AVG Anti-Virus.....New Version.
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AVG Anti-Virus.....New Version.
Get it soon. Shortly the old 7.5 version will not update any longer. It's still free, and now combines the anti-virus program with their anti-spyware and malware program. The new version is working fine for me so far.....nice program, nice price.
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I tried AVG a couple years ago and installed in on a bunch of systems. Found it lacking by slowing down the system too much and not being able to remove many of the things it detects.
It wasn't bad, though it was much better than anything else for the price. However, now most broadband ISPs include free licenses for many of the retail A/V solutions. This should have been done a LONG time ago along with adware removal tools.
It wasn't bad, though it was much better than anything else for the price. However, now most broadband ISPs include free licenses for many of the retail A/V solutions. This should have been done a LONG time ago along with adware removal tools.
It modifies Google result pages and adds "OK/NotOK" icons to every link. This costs an incredible amount of bandwidth and I find if verrryyy annoying!.
You can disable this functionality luckily, else I would get rid of the entire virus scanner as well.
Besides that is runs still beautiful as always, no complaints.
You can disable this functionality luckily, else I would get rid of the entire virus scanner as well.
Besides that is runs still beautiful as always, no complaints.
Re: AVG Anti-Virus.....New Version.
Bluefront wrote:now combines the anti-virus program with their anti-spyware and malware program
Da*n, it is really becoming bloatware How I hate such all-in-one programs... Soon AVG will bring any PC to its knees (like Symantec, Kaspersky, F-Secure and other big AV packages already do).sjoukew wrote:It modifies Google result pages
Can these components at least turned off?
Not that I ever will be using any AV (or other anti-***ware) programs, but sometimes I need to setup other PCs to run fast and have AV installed at same time. AVG was almost usable so far (some functions turned off), what I should choose next? ClamAV?
The new AVG Free 8.0 has serious problems. No longer is it the clean, lean AV machine. Now it adds registry protection, website protection, and something else I can't remember. Anyway, when you turn these things off (because they are not needed and slow down the system) it put's an exclamation point icon in the system tray. The problem - you can't turn the icon off! It's like: "Alert! Alert! You have disabled unnecessary features!"
I always loved AVG Free. Now I'm looking for something else.
I always loved AVG Free. Now I'm looking for something else.
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Just out of curiosity: how does this cost "an incredible amount of bandwidth"? I'd guess it only checks the domain names against a list that it has stored locally, and then adds the locally stored icons into the html page before the browser gets it. No bandwidth lost here.sjoukew wrote:It modifies Google result pages and adds "OK/NotOK" icons to every link. This costs an incredible amount of bandwidth and I find if verrryyy annoying!.
I might be wrong of course, I won't be using the new bloaty version as this indeed sounds annoying
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mellon....just try it. When you do the install, just don't install the Google thing. I don't like the program to auto-update, or scan for problems at a set time. So I scheduled everything to run at night when all the computers are off. Then there is an option not to run until the next scheduled time. So I am in control of the thing. I see no difference in performance running this new version, compared to 7.5.
I didn't know about the Google thing - it doesn't seem to do it with Opera. I had to start IE to see what everyone was talking about. Can't really complain about AVG8.0 so far.
Also, I'm trying a new firewall from http://www.tallemu.com/ which seems better than any other freebie I've used.
Also, I'm trying a new firewall from http://www.tallemu.com/ which seems better than any other freebie I've used.
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I use AVG Free AV but I configure the program so that no processes run in the background. I am willing to forgo realtime protection in favor of speed. A guide to configuring the new 8.0 version of AVG Free for unobtrusiveness can be found in the Windows XP Tweaking Companion on the Tweak Guides web site.
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I don't see why people use AV software at all. I've been running without any third-party security software on any of my systems for close to two years now, and I haven't had a single problem yet. Keep your windows up to date, don't visit shady websites, and don't open email attachments that you don't trust. If you're really paranoid, run your web browser within a sandbox if you're going exploring on the web. (SandBoxie is great for this) Just don't forget to dump your sandbox contents if you've downloaded anything.
The first line of security is you, not your AV program.
The first line of security is you, not your AV program.
You must not have kids or other people in your household using your computer.Nick Geraedts wrote:I don't see why people use AV software at all. I've been running without any third-party security software on any of my systems for close to two years now, and I haven't had a single problem yet. Keep your windows up to date, don't visit shady websites, and don't open email attachments that you don't trust. If you're really paranoid, run your web browser within a sandbox if you're going exploring on the web. (SandBoxie is great for this) Just don't forget to dump your sandbox contents if you've downloaded anything.
The first line of security is you, not your AV program.
