stay away from AVG
Stay away from AVG if you can.
I’ve just found out that AVG antivirus has a new “feature” that is causing problems all over the net.
You can read more about the specifics at:
I probably wouldn’t mention it if it was an accident, and AVG are busy trying to fix it… but when AVGs Roger Thompson says: And if that causes problems for webmasters, so be it. “I don’t want to sound flip about this, but if you want to make omelets, you have to break some eggs.”
Well I think that attitude is wrong.
Although Avira Antivir is my most recommended antivirus, AVG was my second choice, simply because it didn’t have the “please register” popup that avira has… and it has a good antispyware program (although it pains me to say that windows defender is pretty darn good as well)
Now what? I don’t know. I’ll evaluate avast and see how it goes.
Unfortunately, most users will be unaware that their AVG is causing problems.
If you are currently using AVG, you can try to disable link scanning (but not everyone would know how to do it)… or you can uninstall it, and install avira antivir. I cant say if avast is good, as I haven’t evaluated it yet.
The new AVG is just bad in many ways. The link scanner slows down browsing because of this prefetching. It also will yell at you when you turn it off.
I’ve been slowly switching everybody I know over to Avast for the past year. An amazing product. The free edition does require to to register and get a new key every year, but it’s free and no spam.
Hi Dew,
I just saw a customer with AVG (luckily I havn’t installed many AVGs, so I’m not looking at a large changeover… maybe just 5 people).
I installed AVG because I couldn’t get AntiVir to update… but I saw first hand how slow the internet was (over a 256/64 ADSL line).
So I uninstalled AVG, and installed Avira AntiVir instead.
The result: a huge increase in speed.
This actually proves the point I made in my post about AVG a few weeks ago. AVG is getting better but still I don’t feel it is credible enough to replace the likes of Trend Micro and other companies out there. I’m with you on this one. If their execs are talking about it this way then there is no way I would want to even touch the program. Good marketing AVG.
-TheYoungGuy
Actually, I think AVG used to have the credibility but it is now losing it. I think AVG was better than trend micro and many other av companies (especially norton and mcafee).
Now my choice is Avast. Great detection, doesn’t use too many resources.
On the same day that your post was made, AVG released an update to AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 (build 138), to resolve the LinkScanner Search-Shield issue. Three days later an update to the AVG 8.0 commercial product range (build 138) was released to resolve the same issue. See http://www.avg.com.au/index.cfm?section=news&feature=104 for the full details.
A comparison of the various free edition products, including AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0, was done by PC Magazine in May 2008. It concluded:
“AVG Free offers very good (and very free) protection against viruses and spyware—just a tad better than free competitor avast!.”
See http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2304349,00.asp for more details.
Best Regards, Lloyd Borrett
Marketing Manager, AVG (AU/NZ)
The problem is that the new AVG has too many problems with it. I really dislike the whole new interface, everything.
I assisted a past customer who “upgraded” from V7 to V8 on 21/07/08
That shouldn’t be a problem, right?
She had a huge internet slowdown for a whole week before she called me for help.
As far as I can see: if AVG is now better, then your average user (who doesn’t know how to do updates or disable AVG components), should not be experiencing dial-up speeds on an ADSL link.
I also have run a lot of tests using different versions, etc. Same experience between 7.x and 8.x. Not fixed in 8.5. Even with scanning disabled (and not installing the Link Scanner feature), it grinds away at the disk on Windows boot up (both Vista Ultimate and XP).
AVG 9.0 has been available since October 2009 and its up to 50% faster, safer and easier to use than AVG 8.5.
Unlike most of its competitors who charge for them, AVG provides version updates, e.g. AVG 8.5 to AVG 9.0, for free. This is so all AVG users can have the best protection available from AVG at all times, at no additional cost.
Best Regards, Lloyd Borrett
Marketing Manager, AVG (AU/NZ)