A Free Anti-Virus Program

I have no idea why this information isn't better known. This is one of the best bargains I know of for Windows users, and yet most people have never heard of it.

First of all, every Windows computer needs an anti-virus program running at all times. If you are running a Windows computer right now without up-to-date anti-virus software, your system will become infected with a virus sooner or later. In fact, your PC may be infected right now without your knowledge. Yet there is a free and easy method of avoiding viruses.

This is also a great tool for Macintosh users who use Parallels or VMware Fusion to run Windows programs on the Mac.

If you already have an anti-virus program installed, there are several things you should know:

1. All anti-virus programs will slow the operation of your computer. This is inevitable. However, some anti-virus programs will slow your computer more than others. Generally speaking, the well-known, more sophisticated programs will slow the computer down more than the simpler ones. The free program I will describe slows a computer less than do most of its competitors.
2. Almost all commercial anti-virus programs cost money to purchase, and then you find out that the program only works for a year. In fact, every anti-virus program must be updated daily or every few days to make sure it is always prepared for new virus that have recently been found. After twelve months, most commercial anti-virus programs will ask you to pay another $30 to $60 for another year's worth of updates. (Some programs will not ask for two years.)  The free program I will describe is free to purchase and never asks for any additional money.
3. The better-known commercial anti-virus programs seem to suffer from "feature-itis." That is, the software producers keep adding more and more features to make the program do more and more. Common additions include anti-phishing features, anti-spyware, online identity protection, web site authentication, a firewall, anti-rootkit protection, and more. To be sure, some of these features may be very useful, especially for computer novices. Knowledgeable Windows users may find such features unnecessary since most of us can recognize phishing, spyware, and such things without additional software. Whether you deem these "extra features" to be useful or not, each adds bulk to the program, slows the computer down still more, and also probably increases the price. The free program I will describe is simple: it protects against viruses. However, the same software producer offers a free anti-spyware product and a free anti-rootkit product. In addition to the free products, the same company adds an even more sophisticated combination of features for a modest price, although not free.

NOTE: For more information on some of these terms, look at the following:
Virus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus
Spyware - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
Phishing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing
Rootkit - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit

One free program can stop viruses from entering your Windows system. If your computer is already infected, the same program may be able to remove the virus (no program is ever guaranteed to be able to remove ALL viruses). Best of all, the program is available free of charge. The program is:

AVG Free Edition produced by GriSoft

AVG Free Edition is an excellent anti-virus program that stops viruses as well as most of the commercial products. Its effectiveness has been tested and verified by West Coast Labs, ICSA Laboratories and Virus Bulletin. I do not have proper virus testing capabilities, so I cannot test AVG myself. However, I will say that I have been using AVG Free Edition as the anti-virus program on one of my Windows XP systems for several years and have never had a virus on that system, despite the fact that it is exposed to the Internet and many web sites and hundreds of e-mail messages every day.

Obviously, the best thing about AVG Free Edition is its price: free. You can download it right now and start using it immediately. The program updates its anti-virus rules every few days to keep your protection at the maximum level possible.

AVG Free Edition does have several disadvantages, however. You need to be aware of these limitations:

1. AVG is licensed for private, non-commercial, single home computer use only. You cannot use it on any computer being used at work or at any corporation or for any commercial use whatsoever. It also may not be used in schools, charities, churches, or governmental organizations. AVG sells a commercial version for computers not allowed under the Free Edition license.
2. You may use AVG Free Edition on a maximum of one computer. If you own two or more computers, you may only use AVG Free Edition on one of them.
3. There is no tech support available for AVG Free Edition. Full tech support is available only with the commercial version.
4. Downloading the program and/or the updates may be slower for AVG Free Edition than for the commercial version. This strikes me as a minor limitation.

I am pleased with AVG Free Edition. I also hear good things about the product from others who are using it. In fact, a few months ago I needed to renew the subscription of a commercial anti-virus product I had been using in my other Windows computers. I purchased the computer a year ago and it included a one-year subscription to one of the well-known anti-virus programs. Now the year was up. Since I was already using one copy of AVG Free Edition, I could not use it in my other Windows systems. Instead, I purchased the "high end version" of the AVG free program: AVG Internet Security Home Edition, which is licensed for installation in three separate computers. The total cost to protect all three systems for one year was $54.99. However, I chose the two-year option for $79.99. That works out to $13.33 per computer per year - a bargain when compared to the anti-virus programs I see at the local computer store.

One thing that surprised me is that my Windows computer now runs significantly faster since I replaced the well-known anti-virus program with AVG Internet Security Home Edition. 

If you have a single Windows computer that needs anti-virus protection, I'd suggest that you look at AVG Free Edition at http://free.grisoft.com.

If you have more computers to protect or need still more protection for a single computer, I'd then suggest that you look at the company's commercial products. They work well and are cheaper than most competitive products.

Comments

[Bill Lawson]

" One thing that surprised me is that my Windows computer now runs significantly faster since I replaced the well-known anti-virus program with AVG Internet Security Home Edition. "

A surprise to end users like you, but techies have known this for years. They use AVG all the time and practically go ballistic if you suggest installing Norton Antivirus. Something about computer changing into snails.

[Dave S.]

AVAST! is another good one.

[John Ralls]

Or you can use ClamAV(http://www.clamav.net/), which is truly free software (as in GPL), available for Microsoft Windows, Macintosh OS-X, and a wide variety of Unixes including Linux. Support is available in the usual free software ways with mailing lists and a wiki.

[Danel V]

Some virus are not detected with free virus scans. Beware.

[Linda Swisher]

I had installed a 4-star antivirus software and my computer was slowing down to a crawl. I hired a techie for an hour, who uninstalled the 4-star program and replaced it with AVG Free. Works fine.