Otherwise you would be more worried about some random DVD/CD or files copied of a USB key than something from the web.
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Re: AVG Anti-Virus.....New Version.
Kasperksy AV is relatively lightweight compared to those, unless you've looked at the Internet security Suite or whatever it's called.Arvo wrote:Bluefront wrote:now combines the anti-virus program with their anti-spyware and malware programDa*n, it is really becoming bloatware How I hate such all-in-one programs... Soon AVG will bring any PC to its knees (like Symantec, Kaspersky, F-Secure and other big AV packages already do).sjoukew wrote:It modifies Google result pages
Can these components at least turned off?
Not that I ever will be using any AV (or other anti-***ware) programs, but sometimes I need to setup other PCs to run fast and have AV installed at same time. AVG was almost usable so far (some functions turned off), what I should choose next? ClamAV?
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I don't see how anyone can be certain that his computer is not infected if he does not employ AV software. I agree that good practices will likely keep one virus free but periodic manual scanning is a wise choice. If AVG Free 8.0 is configured not to run in the background there is no downside to running it.
I installed BWMeter and did a test.mellon wrote:Just out of curiosity: how does this cost "an incredible amount of bandwidth"? I'd guess it only checks the domain names against a list that it has stored locally, and then adds the locally stored icons into the html page before the browser gets it. No bandwidth lost here.sjoukew wrote:It modifies Google result pages and adds "OK/NotOK" icons to every link. This costs an incredible amount of bandwidth and I find if verrryyy annoying!.
I might be wrong of course, I won't be using the new bloaty version as this indeed sounds annoying
The test is a google page with 100 results and the search term "test"
With AVG Save Search: UP: 250kb Down 4400kb.
Without AVG Save Search: Up 12kb, down: 105kb.
I call this "incredible".......
So I think this answers the question if it does anything locally ............
Well this applies to sex as well. Married people could claim they don't need condoms for protection, but the truth is you can never be too careful when there are other people involved. Even innocent looking .jpg coming from a reliable source can contain a virus.Nick Geraedts wrote:I don't see why people use AV software at all. I've been running without any third-party security software on any of my systems for close to two years now, and I haven't had a single problem yet. Keep your windows up to date, don't visit shady websites, and don't open email attachments that you don't trust.
I didn't use AV software for many years for the reasons you listed, but with modern day computers dual cores etc... having a free AV software doesn't really slow your computer down.
I use AVIRA, I think it has the least bloat and performswell in AV-comparisons. Btw, the link you just clicked could contain a virus. Do you trust me?
I trust Opera browser and even when it does let something in (unlikely, but always possible), I trust myself and my abilities to notice and kill any nastyware
I didn't click your link either.
What about using AV software, then that creates false sense of security. Most seriously infected PCs, what I have cleaned, had some kind of AV software running.
I've not used any AV software in my home PC for years, at the same time all my family members are used that PC in administrative rights. Yes, I know, this is not wise
Well, they have got some viruses, but this is rather educational experience - they noticed that after some stupidity from their side PC started behave erratically. Then I logged in, cleaned PC and threatened install Linux, if this happanes another time. No problems for many months after such event
And we have even played "controlled infection" game. My younger daugther wanted to install some cool looking "free" screensaver, of course she asked my permission. We sit down and started installation. First we did uncheck three screenfuls of adware (honestly asked about installation) and then installed it. Once screensaver kicked in, my firewall started to give alerts of it attempts to access suspicious internet sites. We both agreed that it is better to unistall this thing. Of course it needed some residual cleaning too.
I didn't click your link either.
What about using AV software, then that creates false sense of security. Most seriously infected PCs, what I have cleaned, had some kind of AV software running.
I've not used any AV software in my home PC for years, at the same time all my family members are used that PC in administrative rights. Yes, I know, this is not wise
Well, they have got some viruses, but this is rather educational experience - they noticed that after some stupidity from their side PC started behave erratically. Then I logged in, cleaned PC and threatened install Linux, if this happanes another time. No problems for many months after such event
And we have even played "controlled infection" game. My younger daugther wanted to install some cool looking "free" screensaver, of course she asked my permission. We sit down and started installation. First we did uncheck three screenfuls of adware (honestly asked about installation) and then installed it. Once screensaver kicked in, my firewall started to give alerts of it attempts to access suspicious internet sites. We both agreed that it is better to unistall this thing. Of course it needed some residual cleaning too.
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I can be certain that there is no malware on my system because it behaves the way it should, and my web-traffic logs don't show any unusual traffic.Michael Sandstrom wrote:I don't see how anyone can be certain that his computer is not infected if he does not employ AV software. I agree that good practices will likely keep one virus free but periodic manual scanning is a wise choice. If AVG Free 8.0 is configured not to run in the background there is no downside to running it.
