AVG Free 2013 - SUCKS !

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by Lakon, Sep 27, 2012.

  1. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    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)
     
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  3. FreshHat Registered Senior Member

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    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.
     
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  5. mathman Valued Senior Member

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    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.
     
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  7. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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    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.
     
  8. sinstar Registered Member

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  9. Buddha12 Valued Senior Member

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    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.
     
  10. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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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.
     
  11. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    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.
     
  12. prometheus viva voce! Registered Senior Member

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  13. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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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.
     
  14. firdroirich A friend of The Friends Registered Senior Member

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    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.
     
  15. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    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.
     
  16. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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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 ?
     
  17. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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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
     
  18. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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    Thanks for the info. It will be my next port of call if Avast plays up.
     
  19. mathman Valued Senior Member

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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?
     
  20. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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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.
     
  21. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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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.
     
  22. mathman Valued Senior Member

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    I have the free version.
     
  23. Lakon Valued Senior Member

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    Cool - looks like they're addressing some issues. Good luck with it.
     

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