AVG Free is the best free utilities (antivirus) at CNET- download.com

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by gusers, Jan 22, 2006.

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  1. gusers

    gusers Guest

    AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

    This competent virus scanner has everything covered, from the creation of a backup rescue disk to daily updates for virus definitions. The application's curiously, ahem, busy interface isn't going to win any beauty contests, but for functionality and price, it's among the best.

    http://www.download.com/1200-20-5153765.html

    Is AVG Free better than Avast and AntiVir? I can't believe.
     
  2. Ga1tar

    Ga1tar Registered Member

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    Would place AVG behind Avast and AntiVir based on recent experiences cleaning up a mess which got pass AVG set for max protection and latest updates.
     
  3. Slovak

    Slovak Registered Member

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    ^^ +1
     
  4. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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    ya avg has the worst detection out of free porducts like clamwin,avast,antivir, bitdefender(ondemand), etc. The only reason avg is being download so much is because cnet gives it 4 stars while it dosent give any stars to other free antiviruses.
     
  5. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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    i love idiots who say avg free is better than norton or mcafee in user reviews at download.com
     
  6. FatalChaos

    FatalChaos Registered Member

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    Best free antiviruses are probably Antivir 7 beta w/ Heurestics 2.0 and Avast. Bitdefender is a really good on demand scanner, but no real time. From what i've heard, Clam AV has a pretty low detection rate. AVG is pretty much crap any way you look at it.
     
  7. Technodrome

    Technodrome Security Expert

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    I guess they rated it by the number of downloads and not performance capability.


    tD
     
  8. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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  9. Ga1tar

    Ga1tar Registered Member

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    Classic case of a person receiving their P45 if ever I heard one for printing such rubbish
     
  10. wildman

    wildman Registered Member

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    What are your qualifications to be making such a statement? We see post from individuals who have some rather impressive credentials who state that AVG is not a bad program, so what are your credentials?

    Thanks
    Wildman
    :mad:
     
  11. TAP

    TAP Registered Member

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    To be honest, I don't think AVG Free is bad at all, it's OK if you use it properly, I think the only drawback of AVG Free is that it has no real automatic updates (like avast! home), it has scheduled task to check/update only once a day so if you manually check/update it frequently, it's OK.

    I've used avast! home and I've recommended it to friends and coworkers but it's surprising to know that some of them finally end with AVG Free even it's inferior to avast! home in terms of features and some area of detections. They say avast! home slows their system down even they have a quite powerful machines and they don't want to be annoyed with slow-responsive machine so they choose to go with AVG Free that they say it's so simple and lighter than avast! home and AVG Free never slow their system down while it keeps the machines clean.

    Another example, we recently tested many antivirus solutions for our corporate network (CA eTrust, NOD32, Kaspersky, McAfee, Trend Micro, BitDefender) but me and my coworkers end with CA eTrust due to its price, professional support via website and local reseller and in our opinions CA eTrust has a very practical central management mechanism that fits to our complex network, even we know that CA eTrust is not hot at overall detection rates as Kaspersky, McAfee or NOD32.

    So what I can say? :p I think the whole point is it depends on your preference and how serious you looking for in the antivirus software.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2006
  12. wildman

    wildman Registered Member

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    :) A response from an individual who uses some common sense. I think it is well known what I think about the company behind AntiVir, but even I have to say that the product is not a bad one, although I would not recommend it.

    Thanks
    Wildman
    o_O :gack: :blink: :isay:
     
  13. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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    eh have you seen avgs trojan detection rate? below 60%
     
  14. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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    then the detection of other malware is crap 28%
     
  15. wildman

    wildman Registered Member

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    :rolleyes: Nope, but that is why I don't count on just one security product but rather six, currently.

    Thanks
    Wildman
    :blink: :gack: :isay:
     
  16. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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  17. hollywoodpc

    hollywoodpc Registered Member

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    A bit off topic but , Wildman , why does it matter ? His credentials should mean nothing here . You believe and try or you do not believe and do not try . Read it in the way it was meant . Trying to be helpful . Obviously you have a problem with him saying what he said so , ignore him and move on . That is what makes the world go round anyway . He stated his case . That should suffice . He never said he was an expert .
    And to Fatal Chaos . I must agree and anyone who would look into these mentioned would find you are pretty much on the mark . Many use AVG . So what . That is if they feel comfortable . As for how it compares , um , it pales when compared to AntiVir and Avast . I use a paid AV but , I have tried all of the above and read in depth on these . Not online or stupid mags either . In depth reviews from people that test these with many of the sites we know and trust . I must say that , my opinion aside , you will find many that know , choose one of the others . Most that choose AVG do so because they THINK it is good . There are many places to look and you will see that AVG does not do well against these others . No problem with it in my eyes but , there are much better choices indeed .
    And MY credentials on this are only an opinion from research done . I do not blindly stay with something just because . I personally think that Fatal's post is nothing more than a person trying to be helpful based on his experiences . Believe what he says or don't . Please do not question his credentials . He is just another " expert " in this forum of " experts " . ( sarcasm ) Even you WM say you do not trust only one app . You now use 6 . Ok . read many posts and decide what you think is right and what is not . I am not saying Fatal is correct . I am saying I agree totally and many good sites will verify his beliefs . That is all . Hmmm . Can't we just all get along ? lol . A joke
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2006
  18. metallicakid15