[Judith Arnn-Knight]

AVG is indeed, a wonderful product; I liked it so much that I upgraded to a paid subscription about 18 months ago. I bought it for two years at a reduced rate. When the new 8.0 upgrade came out [for paid users] there was a big problem. I had always also used Ewido which is a spyware/malware remover--using those two pieces of software had kept my computer in tip-top shape.

The problem--AVG either owned Ewido or bought it, not sure. Anyway, with the 8.0 version Ewido is incorporated into the software; I cannot uninstall Ewido there for cannot use the newer version. When I had begun my 8.0 installation I did not know this and the first thing the installation did was to remove the 7.5.x.x--cannot remember the total version name. Then it stopped and told me to take the Ewido off. Using the control panel install/uninstall and the FAQ at AVE I still could not uninstall Ewido.

All I have gotten in the way of support from AVG is an apology for their taking so much time to respond to my request for help. This has gone on since 18 Jul 08; I have written them 5 times with the same result. Removing the software is probably something simple but it is something I have been unable to do.

My only reason for posting is to echo the applause for the software but be aware if you are also running Ewido--do not buy the upgraded version.

judy

[clare]

Yes Norton does slow the computer down to a snails pace but my major complaint is that it disables Windows XP System Restore upon installation. I guess that's so you'll buy System Works. I'm ready to uninstall it forever if this free one does not do that. Has anyone had to use the system restore feature while running this and has it been successful?

[Chuck]

Clare - I wonder if that is why I cannot go back to a restore point more than a months old? I never had Norton installed however.

[Candy]

Actually, I have used this Grisoft product for about 5 years now. My son-in-law discovered it and put it on all of our computers (he has a PC and two laptops, and I have one of each) without any problem.

Works great and I don't notice any slowing of my system when it is doing any scans/downloads.

[Bobby]

I've read far to many complaints about avg 8. Although i have used AVG for years, i wont be upgrading to version 8.

As for Norton, i would use that bloatware if you paid me.

[Joy]

I had trouble with Norton in the past so used AVG Free. Then I got a new laptop with McAfee installed. I got worried about the other computer and bought McAfee for it and my daughter's new laptop. I had a monumental problem with it. It wouldn't go on-line and then wouldn't uninstall. My daughter's laptop also refused to go on-line or shut down. She's using Vista. The company did help me with several hours worth of work using on-line chat using my laptop and finally refunded my money. Needless to say, we reinstalled AVG free on the desktop computer and my daughter did the same on her laptop.

[Nick]

I tried to install AVG freeware last week when a consultant removed PC-Cillin from my wife's badly compromised computer. After 3 unsuccessful tries, of which I was not informed until the end and no reason given, I quit trying and installed CA Anti-virus (formerly eTrust anti-virus) I'm not sure I am happy with it but too early to tell. I may give up and put the ZoneAlarm suite that our main computer uses on. Except for annoying balloon requests it seems to work fine for 3+years.

[Eileen]

I've used AVG for years ever since my IT son told me about it and never had any virus' or problems. I tried McAfee one time and it messed my computer up SO bad. I swear by AVG.

[Barb]

AVG was recommended to me and I have been using the free version for years. The latest version is even better and I think you're wasting your money if you pay for Norton, etc.

[Dae Powell]

I, too, think AVG is brill. Read up on the RootKits, if you will. They are extremely pernicioius. Thanks, Mr. Eastman, for making this fine utility better known to this community.

Happy Dae.
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com

[Mary B.]

Been using Avast for a long time !!! Its great!!! Try Kim Komando's site, many free, safe downloads from there !!!

[LDrewitz]

I had used AVG free as well for years - until version 8 came along... now it rivals Norton for being a memory hog... I switched to Avast and, although it's a little confusing and gives me a list of files that it cannot scan and doesn't have a sceduled scan time (it runs when YOU run it) - I guess it's OK - more work than I'm used to, though...

[GMF]

I tried free AVG until a new version came out and then I had problems. I quickly went to AVAST! A good program so far.

[Linda Stienstra]

I've used Avast for years and love it! I've not had a problem with it and wouldn't think of ever going back to Norton or anything else. I've been telling everybody about it for years, but a lot of people seem to think that free = not very good!

[Steve Offutt]

I have used AVG for 3 years and recently upgraded to version 8 and had no problem. You can't beat the price.

[Joan McIlmoyl Cleghorn, U.E.]

Our PC User Group uses AVG for all 12 of our computers in our Clubhouse, having done so for many years and are very pleased with it. Because we have so many machines, of course we have to use the paid version, however many of our members use the free one.

I prefer Avast and get a huge kick out of the 'man' telling me that my virus database has been updated not to mention the siren on the very rare occasions when a virus is detected in my email.

Believe me, in the past 14 years, I've found that the free AV programs outdo the overpriced commercial ones and the free ones don't require over 2 hours to remove from your system as can happen if your Norton expires before you attempt to uninstall it!

[Susan Trumbull]

I used AVG with no real problems until I got a new computer. My only problem was that it checked everything every time I turned on the computer which was annoying because I couldn't do anything until it finished its job. Is this unusual?

[Dick Eastman]

That is unusual.

AVG has a number of options. You may configure it to run however you wish.

[AntivirusExpert]

I've been familiar with AVG since v6.0, then 7.1 and 7.5 network edition for corporate networks. I know some serious companies implemented AVG as main antivirus defence. One thing, though, they ceased to provide AVG antispyware as a stand-alone product and included it into AVG suite. There are people who would prefer to get AVG antispyware as a complimentary product to their AV, without the need to switch to a new antivirus.