AVG 8.0 free antivirus

[Darley]

All these antivirus progs are a bit like the insurance Currys sell you for your digital camera - a simple way to make money by preying on peoples' insecurities.

In my experience, using Windows with SP2 or 3 and with the firewall set to 'no exceptions', plus weekly scans with Spybot (a free download) and an email program that scans for viruses automcatically, antivirus programs are completely superfluous. All they do is slow down your computer and cause incompatibility problems.

Unless you're in the habit of visiting dodgy porn sites, I think you probably don't need additional security measures. I still back-up regualrly just in case, but I've been AV-free for 2 years and not got a single virus on my PC.

[badger426]

Originally Posted by SparklySarah

In the case of my OH, you can freeload off someones internet. Also they can hack into the landline and freeload off that. Free internet for them!! **sigh** I'm guessing some of them get money for it if they work for a company.

Oh, and "SUPERAntiSpyware" is quite a good programme, very thorough.

SuperAntiSpyware free is manual update only Sarah but it's a great programme as a standalone scanner.
Badger.

[derelict]

Originally Posted by derelict

Have you got a light Mac?

Originally Posted by eeyore

its one of those greasy light brown ones that you see suspect old men wearing in parks

a dark brown overcoat would have been more appropriate. Vivien Stanshall must turning in his grave!!

Back on topic, I use AVG 7.5 in conjunction with McAffee Firewall and keep the Windows Firewall switched on for good measure - and run Spybot once in a while. This cumbersome combination has still let me down on 2 occasions big time on perfectly innocent google searches which hit malicious websites with misleading headers. I tend to have Windows Task Manager window open so if a webpage is taking too long to ope I can decide whether to pull the plug ... on of the few advantages of not having a high speed broadband connection! I haven't yet moved on to AVG 8 - but I guess it will come to pass. I never do automatic updates anyway - I don't trust anything that much!

[Lance Morgan]

I had free version of AVG but then bought the whole package because I was told by grisoft that the free version was no longer going to be supported with updates.
I have latest version and no probs at all.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Darley

All these antivirus progs are a bit like the insurance Currys sell you for your digital camera - a simple way to make money by preying on peoples' insecurities.

In my experience, using Windows with SP2 or 3 and with the firewall set to 'no exceptions', plus weekly scans with Spybot (a free download) and an email program that scans for viruses automcatically, antivirus programs are completely superfluous. All they do is slow down your computer and cause incompatibility problems.

Unless you're in the habit of visiting dodgy porn sites, I think you probably don't need additional security measures. I still back-up regualrly just in case, but I've been AV-free for 2 years and not got a single virus on my PC.

given that both AVG and avast are free they dont really fit that description

the trouble with the measures you describe is that they only protect you against infection via email and to a limited extent over the web.

virusses can also get in by other means including on CD (there have been instances of nasties being on suposedly blank cds bought from reputable retailers, from software, from file downloads (e.g music files etc bought over the net), and from memory sticks used on other computers (such as when transfering files between work and home.

A layered defence is a robust defence and a good AV programme is an essential part of that. just because you have been lucky so far doesnt automatically mean that such luck will continue.

another often overlooked reason is that if you are unlucky enough to be the victim of online fraud (through the use of a key logger to phish bank passwords for example) your bank will only reimburse your money if you can demonstrate that you have taken all reasonable steps to protect your account - and they will expect all reasonal steps to include antiviral measures!

[FungiJohn]

No problems with AVG here!
John

[Duke of York]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

No problems with AVG here!
John

As I've said before I've no problems with the free AVG

To be honest I would like the full AVG internet security, which I did try free for a month, but I don't really want to pay £30 or so especially when we have 4 computers in the house

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

No problems with AVG here!
John

I've just dumped AVG after several years use, as the latest version kept demanding a computer restart after downloading the latest definitions. I'm now giving Avast a try.

Jim

[Duke of York]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

I've just dumped AVG after several years use, as the latest version kept demanding a computer restart after downloading the latest definitions. I'm now giving Avast a try.

