AVG and Free Antivirus

[Lazybones]

I have been using Avast for some time as my home antivirus, and have been recommending it to friends and family however recently it failed to stop some rather nasty malware from infecting my Dads computer.

So I have spent some time looking at the free options again and have switched back to AVG.
The latest version blocks both viruses and spy ware. It also has a neat browser hook that pre checks links in google searches for malware.

The UI has been completely redone from the last version I used and the automatic updates now take place in the background instead of an annoying popup window.

O and it detected and removed the malware on my dads computer that survived removal attempts by Ad-aware (not bad), Spybot (not detecting as much as it used to) AND SuperAntispyware (detected the most items but failed to fully remove them).

Performance also seems very good, the browser link checker takes place after the search results have loaded so it doesn't seem to slow down browsing at all. Start up times and file access also seem faster than AVAST which was already rated as one of the faster antivirus engines.

The direct link for the FREE no nagging edition is http://free.grisoft.com/

[Darren Dirt]

So I have spent some time looking at the free options again and have switched back to AVG.
The latest version blocks both viruses and spy ware. It also has a neat browser hook that pre checks links in google searches for malware.

The UI has been completely redone from the last version I used and the automatic updates now take place in the background instead of an annoying popup window.

I also upgraded to the much-improved still-free version of AVG a few weeks ago.

At first I thought it bogged my system down a bit, but that might have been cuz it was doing a full drive scan and I forgot to change the scheduled time. Since I adjusted that, all seems well and yes it does appear to be more powerful and yet less annoying... the updating now works properly, as in it is actually automatic instead of requiring me to right-click-updatenow, which for some reason I always had to do in the old version...

I have also heard negatives about Avast. AVG FTW!

[Thorin]

Dammit, I just finished installing Avast! on four home computers because of your recommendations on the forums not that long ago   Even if it's not as good as AVG, it's still less annoying than McAfee asking my kids whether a change to the registry should be allowed (especially when the full registry path doesn't even fit in the popup, so you can't even check whether it's a valid change or not!).

[Lazybones]

Dammit, I just finished installing Avast! on four home computers because of your recommendations on the forums not that long ago   Even if it's not as good as AVG, it's still less annoying than McAfee asking my kids whether a change to the registry should be allowed (especially when the full registry path doesn't even fit in the popup, so you can't even check whether it's a valid change or not!).

As I said. I hated the last version of AVG because it had a VERY port update system that could easily leave you without updates and popped up the update window all the time.

Avast in the past had captured virus attempts on one machine that AVG had missed on another. However things evolve and this year I think AVG is the better product, particularly due to the enhanced Anti-Spyware and URL checks.

Swapping them out only takes a few min, run the Avast uninstall, say no to reboot, run the AVG install, click continue when it complains Avast (other products) is installed, then reboot. The only scan option I would tweak is the full system scan is set to daily at NOON by default.

Not that these tests are perfect but AVG had been consistently ranking higher than Avast the last few months http://winnow.oitc.com/AntiVirusPerformance.html

[Darren Dirt]

Dammit, I just finished installing Avast! on four home computers because of your recommendations on the forums not that long ago   Even if it's not as good as AVG, it's still less annoying than McAfee asking my kids whether a change to the registry should be allowed (especially when the full registry path doesn't even fit in the popup, so you can't even check whether it's a valid change or not!).

I have never used Avast... must be another trivia-filled opinionated forum contributor

[Mr. Analog]

Dammit, I just finished installing Avast! on four home computers because of your recommendations on the forums not that long ago   Even if it's not as good as AVG, it's still less annoying than McAfee asking my kids whether a change to the registry should be allowed (especially when the full registry path doesn't even fit in the popup, so you can't even check whether it's a valid change or not!).

I have never used Avast... must be another trivia-filled opinionated forum contributor

Avast! It kicks your ass.

[Thorin]

Dammit, I just finished installing Avast! on four home computers because of your recommendations on the forums not that long ago   Even if it's not as good as AVG, it's still less annoying than McAfee asking my kids whether a change to the registry should be allowed (especially when the full registry path doesn't even fit in the popup, so you can't even check whether it's a valid change or not!).

I have never used Avast... must be another trivia-filled opinionated forum contributor

Yeah, I was responding to

I have been using Avast for some time as my home antivirus, and have been recommending it to friends and family however recently it failed to stop some rather nasty malware from infecting my Dads computer.

So I have spent some time looking at the free options again and have switched back to AVG.

[Mags]

Since being asked to clean the girlfriends computer a few months ago (she had 120+ viruses ><). AntiVir has been my scanner of choice. AVG was pretty good, but there were a good dozen on her machine that it couldn't take out that AniVir did. Avast was a close third from my observations. But on the other hand Avast had less technical (like one huge incompatibility with Vista I ran into) problems then AVG. So perhaps a tie. My biggest complaint so far with AntiVir is that they spring a pop-up (when using free version) every time the program updates, which can be a pain with some games. But, since it's free I can't complain too loudly.

[Darren Dirt]

Since being asked to clean the girlfriends computer a few months ago (she had 120+ viruses ><). AntiVir has been my scanner of choice.

Never heard of it until now.
http://www.free-av.com/en/products/index.html

[Lazybones]

I tried Antivar before switching to AVG 8.. The POPUPs are  HORRID! they are way to frequent especially if you have more than one user and switch accounts the damn thing is on the screen ALL THE TIME! It isn't freeware it is NAGWARE!

[Thorin]

I tried Antivar before switching to AVG 8.. The POPUPs are  HORRID! they are way to frequent especially if you have more than one user and switch accounts the damn thing is on the screen ALL THE TIME! It isn't freeware it is NAGWARE!

That's my main complaint with McAfee, too.  Except it's been paid for, and it's not popping up to nag you, it's popping up constantly to ask cryptic questions about registry keys (and  doesn't show the whole key so how do I know if it's okay?!).

[Darren Dirt]

AVG8: To get rid of the "Dropdown Notification"
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r20471075-AVG-8-Free-Better-Than-75-After-Tweaking

I was disappointed with AVG 8 Free at first, but after some searching and tweaking I like it better. I hated the Link Scanner and the "Dropdown Notification" in the main User Interface window.

IMO it has a much better interface than any of AVG's previous versions. It has the same number of running services (4) and only takes 13MB more running memory and includes spyware scanning. After tweaking it runs just as good or better than 7.5 with no noticeable hit to performance at all.

To get rid of the "Dropdown Notification" all you have to do is change 2 files in the "AVG8" folder located in "Program Files".
Change avgresf.dll to> avgresf.dll.bak
Change avgmwdef_us.mht to> avgmwdef_us.mht.bak

To install AVG 8 without the Link Scanner at all. Run the installation with these parameters:
/REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch

To disable Link Scanner or more detailed info on installing without the Link Scanner: free.grisoft.com/ww.faq.num-1241#faq_1241

especially note-worthy: http://free.grisoft.com/ww.faq.num-1253#faq_1253

[Lazybones]

The way the link scanner works it doesn't significantly impact browsing on a high speed connection. Your results are returned and displayed FIRST and then it goes about following the links to see if any contain malware.

I am not sure what the "Dropdown notifiaction" is, if he means the popup notifications that are displayed in the lower right of the screen then it isn't a big deal. They work like Avasts and they are smaller..