Spyware, viruses, & security : avast! or AVG
Go for AVG
by C++ Genius - 6/18/07 4:31 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATAVG outperforms Avast by a mile. I tested AVG and Avast on exactly the same date, in other words, both had the latest virus definitions installed. AVG detected far more infections than Avast, so I would recommend AVG any day of the year.
Here are a couple of recent reviews of AVG and Avast:
http://www.cybertopcops.com/review-avg-anti-virus-free.php
http://www.cybertopcops.com/review-avast-anti-virus-home.php
Avast or AVG
by marlenegorman - 6/18/07 5:16 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI don't know much about AVG, but I have been using Avast for at least 2 years and found it to be quite efficient. It updates itself automatically and tells you when it does - literally! I have had no problems with it and am very satisfied and you can't beat the price - free. Marlene Gorman
AVG vs Avast
by GoodHart - 6/18/07 5:48 PM In reply to: Avast or AVG by marlenegormanFor the longest time I was using AVG, but when I moved to a newer machine (with XP) I could not get it to run (and I have no real understanding as to why, unless it has to do with my firewall). Anyway, I imediatly switched to running Avast on the advice of a friend, and other then it not being able to do anything with watching my IM (the Firewall does that anyways), it has been hassle free.
Avast or AVG
by ocelot31454 - 6/18/07 6:52 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI have had Avast for about 3 months now. Prior to Avast I had AVG for over a year. I installed the Avast free version while the AVG was still installed and the Avast found 4 virus's that the AVG didn't. Plus the Avast interface is a lot easier to use that the AVG. As far as I'm concerned at this time, AVG doesn't hold a candle to the Avast.
avast! or AVG
by bahurobert - 6/18/07 7:35 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATboth of that is great. less then one hour for completely scanning progress.my pc still on 98 version and not slow down my pc while scanning progress. If i used other program such norton, pc-cillin, my computer became slow and sometimes hang and should be restart my pc.
Avast or AVG
by Capt.Daniel - 6/18/07 8:04 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI have never used Avast, But I have had AVG for two or three years now and in that time I never had any problems, Unlike those spyware programs
I have gone thru. Twice I had Trojans Ping the computer and AVG shutdown the system both times, Once I had Webroot and the Last time with Spyware doctor. Webroot also showed the Trojan but Spyware Doctor didn't.I would say anything that beats the spyware program has to be good!
Both things are good programs, but...
by Ant-likes-info - 6/18/07 10:47 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI've been used Avast! for over 2 years and then I heard from AVG. So, quickly downloaded AVG and uninstalled Avast!.
A few weeks later, my dad's computer was slowing down very quickly. So I ran the A/V program he was using; Symantec Norton Internet Security 2005.
It didn't find anything! Then I downloaded AVG to his computer, removed Norton and installed AVG.
He found the Trojan in minutes!
So, I think this will be clear 
avast! or AVG
by jacksager - 6/18/07 11:04 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATHaving used both these great freebie programs, I followed advice found in an earlier PC World magazine and tried the higher rated "AntiVir"
I would not hesitate to say this is by far the best of the three and beats almost of the commercial versions available.
avast&avg&more
by Lucian.A - 6/19/07 1:33 AM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATBeen using avg for some 9 years, that means since the early releases. I was among the first to get a free license key, when avg was not available in Europe as freeware. All this time, I've had some 3 infections, none major, and, of course, each time it was my fault. Been using avast for some 4 years, only one infection, minor one, my fault too (happens when one visits warez.com !!!). Been using both, full free versions, no conflicts, no problems. Zonealarm is on, avg&avast work together, spybotS&D is memory resident, all with 512 MB ram. If you think that is a problem, video games work just fine, no conflicts, no lags...
AVAST !!! GREATEST Anti-virus program
by dodnsa - 6/19/07 4:14 AM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATFor anyone using Avast 4.5 to 4.7 for the home; I've been using it for the past two years; without any differculty; it's a fantastic program; the home version is free to the user; only the Professional or the Server version is sold to the corporate users. You download the program then register it from www.avast.com they will send you a serial number with instructions how to enter their serial number.
And every year a new serial number will be needed which avast will send to the user.It updates daily.
In the past I used to use Norton anti-virus; not anymore; why should I pay for a program when I can get the better program for free.
Avast will let you download the Avast Virus Cleaner Tool to scan your system then run the Avast Program
to eliminate any virus on your hard drive or in your system memory.
