AVG 9 Review

Nice program, I've been using it for a number of years, at work and at home, but I think it is starting to be too much of a good thing. My main complaint is that not always is easy to find the setting needed to disable features that otherwise serve only to slow down the computer, mainly when browsing or checking mail. And scans are so slooow that often I need to turn them off and I would like and automated way to turn them on again, otherwise I keep forgetting to do so. I know, I'm getting old...

I have been using AVG Free for years with no problems. Until AVG 8.5. After upgrading from 8.x to 8.5 my computer slowed to a crawl, for all apps but especially for web related work. Upon investigation I found one of the AVG processes (I don't remember which) was using all available memory. This process occasionally dropped its memory chunk and the computer ran normally. But usually after a few moments the process would grab all memory again. I like AVG, but until they fix this I will use something else. I still use XP sp3 and will continue to do so for the immediate future.

Hi, I used AVG for years then I started getting nasty viruses that AVG had missed, I was told by a friend that when AVG sold out to another company the new company put a back door in the product to report back to the new owners, and the virus makers used this to get the nasties through, I swapped to " Comodo " and have not had any probs at all.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This "back door" stuff is silly rumor mongering, or perhaps even deliberate lying. AVG is produced by Grisoft, and has been since 1992.

I have used AVG happily for years - but I'm unsure about version 9. I upgraded to 9 on one Windows XP PC here, and two adverse things happened immediately:

1. I couldn't shut the system down - Firefox was reported as "still running" - though it had been shut down. Other programs have randomly "hung" at shutdown as well. I had to hold the power button down in the end - and that has happened multiple times now.

2. Boot-up times went up by a factor of three or four. AVG is doing something during the boot that brings the PC to a crawl.

I'm thinking I might skip AVG 9 on my other PCs and go to another solution - Malwarebytes, perhaps

I, too, started having computer problems immediately after upgrading AVG. I spent two frustrating days waiting for pages to load and having to stop programs with Cntrl-Alt-Del until I found a message board discussing a work-around. I shut down the unnecessary Link Scanner thingie and experienced a wonderful increase in speed. My AOL software is seriously affected by something still, and I don't know what to do about it. I have used AVG Free for years and wish they would just stick to Anti-Virus applications and leave the bells and whistles to others.

As an IT professional who has used and recommended AVG to others for many a year, I must say I am rather disappointed with AVG 9 -

1. After installing 9.0 to replace 8.5 you would assume things would at least be roughly the same, if not slightly easier to use. Wrong. After a restart, you will now be met with a Windows Defender error stating that it failed to start because it is incompatible with AVG 9.

2. Even with a fast computer, normal web browsing is SERIOUSLY slowed down thanks to the new LinkScanner feature. Whilst I sure it provides more protection against viruses etc, it is perhaps a larger trade-off than necessary. Luckily this feature can be turned off.

3. There is now no easy way to shutdown or turn off AVG. Before, a simple right-click -> Exit was enough but that option no longer exists.

As a freeware program, I guess we can't really complain since it is excellent when it works properly, and provides good protection for most day-to-day use. However I just feel that this latest version is a major step backwards, in terms of practicality and user-friendliness.

Are any of the AVG versions (free or pay)compatible with Windows 7?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, AVG9 will work on Win7.

I've been happily using AVG for years, through version 8.5. Therefore, I was quite confident about upgrading to AVG 9. Big mistake ! AVG 9 is awful ! No exit button, web pages only partially load, incompatible with many programs, computer speed reduced to a crawl, frequent freezes, Link Scanner must be disabled for anywhere near normal operation. AVG's forums are loaded with similar complaints. I am saddened to see a very good product ruined. I changed to Avast! Antivirus, rather than deal with all this nuisance. I'll never understand why companies feel the need to "fix" a product that wasn't broken. Oh well, it's definitely broken now.

I have been using AVG for years and never had any problems with it. I use the free version for AV protection and Commodo firewall. Once in a great while malware sneaks in, but is rare and it is removed with other spyware programs I use. AVG is consistently in the top five AV free applications. I have been happy with it !

i tried to upgrade my avg to Ver 9 at first i think its good, up & running but after a few hours i tried to play online games.... it sucks!!!!!!!! i also found out it has a high memory usage that causes pc to hang/freezeeeeee.... what i did is to uninstall the avg9 and go back to lower version... and my pc's applications are working.... avg is forcing us to upgrade with a deadline?.. to test their newly unstable av9... thats it!!!!