AVG Free 2013 - SUCKS !

I moved away from AVG some time back when it started to get too bloatware-ish.

I tend to use a mixture of methods to reduce attacks by loopbacking advertisement services canonical names to the localhost (127.0.0.1), turning off script engines, stopping third-party applications from running without confirmation, having my email program run in "text only mode" (I'm use to HTML so I can read through that). Any sites I want to visit but feel are a little iffy I use the view-source: method to read the page first to see what it is trying to load and which sites are attached to it. As for antivirus I did start using ClamAV, however that's been pulled into Immunet which itself is a bit bloated (Since it's a cloud anti-virus system which can use ClamAV to do local tests)

When concerned about security I run NETSTAT to find out which files are opening ports to listen on and which remote addresses are being connected to. I also turn off all processes and services that I don't need or use, this reduces the systems overhead while reducing the footprint of any exploitable processes. Lastly I also use the actual firewall rules in the Router to tighten connections in and out further.

Between all the small tweaks I see less than one infection a year over the past 10 years on my PC's (I can't say the same for other peoples)
 
I've been using Avast for approximately eight years. Formerly used AVG.

AVG was fine, but I favour Avast.Excellent anti-virus program.

I use it in conjunction with Malwarebytes, which also gets two big "thumbs up", too.
 
There appear to be 3 favorite free anti-virus programs, Avira, AVG, and Avast. They seem to have (according to Consumer Reports) similar capabilities in catching viruses.

Particular features: 1) schedule scan - Avira and AVG, 2) e-mail check - AVG and Avast. My solution use AVG since it does both.

In the past when I had trouble with AVG, I used Avira and Avast and turned Avast off except for e-mail scan.
 
Just to remind folk, particularly those on AVG 2012, that AVG Free 2013 does some nasty things. If you haven't read the OP and you're on AVG 2012, you should read it.
 
And I will also state that the paid version, $40.00 per year thereabouts, has given me excellant protection for the past 6 years now. I have installed their 2013 update and have had no problems at this time and would always recommend the paid version to anyone.
 
Buddha12 said:
And I will also state that the paid version, $40.00 per year thereabouts, has given me excellant protection for the past 6 years now. I have installed their 2013 update and have had no problems at this time and would always recommend the paid version to anyone.
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Very cool ! For $40 a year it would want to be A1 I suppose.

I had a paid Gridsoft cleaner product a while back, and it was A1 too. Then I discovered CCleaner which I'm really happy with.
 
Sinstar,
While using archives or mirrors is fine, it should always be considered that if something that was housed on one site is no longer available there but found somewhere else, there is no way of telling if the file has been doctored unless you have the original to compare it with or the original MD5 checksums.
 
sinstar said:
Ever heard of http://www.oldversion.com/? Or more specifically http://www.oldversion.com/AVG-Anti-Virus.html.
It has saved me tons of headaches :)
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No, I didn't think of that. In hindsight however, that's probably a good thing, because if all current AVG free download sites default to 2013 with it's previously mentioned limitations, what's the point of trying to sustain an older version ? Sooner or later, they'd probably diminish or withdraw support for it, as is their right to do.

I just made a clean break of it and went to Avast, which is going great - for the moment.

Thank you for your suggestion.
 
I liked AVG once upon a time, but dropped it when the bloat started creeping in. Avira was my next choice and would still be using it had I not discovered bitdefender.
Its got a 90day trial, during which I failed to find anything wrong with the product, so now I don't mind paying for it.
 
I have been very satisfied with Microsoft Security Essentials. I've been installing it on all of my relatives computers, and it has been keeping them virus free. Unlike the free versions of other anti virus software I've tried, it runs quietly in the background with no annoying pop ups asking you to buy the full version.
 
Repo Man said:
I have been very satisfied with Microsoft Security Essentials. I've been installing it on all of my relatives computers, and it has been keeping them virus free. Unlike the free versions of other anti virus software I've tried, it runs quietly in the background with no annoying pop ups asking you to buy the full version.
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Sound interesting, yes, I've heard of it several times. How big is it ? Is it free ? Given the proprietorship issue with operating systems (Microsoft) do you find it intrusive at all ? Does it take over your computer (to any extent) and try to make you use Microsoft products ?
 