Jim

Now that is strange as my AVG updates regularly and has never asked for a restart

Are you using Windows and if so XP or Vista???

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Duke of York

Now that is strange as my AVG updates regularly and has never asked for a restart

Are you using Windows and if so XP or Vista???

XP. It's only with the latest version of AVG that it's been happening.

Jim

[Darley]

Originally Posted by eeyore

given that both AVG and avast are free they dont really fit that description

the trouble with the measures you describe is that they only protect you against infection via email and to a limited extent over the web.

virusses can also get in by other means including on CD (there have been instances of nasties being on suposedly blank cds bought from reputable retailers, from software, from file downloads (e.g music files etc bought over the net), and from memory sticks used on other computers (such as when transfering files between work and home.

A layered defence is a robust defence and a good AV programme is an essential part of that. just because you have been lucky so far doesnt automatically mean that such luck will continue.

another often overlooked reason is that if you are unlucky enough to be the victim of online fraud (through the use of a key logger to phish bank passwords for example) your bank will only reimburse your money if you can demonstrate that you have taken all reasonable steps to protect your account - and they will expect all reasonal steps to include antiviral measures!

The situations you describe are not what I would call normal activity - if you use computers in a public place - such as a workplace - and transfer files to your home PC, then obviously you need to take extra precautions. Same applies if you download a lot of files from a lot of different sites. It is worth having AV installed just to scan downloaded files, which is what I do, not that I download many files. It goes without saying you do not download or open any file or email attachment unless you know 100% for sure it is safe to do so.

There is virtually no way of a virus entering your computer if you are browsing internet sites, unless you deliberately set out to look for dodgy sites, and click on pop-ups. IE includes a pop-up and anti-phishing filter which is more than enough protection for what I would consider 'normal' use. There are additional security add-ons available for broswers such as Firefox.

Victims of online fraud are not unlucky - they are usually stupid and ill-informed. As with all activities that include an element of risk, if you are not fully aware of what you are doing, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it! To say that banks expect customers to use AV is frankly quite bemusing - I have never heard of this, nor can I see that it would be necessary or practical.

With regard to your first point - there is no such thing as 'free' software because there is always a price to pay, and I personally would not trust a free AV program. There are always opportunities to include spyware, adware, malaware etc - apart from the more transparent marketing and information gathering.

If you are a novice internet user, or if you just feel safer using AV, then at least use one that has been around and has earned a good reputation - Kaspersky, Norton or MacAfee are the ones I would recommend.

There are a lot of myths surrounding internet security, and most are started by software companies. Most banks and reputable financial institutions have secure sites. As tregards shopping, if you use a company like Paypal to pay for goods bought on the internet, your details are never even disclosed to the retailer.

Use a bit of common sense, read up on internet security issues if you are a beginner, back-up important files regularly, and do not store sensitive personal information on a computer that is connected to the internet, or will have any connection with one that will. I speak from 15 years experience during which time I have never had a virus or had any of my personal details compromised, and I stand by my position.

[Duke of York]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

XP. It's only with the latest version of AVG that it's been happening.

Jim

Strange I'm using XP professional and AVG 8 and it has never asked for a restart

But then with computers it only takes one very small thing to be different

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Darley

The situations you describe are not what I would call normal activity - if you use computers in a public place - such as a workplace - and transfer files to your home PC, then obviously you need to take extra precautions. Same applies if you download a lot of files from a lot of different sites.

fair enough but this is normal activity for an awful lot of people - for example if you have kids its just about a given that they will want to download music , many other people are reliant on their PCs for home working and need to transfer files between home and office

Originally Posted by Darley

there is virtually no way of a virus entering your computer if you are browsing internet sites, unless you deliberately set out to look for dodgy sites, and click on pop-ups. IE includes a pop-up and anti-phishing filter which is more than enough protection for what I would consider 'normal' use. There are additional security add-ons available for broswers such as Firefox.