    metallicakid15 Registered Member

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  19. FatalChaos

    FatalChaos Registered Member

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    haha sorry I made that post in a hurry. Nah, I've looked into tests too, and AVG always seems to suck in comparison to other free AV's in detection, real time or on demand. I believe AV comparatives compares all 3, but they don't use Antivir beta 7 w/ Heurestics 2.0. As far as i have read, it seems like most antiviruses real time protection just isn't that good (and i have had many times real time protection didn't catch anything, although Antivir seems to catch a lot, which suprises me), and AVG was very bad at real time the last time i checked, so I wouldn't even bother using it. The resources it takes up just aren't worth it.
     
  20. Chuck57

    Chuck57 Registered Member

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    I used AVG for years and had no complaints with it at all. I now use AVAST and haven't had any problems with AVAST, other than when I tried to run ZA Pro. There's a conflict of some kind.

    In any case, I'm surprised that 7 or 8 people I personally know use AVG. I'm also surprised that every one of them likes it and trusts it. Only one has had anything get past AVG, and they say it was their own fault for snooping around warez sites. The rest surf normally or post on various forums, about as safe Internet use as you can get. For them, AVG works.
     
  21. TAP

    TAP Registered Member

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    Yes, I'm surprised too as I've kept on recommending avast! home to people I know but I'd say most of them finally switch to AVG Free, they say avast! home slows their machine down while AVG Free is very light which I don't think avast! home causes that slow too much, at least for me avast! is relatively light.

    People seem to love AVG due to it's very light on resources and never slow anything down.:p

    AVG Free does not detect spyware/adware, this detection available in AVG Pro, I think if you use AVG Free in conjunction with real-time antispyware, it should be OK.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2006
  22. YeOldeStonecat

    YeOldeStonecat Registered Member

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    It does pick them up. I use it as part of my bag of tricks for repairing infected PCs...as one of the many scanners I throw at the machine in clearnign it. Not as strong as some other products which are stronger in this area like Avast, NOD32, Kapersky, etc. But the AVG Free does indeed scan and remove ad/spyware trojans...at least on the manual scanning component.

    IMO back in version 6 it was rather light on resources, but when it moved to version 7 it got a bit heavier.
     
  23. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    Hi,
    AV comparatives - Norton gets 99%, BitDefender 92%, AVG 87%.
    Guess what AV is used at my workplace by our sysadmins when Norton fails to clean infections (or even detect them)?
    I had a friend who used NIS 2003. He contracted some spyware and a bit of trojans. Did Norton clean them? Did it even detect them? AVG did.
    I'll go with personal experience rather than online tests.
    Norton gets 99% detection rate? C'mon!
    Mrk

    P.S. When did any of you ever download a virus last time?
     
  24. TAP

    TAP Registered Member

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    Why AVG Free for Windows doesn't detect Adware and Spyware?
    http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5484/lng/us/tpl/v5



    As far as I know some antivirus may classify some spyware as trojan but some antivirus may not. I have many adware/spyware sample that AVG Free on my machine doesn't detect but AVG Pro on online scanner (VirusTotal) detects them.
     

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  25. wildman

    wildman Registered Member

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    :rolleyes: Hi Hollywoodpc: I take exception to anyone saying a product is "CRAP", without giving some compelling reasons for making such a statement. I can respect someone telling their experiences and then making a statement based upon that, but don't just make blank statements. One of the reasons I think Wilders is one of the best sites on the WEB, is the fact that individuals in the industry post on it and give logical explanations as to why they make the statements that they do. I also take into consideration those individuals suggestions, and if they work for me, I usually will implement them.

    I over a period of time have tried all the available "free" protection programs. I use the ones that work the best on my machine (that does not necessarily mean that there are not better ones). I would have liked to use AVAST, but it slowed down the function of my machine quiet noticeably. I am compelled to use "freeware" due to a very limited fixed income, and can not afford to purchase this type of software. I am constantly on the lookout for new and better "free" products, that will work well on my machine.

    Thanks
    Wildman
    :cautious: :shifty: :isay:
     
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