Like many of you, I have been using AVG's Free Anti-Virus V.7.5 software for a few years, along with Avast! Anti-Virus. Not long ago, for reasons that aren't all that important for this article, I switched all my computers over to AVG. In the last few days, AVG has released their Version 8, both in paid and free versions. If you are using AVG 7.5, be aware that at the end of this month, AVG will stop producing daily virus update definitions for V.7.5, so you must update to V.8 to keep your virus software current.
The good news is that V.8 is so improved over the previous version that you should get it right now. They have made many major improvements that take this new version beyond just anti-virus. First, the anti-virus detection is so much better than the previous version. On all my computers, it has found a few viruses and trojans that V7.5 had missed. Most were not a problem, but it was a bit disconcerting to find them on my systems. Second, it went much deeper than the previous version, meaning it found references to viruses and other malware in my Windows Registry and in the hidden recovery files area. Some were only warnings of potential problems, but others were real. Obviously, I removed all of them.
Second, AVG now has anti-spyware detection built-in, a new feature to be sure. Even more disconcerting was that it found a whole lot of the spyware that my other two paid anti-spyware products had missed (Spyware Doctor and CounterSpy). I know this is not unheard of as I have written here before, but still, when you pay your money you want complete protection.
Want more features? How about protection from bad Web sites, meaning those that contain malicious code that try to get into your system when you view their pages. In the free version, you will only get protection while doing Web searches. But, it does warn you when an e-mail contains links to dangerous Web sites. Now, the few existing reviews that I have read about V.8 say that this feature may not be perfected yet. I know I had a warning in one of my e-mails from the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce about a site that I am pretty sure is not dangerous. But still, it is better than nothing and will probably be improved over time.
Now, one not-so-great feature. During the installation, you will be asked if you want to install the AVG Security Tool Bar in your browser. You would be very wise to say NO. It won't do you much good and it is really a promotion item to add Yahoo Search to your browser. Every review I have read...and my own experience on one computer, agrees with me on this point. One review I read said it installed it anyway even after he said no. And, while you can disable it in your browser, you can't get rid of it.
After using it, you may be tempted to upgrade to the paid version, but be aware that one review I read from CNet Labs says it is a serious resource hog. The paid version adds a software firewall, anti-spam, anti-rootkit, safe instant messaging, and safe surfing. Click here to read about the differences in their free vs paid products and to download the product(s).
But, with this these caveats, the program is definitely a major upgrade over the previous version and I would recommend that you seriously consider it. I think you may be shocked at what it finds
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