 at 11:33 am
    Reply

    If you, like me, are stuck with Windows XP Home, you can still do this mod. (AFIK, Vista users are out of luck, as usual.)

    Just open command prompt in the directory where AntiVir is installed (usually you can type “cd Program FilesAviraAntiVir PersonalEdition Classic” [without the quotes] in Command Prompt).

    Now run the command “cacls avnotify.exe /D <username>” (without the quotes), replacing <username> with the name you use to login to Windows.

    If you are an administrator, repeat the command for any other users on your system.

    Voila! You just did something that both Avira and Microsoft don’t want you to do!

  13. Alicson said on April 17, 2008 at 12:57 am
    Reply

    Thanks Martin! Much appreciated. The popup notifications were starting to slowly drive me mad…

    Now if I can just find a way to destroy the most horrendous and insistent popup dialog of all: “Restart Windows now or later to install updates” … LATER! And stay away!!!!

    …Again, thanks very much for this fix on the Avira popups.

  14. Ralf said on April 11, 2008 at 5:14 pm
    Reply

    Perfect it works! Thanks a lot.

  15. Liam K. said on February 20, 2008 at 11:03 pm
    Reply

    Didn’t work for me. Do I need to set it on avnotifiy.dll, too?

  16. Devdatta said on July 17, 2006 at 9:20 pm
    Reply

    One more thing abt AntiVir : You can end all process except AVGuard in background. You don’t need the icon in system tray to stay protected nor the update service .. you can do it manually. As a result of all this AntiVir has the smallest memory footprint.
    P.S Use MSConfig

  17. chris said on July 16, 2006 at 5:41 pm
    Reply

    i just infected with a “trust cleaner”. lets see if it can take it off.

  18. thunder7 said on July 16, 2006 at 5:24 pm
    Reply

    Another thing I dislike besides spam, popups.
    I am glad you found how to disable that pop up.
    I use avast myself.

  19. gnome said on July 16, 2006 at 2:08 pm
    Reply

    Nice one!

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