That sadly isnt entirely the case - for one thing the anti popup filter in IE screws with the opperation of many websites and thus is often turned off, also the IE antiphishing filter is far from 100% effective. Also you can pick up malware from any reputable website if it has been hacked, and marketting and tracking cookies from virtually any commercial site.

Originally Posted by Darley

Victims of online fraud are not unlucky - they are usually stupid and ill-informed.

That is more than a little harsh and i hope you never have occasion to eat your words - it is very easy to have your credit/debit card details ripped on line usually as a result of an undetected keylogger hiding on your system- something which spybot wont necessarily pick up but which a good AV sweep would do. The other usual way is through cloned websites , which again a good IT security program will pick up.

Originally Posted by Darley

To say that banks expect customers to use AV is frankly quite bemusing - I have never heard of this, nor can I see that it would be necessary or practical.

That may be because you have never been a victim of online fraud. Freinds of mine have been and When/if that does occur a bank/credit card company looks at the case with the same sort of eyes as a loss adjuster ie they are looking for a reasn not to pay out - Part of this is a questionaire on did you do x , y , and z - unless you can tick all the boxes it is unlikely that they will honour your claim, and one question is " do you have a full IT security suite installed ?"

Originally Posted by Darley

With regard to your first point - there is no such thing as 'free' software because there is always a price to pay, and I personally would not trust a free AV program. There are always opportunities to include spyware, adware, malaware etc - apart from the more transparent marketing and information gathering.

This is true of all programmes you upload onto your system including those you pay for. I certainly wouldnt trust an AV which didnt have a good rep , but both AVG and Avast do.

Originally Posted by Darley

if you are a novice internet user, or if you just feel safer using AV, then at least use one that has been around and has earned a good reputation - Kaspersky, Norton or MacAfee are the ones I would recommend.

I agree that one should only use AV with a good reputation , but Norton ??? yes it has a good reputation for stopping viruses but it has a terrible reputation for causing conflicts and generally tottaling your computer operations - I have had similar problems with macaffee. I would agree about kapersky however, and also add Sophos to the list of paid AVs that are worth a look

Originally Posted by Darley

Use a bit of common sense, read up on internet security issues if you are a beginner, back-up important files regularly, and do not store sensitive personal information on a computer that is connected to the internet, or will have any connection with one that will.

This is excellent advice , but reading up on internet security issues includes taking the advice of experts and the key piece of advice is to use a full and layered defence - which includes the use of AV.

Originally Posted by Darley

I speak from 15 years experience during which time I have never had a virus or had any of my personal details compromised, and I stand by my position.

I also speak from 15 years plus experience in which time I have seen a virus take down an entire company network, and destroy at least one hard drive in a personal machine through no fault of our own. You are perfectly entitled to your opinion and I am happy to agree to differ , but in my opinion going on the net without a full suite of IT security including upto date anti virals is as wise as having unprotected sex - just because someone hasnt caught something yet doesnt mean that they will not contract something nast or terminal in the future.

[Darley]

Eeeyore -

I would say if IE pop-up blocker interferes with a site, I wouldn't trust that site. I always have it on. I also believe browsing is getting safer because ISPs and retailers are becoming more responsible.

Your unfortunate experience with a company network is in my opinion not entirely relevant to personal home PC users - in the main, we have little that would be of interest to a hacker. Of course, I would expect any company to take internet security very seriously.

For the home user, it is easy to back-up, and easy to re-install in the unlikely event of a total crash. I honestly don't believe a total system crash on a home PC is anything to be feared - either in terms of potential of it happening, or in terms of getting everything back to normal.

I have used Norton because it comes on almost every new PC and I've had a few. I have not encountered any compatability problems with it.

I am harsh and I have little sympathy for people who suffer problems sue to their lack of preparation and understanding, when a little common sense and research is all that is needed to browse the net safely. You shouldn't drive a car without first learning how it works, and if you do, and you crash, it's pretty much all your own fault!

Probably exhausted the subject and anyway this was meant to be about AVG - which I have to say is probably not as good as Avast from what I have seen.

We shall agree to disagree and leave it at that