AVG 2013

Does the free version still update once a day?

 

Yup. Once a day automatic is all you get. Unlimited manual of course. I tried it out in my junk pc. Wasn't impressed. Especially the fact that it runs 8 processes.

 

What is your concern about multiple processes? Is the total memory load and/or CPU usage high?

 

Memory usage and CPU usage was ok. But I think it's pathetic that a stand alone antivirus solution needs to run 8 processes. Heck NIS, KIS and CIS are all full blown suites and only run 2 processes. Also he only way you get web site ratings is to use AVG Safe Search.

 

It's a bit annoying that even though i've set AVG to automatically deal with any threat, it keeps on asking me what to do. Not cool...

 

I think 4 automatic updates a day (like in Avira 2013 Free) would be fair. What do you think RejZoR?

 

Update every 6 hours would be a bit more reasonable. Update every 24 hour is just rubbish. If avast! was able to update every 4 hours several years ago, why can't others accept at least intervals of 6 hours? Are they too afraid of giving free version too much "power"?

 

Unfortunately one automatic update per day may be intentional to differentiate the free version from the paid versions, but I don't know that for fact.

 

Of course it is. In times when even cloud response time isn't enough, they'd go with 24 "delay" cycle. In such massive delay, 3 brand new malwares can emerge, gather all the needed stuff before end user would even get the protection...

 

Does AVG still use the process avgupd.exe. just set the file to run in the task schedular in windows.

set it to one hour or what ever and AVG will check for updates.

 

Avast has the best idea and streams the updates to you.Ive tried AVG free before and it seemed a bit bloated and the advertising was driving me nuts. .8 processes did seem a bit extreme but it didnt seem to slow the computer very much.
Incidently this is one reason why i will not use the chrome browser as it has a multiprocess architecture.
If i recall correctly AVG detection was not particularly good.
Is AVG still bad at detecting malware.?

 

AVG's detection is pretty much on par with Avast. Check out AV-C and AV Test.org. I know YouTube videos are worthless but there are a lot of AVG 2013 ones. The thing I dislike the most about AVG is how long it takes to remove malware. Its a lot like MSE. By default you have to click "clean or repair". Removing the malware takes about 10-15 seconds. Avast removes malware in a mere second. Never mind the web shield stops it dead.

 

The slide-out ad at the bottom of the UI can be disabled. As to processes I don't know that this is actually a negative. It seems that AVG has each module running in a dedicated process which I guess makes it easy for them to craft different mixes of features, but it may also make the program more resilient since you can't bring the whole thing down by killing only one process (just speculating about that).

 

AVG's strongest point is Identity Protection. But the interface is not as nice as it first seemed. All the dark color and thin lines for buttons are horrible to look at. If you set it to auto deal with threats it will still ask you for some, making it useless for less knowledgeable users. 24 hour update cycle also sucks big time.
They ruined good detection with idiotic usability decisions.

 

As far as I know you will always be asked if Identity Protection detects something suspicious. Can you confirm that? Don't forget false positives - autodelete could be a disaster.

 

IP false positives are very rare and yes, you can set it to auto clean the mess. Besides, if it's a false positive on a non system files, i don't see any problem in that.

 

If you want frequent updates there is AVG Anti-Virus 2013: Our Price: €7.95

 

If i want frequent updates i'll use Kingsoft, Panda or avast!...

 

There used to be some Fanboys, but...

 

Actually i would say AVG has the most attractive interface out there with avast closely behind.

 

Autoquarantine of eicar.com worked - there are 2 separate settings for realtime-shield and identity protection.

+1

 

I know the settings are separated. But despite both settings set to automatic, it was still asking me...

 

That's strange ...

 

As I understand, AVG has Identity Protection as a proactive component. In that way even if you set it to auto delete/quarantine there should be occasions when it has to ask you.

 

Are you sure?
The following is from AVG's documentation file:

http://download.avgfree.com/filedir/doc/AVG_Free/avg_free_uma_en_2013_04.pdf