[Ztruker]

Caveat Emptor

I installed AVG Free 8 on my Apache Web Server which runs XP Pro + SP2, after being notified that updates for 7.5 will not be released after the end of May.

System locked up on restart after the install. Rebooted several times and it locked up each time. Booted to Safe Mode and uninstalled AVG Free 8 and the problem is gone.

Works okay on my HP Desktop. Have not tried my Dell Laptop yet.

Just noticed AVG Free has become much more intrusive, constantly asking me to update the the paid Pro version. Time to look for a new free AV program.

Edited by Ztruker, 01 May 2008 - 09:12 PM.

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Yeah, it was popping up sales pitches using my web browser.
That's not nice.

So far no problems with 8.0 here, and no popups.
Hopefully it will just be that little one in the tray.
It does have a lot more added features to it.

Avast seems okay but I still go with AVG.

[cmpm]

Yeah, it was popping up sales pitches using my web browser.
That's not nice.

So far no problems with 8.0 here, and no popups.
Hopefully it will just be that little one in the tray.
It does have a lot more added features to it.

Avast seems okay but I still go with AVG.

[wizzy2k5]

I've had no problems with AVG 8.0 as of yet, I know it has a little box at the bottom saying about upgrading but i've had no problems unlike I have had with a few others.

[Ztruker]

Just found out today that AVG 8 does not support DOS based Windows like 98, 98SE or ME. Win 2000+SP4+Rolled up updates is the minimum.

[Ztruker]

Avast Home Premium (free version) still supports WIN 95/98*Ztruker so that is what I will have to switch to, at least for the older computers I work on.

[happyrock]

thanks for the heads up... just warned all my clients..

[The Skeptic]

Avast is a great free program superior, in my opinion, to Avg With most aspects. The only drawbacks are that the free edition does not run automatic scans and that it ask you to renew your license after a while. The new license is free but it's surprising to see how many people become paralayzed when seeing the message on their desktop telling them that their license expired. So, personally I use and recommend AVAST!. For less skilled people I recommend AVG which is more user friendly.

I guess I'll have to start experimenting with AVG 8.0.

[wizzy2k5]

Avast Home Premium (free version) still supports WIN 95/98*Ztruker so that is what I will have to switch to, at least for the older computers I work on.

Cheers for the heads up Ztrucker i'll keep this information to hand when I need it

thanks

[The Skeptic]

Between my previous post and now I installed AVG 8.0 on a computer which I cleaned of malware using AVG 7.5, Avg Antispyware and Malwarebytes. What shall I say, I am impressed. If these are not false positives then it fished off another 8 tojans and tons of Adware. It looks as if AVG integrated their previous antispyware tool into the present program.

Looks very good on first glance.

[Ztruker]

I don't like the Avast GUI at all. It's totally confusing and the 60 day license timeout is going to cause grief from my older customers still using Win 98 or even Win ME.

I posted in the AVG 9 forum and got some suggestions to try. It's possible there is a conflict between Apache or the old Kerio Personal Firewall and AVG 8.

I'll play with it a bit and post the results back here (and WTT since I started a similar thread there).

Are there any other free AV programs around that work well?

[wizzy2k5]

Ztrucker I have used quite a few anti-virus programs and here are the ones I quite liked

AVG 8.0
Avast
Spyware Terminator (this has a anti-virus built into it, once installed you can choose if you want to protect against viruses)

If I remember it uses clam anti-virus (can't remember exact name) and I find it good on somethings you might want to have a look at it it also offers real time protection.

[hfcg]

Avast still has issues with Vista.
It is a better program than AVG (as far as protection) for XP users.

Edited by hfcg, 03 May 2008 - 08:19 PM.

[The Skeptic]

I don't know about how Avast deals with Vista but compared to AVG 7.5 it has some very important advantages.

First, it's simply better at discovering serious malware. I use it often to clean infected computers that had other antiviruses, including AVG.

Second, and probably most important, is that it scans files while being downloaded, and stop the bugs before they get into the computer. AVG 7.5 didn't have this options, which is a very serious handicap. If the present version is not having this option then I'll not use it.

There is something that I don't like about the general attitude of AVG, especially the inability to get technical support to their free products.

Regarding Avast! like I said before it has two disadvantages: the need to renew the free licencse once a year or so, which can be confusing to many people and it lacks automatic scans. It also looks less fancy then others, but otherwise it's a great tool.

[The Skeptic]

A quote from Wikipedia that helps explain why, personally, I think that Avast is superior to AVG.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

According to AVG Technologies, over 70 million users have AVG Anti-Virus protection, including users of the Free Edition. On April 24, 2008, AVG released AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0. Along with a more colorful interface, the new program added some new features - a combined Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protection engine, LinkScanner Search-Shield safe search protection, plus the AVG Security Toolbar - which were previously only available in AVG commercial versions.

There are some limitations with AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 compared to the commercial versions of AVG products. These limitations include:

* Less protection - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 provides only base level protection against viruses, spyware and safe searching. It does not provide safe surfing (drive-by download protection) nor protection from hackers, keyloggers, spam, phishing attacks and malicious file downloads that can come through instant messaging and attachments from seemingly friendly sources. This protection is only available in the commercial versions of AVG products.
* Slower updates - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 receives updates via a lower priority service. Priority updating via high-speed servers is only available for the commercial versions of AVG products.
* No telephone or e-mail technical support - There is no telephone or e-mail technical support provided by AVG for users of AVG Free Edition products anywhere in the world. AVG Free Edition users have access to support via the self-help AVG Free Forum.
* No customisation - Scheduling options in AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 are very limited (only one scheduled update per day, one scheduled scan per day etc.). The AVG Resident Shield configuration is limited with no exclusion settings. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition does not offer advanced testing options, password-protected archives reporting, adjustment of scan process priority and many other features.
* No server support - AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 cannot be installed on server operating systems (such as Windows Server 2003), nor can it be used for the scanning of network drives.

AVG Free Edition is responsible for popup ads.[citation needed] These are for the non-free AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 and AVG Internet Security 8.0 products, which claim to provide more comprehensive levels of protection.

[Ztruker]

I agree with all of that, but I still don't like Avast. I didn't like the interface. Maybe it's time to take another look, but the last time I tried it, the stupid thing talked, which I hate. If I could turn that off, I might try it again.

BTW: I gave up on Avira. After I installed it, my web server became very unstable. I'm currently back to AVG 7.5 there.

BTW#2: I installed Avast on a Win 98 SE system yesterday and it works, but the interface there is non-existant and there are no useful controls that I could find. It also expires after 60 days so that should be interesting for my customers.