The sex thing is a trust issue... and slightly different than the malware topic. An innocent looking JPG file that's embedded in a webpage cannot load a virus on your computer. The file has to be downloaded and then run manually from outside the web browser.Erssa wrote:Well this applies to sex as well. Married people could claim they don't need condoms for protection, but the truth is you can never be too careful when there are other people involved. Even innocent looking .jpg coming from a reliable source can contain a virus.
So because computers have become more powerful, it's alright to install resource-grabbing software to do something that should be handled by you? I'm going to go against my usual viewpoint here and say that it's the same mentality that people have been complaining about Vista. "We need a fancy graphics card just to have Aero?" Ring a bell anyone? AV coders are about as sloppy as they come, and I really don't understand why. Here's a system that should be seemless and have LOW requirements, and yet almost every anti-virus out there slows down systems considerably.Erssa wrote:I didn't use AV software for many years for the reasons you listed, but with modern day computers dual cores etc... having a free AV software doesn't really slow your computer down.
I do trust you enough not to post a malware link on a public forum. I've always kept a copy of AntiVir/Avira on a USB key for emergency situations with friends and whatnot. I've never had to use it on any of my personal systems yet. *touch wood*Erssa wrote:I use AVIRA, I think it has the least bloat and performswell in AV-comparisons. Btw, the link you just clicked could contain a virus. Do you trust me?
*cough*Norton*cough*Arvo wrote:What about using AV software, then that creates false sense of security. Most seriously infected PCs, what I have cleaned, had some kind of AV software running.
Truer words could never be spoken.
Yes it can, unless browser is tightly sandboxed.Nick Geraedts wrote:An innocent looking JPG file that's embedded in a webpage cannot load a virus on your computer.
It was about year or two ago, when there was some windows image drawing library exploited. Remotely, just by displaying (GIF? WMF?) image on the screen. This exploit was really used.
It was the only time, when I really updated my windows boxes just for sake of security. I didn't want for some badly crafted signature image just take my PC over, after all...
Of course no AV software couldn't protect you against this exploit.
I might not do it out of malice. For example I irc a lot. Sometimes (very rarely) my friends paste some "funny" links, which turn out to be infected. There's no guarantee someone here wouldn't pass on a virus link without knowing any better. Or I could have done it out of malice just to teach you Anti-AV people a lesson...Nick Geraedts wrote:I do trust you enough not to post a malware link on a public forum. I've always kept a copy of AntiVir/Avira on a USB key for emergency situations with friends and whatnot. I've never had to use it on any of my personal systems yet. *touch wood*Erssa wrote:I use AVIRA, I think it has the least bloat and performswell in AV-comparisons. Btw, the link you just clicked could contain a virus. Do you trust me?
But I understand where you are coming from. I could easily live without AV programs, but it would mean I would have to skip some stuff just to be safe. Hey, sometimes it's fun to browse those shady websites...
Hey, this is really interesting. If AVG AV actually increases the traffic about 20-40x, where does this bandwidth actually come from? If these numbers are correct simply doing a google search with 1Mbit/s DSL line would take 4 seconds just to transfer the data!sjoukew wrote:I installed BWMeter and did a test.mellon wrote:Just out of curiosity: how does this cost "an incredible amount of bandwidth"? I'd guess it only checks the domain names against a list that it has stored locally, and then adds the locally stored icons into the html page before the browser gets it. No bandwidth lost here.sjoukew wrote:It modifies Google result pages and adds "OK/NotOK" icons to every link. This costs an incredible amount of bandwidth and I find if verrryyy annoying!.
I might be wrong of course, I won't be using the new bloaty version as this indeed sounds annoying
The test is a google page with 100 results and the search term "test"
With AVG Save Search: UP: 250kb Down 4400kb.
Without AVG Save Search: Up 12kb, down: 105kb.
I call this "incredible".......
So I think this answers the question if it does anything locally ............
Also the extra data wouldn't be coming from google but probably from AVG servers, which doesn't make that much sense as they would be paying a lot more for their bandwidth than before just to support their nonpaying AVG Free customers.
So basically what I'm saying is that either AVG is doing something very strange and inefficient both technology- and businesswise or the numbers that BWmeter reports do not actually reflect what moves in/out of the network interface. It could be that AVG modifies the data on a lower lever than where BWMeter does the monitoring. Overall I'm tempted to give it a go by perhaps using my switch's monitoring port and/or Wireshark to see what actually happens in the network interface.