Spyware, viruses, & security forum: avast! or AVG

Hi Segmat - I am a late contributor (I am in Australia and don't get the newsletter until late). I am currently using PC-cillin but it runs out in November and I am going to switch to a freebie. I have been on the net checking the preferences of 'experts' on free anti virus programs. Currently AntiVi(free) rates as their top dog. Apparently it has a greater detection rate than the others. It does not, however have an email scanning component (I consider that a drawback).
Have a look at Gizmo Richards Support Alert newsletter, it is fine publication, there is a free edition and it is chock full of freebies and good advice. Gizmo's recent newsletters covered this very subject and is well worth a read.
Good luck........JIMBO

when i used to have antivir in my laptop. Can't update at all for sure. But a friend of mine is able to update his copy.

But still, it's still the best free antivirus around. If you have no problems updating, then this software will be a great free tool to protect yourself against viruses.

Don't look at AOL. Better to get Kaspersky than that free version if I want to.

wow. this has turned into a huge thread! thanks. anyway, in reply to the ones on Norton and McAffee, it's no wonder that there are issues. those huge comanies don't really care about the average person and that's why free software is the way to go. or maybe NOD32 if you have money for it but I don't so... in response to Comodo products, they seem really good, they have great potential, but the HIPS in the anti-virus product gets REALLY ANNOYING! i don't like it because of that. as for the comodo suite antispyware part, that gets poor reviews everywhere and the firewall, if you have a properly configured router firewall and the windows XP one, you'll be fine, IMHO. if i'm wrong, i'd appreciate correction. i am downloading the comodo products to try them out again though, so maybe they've improved since last i tried them. they've been getting quite a name for themselves though so maybe they're ok. oh, and in response to the bit about the avast! license, that's the only thing holding me back from using it is that license. why do that for a free product? what a waste. thanks again for all your responses! hope you've had a good weekend!

Matt Segstro

I've just installed Comodo and it's a dream! I love it. I looked at some reviews and people said all over the place that it would cripple your machine and all that, well, I never had any issues with it slowing anything down, the scan is fast (as fast as AVG basically) but the only thing is that after it scanned, it told me that I had something like 1200 things that were suspect because they wern't in the safe database and it's still trying to submit them all to Comodo. I don't really know how long it's going to take but other than that, it's great. I'm going to continue using Spybot S&D but I'm probably going to try out the other Comodo products as well, like the firewall and all that, maybe a free security suite is the way to go... we'll see. Thanks for the suggestion, I'm pleased as punch!

Matt Segstro

NOD32 works great, but is expensive. If you are looking for free virus scanners, NOD32 is at the opposite end (very expensive).

Comodo works great with Windows XP, but it does not work well with Vista. I had to uninstall Comodo on my Vista machine due to conflicts and problems. Hopefully, they will bring Comodo up-to-date to work with Vista, but for right now I would advise against installing it on a Vista machine.

SEGMAT --- Although the performance of any piece of software is dependent, in part, on what other software your machine has running on it --- the experience I have had on my computer is that avast! Free is functionally better then AVG.

I am running on a Dell XPS w/ WIN XP Pro SP2 and IE6.

Running AVG on my machine resulted in regular conflicts, screen freezes and BSODs, whereas, my switching to and use of avast! Free has been very smooth and contention free. JP

I used AVG for three years until a critical update caused it to stop working. Rebooting and reloading it from the website didn't solve the problem. Nothing did. So I switched to Avast and everything has been fine for 18 months. My OS is XP SP2, with Windows Defender, Avast,
and Spybot S&D running simultaneously and happily together. Seamless and silent updates, and no virus, rootkit or dialer problems since the switch. I'm happy.

thanks for the replies, I do want to let everyone know who is tracking this thread and those who stumble upon it, I am no longer using either of these products, I had decided to stay with AVG instead of switching to avast due to the responses in this thread. however, someone posted a reply that I should go with neither and instead try out Comodo. Comodo is the best. I switched to it and don't think I'll ever switch back. There are so many benefits, it's amazing. I'm using the suite now, the award winning firewall, the antivirus (with integrated antispyware) as well as the memory resident BOClean which detects many forms of malware. to those who are following this thread, check these products out. there's no license like avast has, and it's a full product unlike AVG where you need to buy more products in order to get full protection. it scans as quick as AVG and so what if the antivirus is in beta, it's still great. Some reviewers say that the product locks up their computers and blue screens it, I never had any of those issues and my computer's not top of the line either. It scans through emails (in fact, i just got an email through Thunderbird and it displayed an icon in the system tray that it had scanned the email!) sorry this is so long but it's a great product and you should check it out.

Matt Segstro

in regards to the firewalls, many, if not most people, have a router that is a firewall as well. for the longest time, I was simply running the Windows Firewall and was fairly well protected because I configured my router properly. Comodo is simply a nice addition and even more protection but probably not necessary, although it's kind of nice to get a full suite type thing.

Matt Segstro

AVG 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

For 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.

both 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.

I'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

Been 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...

I 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