I'm a custom builder.
nscia99@optonline.net
AVG - Hands Down!
by rayne497 - 6/19/07 7:29 AM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI can tell you that I have been a long time user of the AVG free anti-virus product and I prefer it over almost any other anti-virus package out there. It has all of the features that you pay McAfee and Norton for but none of the cost. I tried avast! one time but switched back to AVG right away because I had too many problems with the avast! product. I have found over the years that the AVG product just works. You install it and forget about it. It takes care of updating itself and even scans incoming and outgoing email messages. I have also found that AVG is non-intrusive and it does not slow down your system at all after it is installed. Even when the product is running a system scan, it does not slow the machine down at all which lets you continue working during the scan.
I have never had any kind of virus reach or infest my PC...EVER using this product and I would HIGHLY recommend it to ANYONE!
Ralph DiGiacomo
Avast vs AVG
by Toscane - 6/19/07 8:02 AM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI am a power user and software collector who download just about everything available on the Net, and all I can say about this Avast vs AVG debate is : I've been using Avast for 5 years on my 4 PCs and I have NEVER had a virus on any of them. The updates have been done automaticaly and regularly all the time. What more can you ask from a free antivirus software.
AVG or Avast
by jeepster - 6/19/07 9:25 AM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATI used avg until I upgraded to Vista as avg, at the time was not compatible. Now I use avast and I love it. It updates regularly and gives an audible notification that it has. The ability to do a pre boot scan is excellent. AVG is still very good but for me I recommend Avast.
AntiVir above the rest in my opinion
by Sinkhan - 6/19/07 3:26 PM In reply to: avast! or AVG by SEGMATAs posted, most people would agree that avast! wins out against AVG.
avast! is superior in terms of overall detection and interface. While the latter point is a little less important, the former is certainly one of the main things that anyone looks for in an antivirus program.
As proven by http://www.av-comparatives.org (a site that conducts tests on AV apps every 3-4 months or so with the latest tests in February and May of this year [Note, I cannot post results here. Go to the website and click on "Comparatives" on the left hand bar), avast! beats AVG out in on-demand (your regular manual scan that you initiate yourself) detection and pro-active (detecting and blocking viruses as they appear on your PC).
However, I must mention that the control centre in AVG is much more intuitive than other free-AVs that I've tried. Although avast! boasts a "On-Access Scanner Control", it still doesn't compare to the features of the CC in AVG.
On another point, AVG is a tiny bit lighter on resources than avast! is, especially more noticeable on an older system.
I've had both programs running on my 533 Mhz P-Celeron with 64 RAM and dial-up internet (I'm not joking everyone) and any larger consumption in resources is easily noticed.
Of course, with today's PCs being like 7 to 10 times faster than my old machine, that point may be irrelevant, unless you have a ridiculous number of active processes.
Overall, I prefer avast! more than AVG even though has its positive points.
However as I've preached many times before, I believe that another antivirus app trumps both avast! and AVG.
If you looked at av-comparatives from above, you may have noticed that a program called AntiVir [http://www.free-av.com] did particularly well. Guess what, it has a FREE version. There are very missing features missing from this version, including stuff like a tiny bit slower definition database download, lack of phone support (forums and manual are adequate in my opinion) Although I've never experienced this, I've read in forums and from other places that there is an apparent nag-screen that persuades you to purchase a copy of premium.
But when you look at the results from av-comparatives, it's pretty definitive that AntiVir did very well and was better than programs such as Norton and PC-Cillin.
Both premium and free editions use the exact same update definition base so there is no fear of being less protected.
On a side note, avast! did beat AntiVir in proactive scanning in May. If you read the PDF report, it will outline that although AntiVir was very effective at finding new threats to your system, it came up with a few more false positives than other programs like avast! and thus was penalized as a user needs a program that can determine what is good and what is bad and not have the user make that decision. However, AntiVir is still worth looking into.
So visit http://www.av-comparatives and http://www.free-av.com
-Sinkhan
Thumbs up for avast!
by aikido58 - 6/19/07 3:38 PM In reply to: AntiVir above the rest in my opinion by SinkhanJust my two cents for those who doubt free antivirus. I'm a former McAfee AND Norton user. Didn't really have any major complaints about either. Just got tired of paying for protection when it was offered for free elsewhere. Tried avast about 3 years ago. Virus free since. Turned on many, and I mean many, friends and family to it. They have also been virus free ever since.
End of story.
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