Would you use AVG (free) as your only AV?

These day's you've got to be careful downloading anything from Kazaa or the p2p sharing networks..... more recently I've come across more corrupted music files with viruses in them....dam people......

I kinda liked AVG, it picked up some stuff on my computer that Avast, Antivir, Mcafee and Bitdefender had ignored, then again each of them picked up crap that the others could not....I'd say ultimately a combo would be the best solution because one scanner can't get everything

I would not use AVG as my primary scanner, I've always relied on Mcafee, and I use the 7.0 Enterprise Edition along with its desktop firewall, but AVG does make for a good backup scanner, which I use along with the rest of the ones I mentioned.

 

if i didnt have NOD32 i would AVG

 

This is not a good idea. Do you really need a antivirus to tell you an attachment ending with .scr is a virus ? If your antivirus really works good, but if it doesn't , congrats you are infected.

Over-reliance on your antivirus is more likely to get you infected than safe hex + a less than stellar antivirus.

 

I know good which files are viruses and which are clean. But I'm not that paranoic that I would be afraid to open each virus which come to my email.

 

Well ... I think that it is hard to get a virus. If you have clean had, there is no way to get one. So ... antivirus is not even necessery. But if you have it, why don't use it?

 

I know what you mean Kloshar, but IMO antivirus are mandatory in todays internet environment .
I would feel naked without mine, thats for sure.

 

Not sure if you made a typo are you really saying it's paranoid to not open attachments you know are viruses?

 

No, no. This is a little bit paranoic for me:

I don't know if you really have to be so careful. If you have than it is better to unplug computer from electric cable.

Little bit of joke and a little bit of truth.

 

Just for information:

I downloaded the new VDF file for AGV (Free) today 08/04/04. I use dial up with a 56K modem. My O/S is windows 98. From start to finish the (entire) process took 35 seconds.
To me this ain't to shaby. Another reason why I use AVG.

Thanks
Wildman

 

Wildman if you have dialup then avast! would be the best deal,at least concerning updates. They are a few KB (i think they almost never exceed 50KB) in size (full incrimental),AntiVir for example downloads entire database each time (1,7 MB each time). This is not good for dialup users...

 

I use AVG Pro configured and although it has never been tested as such I am happy with it. Heuristic scanning needs to be used in order for AVG to pick up a virus online (I have never had one in this way but know someone who has and AVG jumped out immediately) The free version using the same scanning engine but I still would prefer the extra configurations and settings with the Pro version.

I have been to a computer today and cleaned up quite a few viruses and worms and they were running NAV! No matter which AV anyone uses they are only as good as their last update and I know for sure NAV needed to be updated. The one thing I do like about AVG is scans in System Restore - Norton was indicating Viruses that could not be deleted. I knew exactly where they would be but for the owner of the computer it was confused.

I would consider NOD32 as I see so many here use it but I still have a time to run with my current AVG 7 Pro. I would definitely consider running two if I had the free AVG. Perhaps a second on demand scanner is worth considering if I knew it didn't conflict with AVG.

 

On demand virus scanners usually don't conflict with eachother, it's only when you have two real time scanners does your system crash. I run the free AVG with real time scanning disabled alongside my Mcafee scanner.

Exactly. Antivir is a pain for me to update everytime but it's a nice backup tool so I stick with it. AVG is not as big but it certainly does not go as fast as avast does.

 

Look at the first page of this thread, I tell what I think of some of the free virus protection programs.

(1) Tried AVAST, found it to be some what cumbersum, plus it placed items in my temp files that were difficult to delete. (NO THANKS ON AVAST).

(2) AntiVir\PE. Used to be a fan of this one, but there (Internet Updater) is a hunk of junk. Plus they have been slow to except any suggestions for improvement from their users. (NOT UNTILL THEY GET THEIR ACT TOGETHER).

(3) Dont see any comments about Bit Defender on this thread. Is there a reason for this? Have not tried this one.

(4) Thus far AVG is still my choice. It is easy to use and easy to maintain.
Stoped it for a time, as it was not compatible with BigFix, this however has now been fixed, so am back to using it.

(*) Not virus related but I suggest BigFix, and think all should install it. It has saved me a good amount of time and hassel.

(**) The others are indictaed on page 1 of this thread.

Thanks
Wildman

 

On my computers, I will never use the AVG... They have a lot of work to do...

 

Bitdefender free only makes for a nice back up scanner because unlike the other three it can not be configured to run a real time scanner, so I would choose any of the three if I had to run only one over Bitdefender. Not saying it's bad, it serves it's purpose for me but not a good choice to use only on it's own.

 

There are so many better AVs out there. Do u think AVG is the only AV around? Get better ones like avast, norton or mcafee.

 

Oh yes, very good choices!

 

Well first one is pretty good in most areas,last one is also very powerful in terms of detection and the middle one,well...

...i wouldn't touch it even with 10m long stick...

 

Don't underestimate Norton's detection rates. But yeah, it is a pig.

I would not consider Avast to be better than AVG, but that's just me. Avast, in my opinion, has a long way to go - it needs heuristics for on-access and on-demand scanning, needs a skinless interface that is readable (if you don't install the skins, you're stuck with the "Low Res" interface), and the on-demand scanner needs to be put on a diet (it scans slowly and reduces performance a good deal). Generic detection does look cool, but AntiVir has started outstripping Avast in Rokop tests in some departments...

AVG is probably good for those who are looking for an AV and haven't decided which one to buy yet, though I would certainly recommend it to be used along with BitDefender Free and F-Prot for DOS.

As for me, I think I'll stick with NOD...

 

Only a question: Do you know if the AVG Free Edition scan the email for all the EMail Clients or only for Microsoft Outlook?

Thanks

 

Have a look here; http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/534/lng/us/tpl/v5

 

Thanks

 

In my opinion AVG is not good for xDSL users (except paranoic ), but mainly for Dial-up users - their computer is not such easy target.

AVG is definitively not enought for users which have xDSL connection, lot of email communication, look after adoult pages, use p2p programs ...

 

Who the hell on this board surfs porn? I mean, that seems to me to be a very good way to get all sorts of nasty crap on your computer.

P2P file sharing is, IMO, a form of software piracy (unless the stuff being shared is absolutely free). And it is also a very good way to get malware on your computer.

 

Kloshar does it seems
Okay jokes aside, and to be fair to Kloshar he said that AVG was not good enough for users who did such things.

BTW. Does anyone know if the scanning engine in AVG(free) and AVG7 is the same??