I downloaded the updated version of Flatout for Windows this morning and when I went to install it Avira gave me an alert that it contained malware.

Is this a false positive or a real problem?

I've attached an image of the report.

Which antimalware program picked it up for you?

If it's more than one anti-malware program flagging it something is up. I'll wait until this gets sorted out by GOG before installing it again.

It's a false positive.

Even though about 1/4th of the Antivirus programs which are used by VirusTotal thought this is a Trojan (which is quite an alarming rate!) the Avira Virus Lab to whom I submitted the file for analysis confirmed it to be harmless. Detection of this file will be removed in Avira Antivirus soon.

If you use a different Antivirus program either put this file on the whitelist or submit it to the manufacturer so they can improve their detection.

Yes, it's a false positive, because GOG simply used the crack for the Steam version of Flatout 1. Just compare the exe with the file you find on gamecopyworld.com, they are identical.

But i dont mind GOG. It is a valid, well working crack, no need to invest time and money when someone already did it years ago. My AV tool (MS Security Essentials) gave clearance to both files.

That doesn't mean anything at all. Microsoft Security Essentials is so notoriously bad that even Microsoft recommends against using it.

I forgot ... i'm on W10 now, there are no more SE, its the upgrade Defender now. And still, it is enough protection, if you know what you are doing. My PC is clean, monthly checks for mal- and adware come clean. My brother always buys the latest and "best" AV software and has to format his hard drive on an anual basis, because he just clicks on everything, opens everything without looking and thinking. Because ... his computer is "protected", isnt it?

So ... back to topic ... the file is good. There were several cases of false alarms with some GOG releases the past few years, this is probably one of them. Just upload the file to Virustotal.com and analyze it. Clearance from Avast, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda and even Eset.

Unfortunately, Avast is still flagging the "setup_flatout_2.1.0.7.exe" file for malware. I can't upload it to Virustotal to scan since it's over 128 MB. Is there any other way to make sure this file really isn't viral?

128MB??? The flatout.exe has a size around 1MB :)

And yes, this file is safe. If you are still unsure about it, open a ticket and ask the GOG support to clear things up.

Yeah, starting to wonder about the new version myself as I got a warning for it from Avast as well as warning of malware in my Windows Defender file folder around the same time, though that could have been a coincidence and a false positive as well, Avast sometimes gets a bit paranoid.

The thing that really bothers me more is that it doesn't install a Start Menu icon when installed, it's just missing entirely and i've tried redownloading the installer to no avail.

Be sure to send a message to Support. I told them that the older version of Flatout never had these issues, but the newer one has been tripping multiple antivirus programs for some reason.

Done.

I've seen gog exes trigger what are clearly false positives, but that combined with the other issues i'm having makes me more cautious on this one.

well here it is 8 years later and 10 anti virus engines still list flatout.exe as a virus, so after 8 years i would say it is indeed a virus!

I don't think so. This EXE has always tripped detection sensors. I remember it being a problem back in the day. But the detections noted always seem to be of the "Heuristic/Generic" type. Those usually mean there is a compression routine shared with some known malware, but the detection engine can't figure out what this exact piece of code is doing. So the detection flags it because the engine doesn't recognize what the code is doing, but it does recognize that this compression routine has been used to hide malware before.

Throughout all the years, no one has ever found the EXE actually doing anything suspicious.

so it looks like this age old thread has found some life, plus people suffering the same issues i did. I have webroot, and after three failed installations it flagged the .exe

after reading the thread carefully it seems either be fale positives or something more. i don't know what to think honestly since i loved this game and felt saddened that the installations not only didn't work, but my AV alerted me to it.