Why are nerds so helpful?  I am overwhelmed & overjoyed at the above responses; not a single negative comment anywhere unlike every other post I have made on many of AN's other forums.  Thankyou.

On 8/7/2025 at 10:35 AM, mikebell said:

I don't think I explained myself very well.  Avast is threatening to cut off my protection - the free level which came with the computer.  Every message got more dire as I had nine outdated drivers which they would fix if I downloaded the expensive version so I downloaded it from TPB - but can't find the key.

First thing is to stop worrying about outdated drivers, it is a common stunt they pull to try and get people to upgrade to a paid version,  had it several times over the years.

I think Avast offer a free  service so they are not going to cut you off as you could just sign up again for the free service,  or one of the others such as AVG.

It is extremely unlikely that you will have a problem with drivers. I have a 12 year old HP Elitebook that I bought second hand about 6 years ago and never have had to update a driver. Just because a driver has been superceded does not mean the previous version will not work. The other thing is the drivers mentioned may well be for obscure functions that are never used.

Personally I would ignore the emails or block them, signing up to any free service invariably leads to emails trying to force an upgrade. Good luck.

On 8/16/2025 at 9:23 AM, sandyf said:

First thing is to stop worrying about outdated drivers, it is a common stunt they pull to try and get people to upgrade to a paid version,  had it several times over the years.

I think Avast offer a free  service so they are not going to cut you off as you could just sign up again for the free service,  or one of the others such as AVG.

It is extremely unlikely that you will have a problem with drivers. I have a 12 year old HP Elitebook that I bought second hand about 6 years ago and never have had to update a driver. Just because a driver has been superceded does not mean the previous version will not work. The other thing is the drivers mentioned may well be for obscure functions that are never used.

Personally I would ignore the emails or block them, signing up to any free service invariably leads to emails trying to force an upgrade. Good luck.

This. In fact you don't need all the updates they try to make you buy. I have never had anything else than free anti virus service, but I'm using AVG. They will also tell you need to update drivers, but just ignore. All drivers are just fine. 

 

Mike Bell, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Keep it simple, keep it free.

 

On 8/6/2025 at 3:13 PM, mikebell said:

 

I have Avast free anti-virus which came with the computer.  The messages kept getting more and more threatening; then they were going to stop my (free) subscription.  I downloaded the professional version but can't get it to work (I need a key?)  I am doing it because Avast tells me I have NINE outdated drivers.  If I erase Avast is there another (simple) way of updating drivers?  I am 82 and a bit simple in the IT world.

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