AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is still among the Best!

When I switched many years ago from the Norton commercial antivirus software AVG, I immediately realized the enormous difference in performance. The computer slowdown during the regular scan became less visible, and amount of software crashes significantly decreased. Since than, I belong to the group of the active supporters of the freeware antivirus solution, in general, and AVG Free, in particular. The group of the AVG users is big (about 80 millions) and is growing.

I would like to admit that I never used any other competitive freeware products, and that is probably not very leveraged approach, if you always strive for the best. But, if you completely satisfied with product, it takes an effort and time to uninstall the existing utility and try another one. As you understand, it is highly not recommended running multiple antivirus utilities at the same computer.

If we review the public and experts opinion on the AVG Free, most of the time, it is listed among the best. PC World, for example, placed AVG as the third best in the list of the Top Free Antivirus programs. One of the recent users’ polls also placed AVG as the third best. So, while the leading freeware competitors Avast and Avira are gaining some more ground in terms of the share of the consumer market, the AVG positions remain strong.

About AVG Free

AVG Technology combines efficiency and affordability into its free AVG Free Edition software. This program offers a substantial amount of security from a variety of common internet threats. It includes a number of useful tools that allow you to easily detect and remove intrusive malicious content. When unwanted items are detected, they are quickly and safely removed from your computer with the aid of a built-in shredding utility. This is a great feature that makes sure every last bit of those unwanted files are completely deleted from your system.

Limited Program Capability

According to several reviews, AVG Free Edition has been officially certified to remove 100% of all viruses categorized in the wild, and also provides quality results of an estimated 80% for zoo viruses. On the other hand, this software is also known for generating an unsettling number of false positives. Despite what the program lacks, AVG Free Edition has impressed a number of experts and end users.

Unfortunately, this program does not offer an efficient adware and spyware removal  tools, though it has the ability to detect them. Similar to many free anti-virus products, your technical support options are basically reduced to online community forms as well.

AVG can also perform when your computer is placed in Safe Mode. This is useful when attempting to remove a number of troublesome infections or cleansing a system that has problems booting up the Windows operating system.

Main Features

§         Automatic update functionality.

§         The AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run.

§         The AVG E-mail Scanner, which protects your e-mail.

§         The AVG On-Demand Scanner, which allows the user to perform scheduled and manual tests.

§         Free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product.

§         AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.

§         Automatic un-installation of the previous version of AVG Free during the installation of the new AVG Free version.

§         Protection against viruses, spyware, adware and Trojans.

§         LinkScanner Active Surf-Shield. Protects in real time against poisoned web pages while you're surfing.

§         LinkScanner Search-Shield. Real-time safety ratings for all search results in Google, Yahoo and MSN/Live search.

§         AVG Security Toolbar. Easy access to LinkScanner tools, built-in search capability.

Pros:  

- Small program that works great on older computers

- Very user-friendly, clean interface

Cons:   

- Lack of support for scanning compressed and archive file types

- High rate of false positives

- No protection against identity theft, hacker attacks, infected downloads, infected instant-messaging and spam.

- Lack of customer support, except through AVG Free Forum.

Conclusion

AVG Free Edition is highly compatible with several Windows platforms including XP, 2000, NT, ME and 98. Installing a light load of about 30 MB of files and four running processes, AVG's free software is the smallest, yet one of the most powerful anti-virus scanners you'll find on the market.

Of course, the professional version of AVG gives you many more benefits such as protection against spyware and more advanced malware.  It also offers automatic updates that keep you safe against the latest security threats.  Whether you choose the free or paid edition, both AVG products are solid options to keep your system healthy and running without interruption. If you find AVG Free Edition to be of quality, upgrading to the paid version may not be a bad idea at all. 

Note that AVG Free Edition is FREE only for private, non-commercial, single computer use only. The use of AVG Free within any organization or for commercial purposes is prohibited.

Get more information and download the installation software from the developers’ website: http://free.avg.com/

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