AVG Anti virus version 8

[Redash]

A new version of the free Antivirus has been released

AVG Free - Download installation files & documentation to download.

[derekcrowley]

[Hi redash just installed the new version of avg have to say it's great glad i read your thread about it. Mny thanks Derek.COLOR="Navy"][/COLOR]

[derekgas]

I have it already, didnt think to post about it here, thanks for the thought!

[MargaretR]

This new free version is better - includes spyware detection, and has a more user friendly interface - I recommend it too.
Even though you may have the old version set to auto update, it won't auto send you this - you need to download.

[MUMMIBOO]

I have this version already is was mentioned somwhere on site already. It is alot better easier to use i think.

[panther]

i use McAfee,....typical....i pay for it, and look...ya can get one for nowt!!

is it really good?...i mean really really good??

if so McAfee can ****** off next year!!

[beechy]

i now use this version its better But
does anybody else have a small pop up
two inch square with the letters HKCU in the middle once i delete it
everything runs as normal any ideas as to what it is ?

[Loz]

I've had Norton and McAfee, and I have to say, AVG is so much better, it really is.

AVG, coupled with Spybot and AdAware have kept my PC in tip top shape for the last 3 years or so.

Never bothered with a firewall tbh, always just used the Windows one built into XP.

[MargaretR]

I recently had a PC tower 'die', and had to revert to using my back-up laptop.

I have had a week getting used to Windows 7 on that laptop.

My son returned my repaired tower today. He was unable to save any data on it so it is 'empty' except for the things he put on it for me (Windows7, Firefox, Adobe Reader)

When I mentioned that I would download AVG he said that Microsoft Security Essentials would be better. He explained this by saying that Microsoft are aware of the shortcomings of their systems and produce solutions in updates. They are hardly likely to advertise any shortcomings they detect, so other producers of virus detection systems are less likely to be aware of faults than Microsoft themselves.

Another security issue we discussed was password entry on Startup.
I am the only person who uses my PCs so I found password access a nuisance and removed it.
He said that this was foolish because it meant that hackers could get easy access.
So I have restored the password on my laptop.

Then we discussed passwords - It seems most of mine are too easy to guess - they should have symbols, letters and numbers.

My son has a degree in Information Technology and his job is development/maintenance of the computer systems at Manchester UNI - so I do give what he tells me a lot of credibility.

I now will be busy 'filling up' my two PCs with the bookmarks I lost, and all my music from CDs(which I wisely kept). The only thing I saved on a memory stick was banking docs.

[entwisi]

Your password offers zero protection against a hacker, if I needed to I'd just pull the disk and shove it in a usb caddy, all data now easily available. As for microsoft knowing their own defects better than anyone else I'm really sorry but that is utter twaddle. They are constantly being tod by the security companies of major bugs in their system that they then try and rush a fix out, in fact they sometimes dont even bother to do that. unless the hard disk was actually broken our the part ition table completely screwed I could probably have recovered most of your data. I've even managed to get back hundreds of pictures from a card that had been formatted before now.

If you up use firefox it had the facility to store/sync bookmarks to the web.

Re password strength, yes using symbols is a good thing. Just be sure the thing you are protecting is itself secure....

[MargaretR]

Originally Posted by entwisi

Your password offers zero protection against a hacker, if I needed to I'd just pull the disk and shove it in a usb caddy, all data now easily available. As for microsoft knowing their own defects better than anyone else I'm really sorry but that is utter twaddle. They are constantly being tod by the security companies of major bugs in their system that they then try and rush a fix out, in fact they sometimes dont even bother to do that. unless the hard disk was actually broken our the part ition table completely screwed I could probably have recovered most of your data. I've even managed to get back hundreds of pictures from a card that had been formatted before now.

If you up use firefox it had the facility to store/sync bookmarks to the web.

Re password strength, yes using symbols is a good thing. Just be sure the thing you are protecting is itself secure....

My son was referring to hacking from a remote location, not reading a hard drive on some machine.

My son has many gadgets(from work) to use for 'recovery' - none worked

[entwisi]

In which case the "password" is of even less use as all trojans/viruses/ etc would be running as the logged in user(your router provides a level of indirection to stop direct access to your machine ). I'd have been more impressed if you said he'd set up a limited privilage user account for your day to day use and an Admin account for the days you want to install anything etc. This way any trojans/viruses would also need to have privilage escalation functionality to do any real damage(which most dont as Windows accounts are by default admin privilage level so they dont need to worry about it).

Also hacking URLS like logmein/advert serving URLS in the local hosts file to direct to localhost is a very useful and yet basic level of security that most people dont use.

[MargaretR]

My son knows I am not a geek so does not confuse me by making things more complex than they need to be.

[entwisi]

but giving you a false sense of security is OK????????

[Studio25]

Seeing as this AVG thread has been revived, I feel it's worth pointing out that AVG has let two viruses through since August, and keeps nagging me about a false positive. I'm in the process of replacing it with Avast! on all the PCs I'm tasked with looking after.