AVG Review - Comments Page 3

I use to use AVG until I found Avira's Antivir. This is a better program then AVG. At least, according to all the tests performed on the antivirus programs that I have seen on different web sites. According to Virus Bulletin Antivir was one of five programs that scored 100% in the test and was the only free program. There are nag screens to buy the software, but for the protection you receive it is well worth it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sounds like you're using SIX anti-spyware programs! That's enough to slow any machine down. I've always recommended using just one, and Windows Defender has worked beautifully for me (on multiple computers) for several years.

Only two of them start on boot and run in the background, Threatfire for process monitoring and Avast for code monitoring (not spyware apps). Spywareblaster, Spybot and Adaware only run when I update and scan. RogueRemover is a multithreat rogue applications removal app which also only runs when I update and scan my system. And Hostsman is simply a Hosts file updater that only runs when I update my hosts file.

I overlap only because I've found that on the most seriously infected machines I've cleaned that theses apps each find malware the others missed. The next time I work on a system, I'll run the Windows Defender first, and follow up with my normal apps. I'll let you know how it goes.

EDITOR'S NOTE: What's the security issue with Flash? In general, I don't recommend tools that block useful content, and require extra user actions to view a page.

Last March or April, there was a major security alert regarding an Adobe Flash vulnerability. A malicious Flash banner ad was discovered on USATODAY.com, and subsequently thousands of sites were found to contain flash content exploiting the vulnerability and delivering malware to casual surfers. Adobe was quick to plug the hole, and updating to the most recent version of Flash Player protected the user from malicious flash content.

My concern is that if it happened once, it will probably happen again. So believing an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I now use the FlashBlock extension in FireFox. It prevents flash content from running until I give it permission to run. Only flash content is suspended, not the whole page, and a single click activates the content I want to see...no ads running, no malware. I haven't run benchmarks, but I think my browser is faster now, too.

I have used AVG free for a few years and upgraded to 8.0; then I downloaded XP sp3 and AVG stopped working. I would have to uninstall and reinstall it several times a day. I sent my problems to Grisoft support and all I got was a canned message that I had not registered the product. In frustration I switched to Avast and have had no problems since.

I always used AVG until I download 8.0. Since it had always worked perfectly for me, I had no qualms. AVG 8.0 made a mess of my XP; my son had the same problem. I downloaded Avira and will never go back to AVG.

I switched from Norton to AVG 8.0 a few weeks ago and love it. It has caught viruses in downloads as well as in my emails. And you haven't seen BLOAT until you use a Norton product! AVG doesn't seem to affect my boot time, and whenever I look in Task Manager, it's using 0% CPU and under 50MB of RAM.

i have AVG and am happy with it. Is it safe or good to have at least 2 antivirus software on your computer?

EDITOR'S NOTE: No, it's not recommended to have more than one anti-virus programs running. In addition to the overkill, they can cause conflicts.

I use AVG, but am reconsidering, because every time it does a scan, it slows my computer down to a crawl. I mean, it actually makes it unusable because I multitask, and have found myself canceling scans so I can continue with my work! Not good! And yes, I could change the time it scans, but I am up at all hours, so it will still interfere. Im thinking of switching to something else, and I hate that cause I really like AVG, until this version.

I used AVG for several years and really liked it [the free version]; I felt guilty not paying for it so got a 2 yr sub to the paid version. Cannot even remember what the differences were but I was still happy--this was through version 7.5.

I also ran Ewido which was a standalone malware checker. When the ver 8.0 of AVG came out[again the purchased version] it won't load because I cannot get ewido off my computer. Apparently AVG incorporated ewido in the update so the older standalone version needed to be removed before I could install the new version of AVG/ewido.

I tried the usual methods beginning with their FAQ about removing ewido it which did not work. The software was not listed in control panel add/remove option; it did not have its own uninstall option--I got absolutely NO help from AVG; I must have written them 5 times over two months requesting assistance.

All I got was a message which said [in essence] "we will get back to you". I just removed the paid version and went back to the free version which I like almost as well.

I cannot tell you how annoyed I was to lose 12 months of my subscription cost--more the principle of the thing than anything since I was only trying to be supportive in the first place. Usually I just donate to a free piece of software if I like it. Think I am through buying it unless I wait until I hear about it from others. I am obviously not techie enough to do what ever needed to be done with ewido and I thought that was one of the advantages of paying for software.

Dear Bob, I just saw your posting about anti-virus software. I was told that NOD32 is a good product and I even spoke to a guy who swears by it. Basically because it claims to solve malware problems as well as as regular viruses. Are you familiar with it.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've heard good things about it. I mentioned it here: http://askbobrankin.com/free_antivirus_programs.html