Lakon said:
Sound interesting, yes, I've heard of it several times. How big is it ? Is it free ? Given the proprietorship issue with operating systems (Microsoft) do you find it intrusive at all ? Does it take over your computer (to any extent) and try to make you use Microsoft products ?
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I don't find it intrusive at all. I don't know the size of the download, but it isn't an issue unless you are stuck on dial up. Yes, it's free. It only has a small icon ion the system tray, which will change color and shape if you've gotten behind on either updating it, or running a scan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Security_Essentials
 
Repo Man said:
I don't find it intrusive at all. I don't know the size of the download, but it isn't an issue unless you are stuck on dial up. Yes, it's free. It only has a small icon ion the system tray, which will change color and shape if you've gotten behind on either updating it, or running a scan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Security_Essentials
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Thanks for the info. It will be my next port of call if Avast plays up.
 
Lakon said:
Been using AVG for years. Had 2012 most recently. Got a message to update to 2013 yesterday, thought "Ah, good, like the previous updates .. "

So I went along with it. Fairly big, about 40mb, plus more for subsequent database updates, but anyway ..

Initialised it - new interface looks awful, but anyway ..

Went to do a full scan - surprise surprise, it was over in second .. strange. Did another one - same. In fact, seemed like nothing was happening.

So went to history (or something) to check results of scan. Had the two scans listed, and - ZERO OBJECTS SCANNED on each one.

Strange .. checked around the internet, went to Cnet. In comments section for AVG 2013, folks who have recently downloaded are complaining of the same problem.

Went to AVG 2013 site, onto their AVG 2013 forums, and there's a thread on it about this. Users of 2013 can't do full scan with free version. Responses from what appear to be AVG staff are clearly stonewalling / sidestepping the issue - asking for info, or for complicated actions to be performed, that most people wouldn't have a clue about.

So it looks like AVG has gone miserly by stealth. Yes, it's a free, but my complaint is they should have told folk about this and not gone about it in such a surruptitious manner.

So anyway, I want to roll back to 2012. Nope - impossible - can't be done.

So I want to download AVG 2012 again and then uninstall 2013. Can't be done - all sites default to 2013

So I want to do a systems restore back to a couple of days ago - and for the first time ever, UNABLE TO DO SYSTEMS RESTORE - IT WON'T COMPLETE, AND AVG 2013 IS STILL THERE.

So a warning before other AVG users get sucked in too.

I'm about to unintall it completely.

Anyone got any good alternative suggestions ? I hear Avast is real good but not very private as its aligned to google, thus tells google all about you ?

Any feedback appreciated.
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I am puzzled by your comment. I have AVG 2013. It is set to do full system scan overnight, every night. Just to make sure that I wasn't missing something, I just completed a system scan, which took about ten minutes. Is it possible you have a defective copy?
 
mathman said:
I am puzzled by your comment. I have AVG 2013. It is set to do full system scan overnight, every night. Just to make sure that I wasn't missing something, I just completed a system scan, which took about ten minutes. Is it possible you have a defective copy?
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You might have the full paid version ? Have a look at the following link - AVG forums. Many folk having the identical problem I stated in the OP with the free 2013 version.

http://forums.avg.com/us-en/avg-forums?sec=thread&act=show&id=217539

Anyway, if it's working for you, that's good. AVG might have fixed it. Moot point for me - I've installed Avast and it's working fine.
 
Lakon said:
You might have the full paid version ? Have a look at the following link - AVG forums. Many folk having the identical problem I stated in the OP with the free 2013 version.

http://forums.avg.com/us-en/avg-forums?sec=thread&act=show&id=217539

Anyway, if it's working for you, that's good. AVG might have fixed it. Moot point for me - I've installed Avast and it's working fine.
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And from an AVG tech guy on the abovementioned forum .. post no 217685

Hello all,

Please note that you are still protected there is only issue in scan(and our developers are working on it) run by user.
 
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