AntiVir and AVG Free: An End to the Elusive Search for Free Virus Protection AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition Forrest Stroud
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Like AntiVir, AVG meets all three critical cost criteria for a completely free virus scanner — the scanner itself is free and includes real-time virus monitoring, its virus definition files are updated regularly and are available for download without subscription, and technical support is free as well (albeit in the form of an FAQ and online help). And as is the case with AntiVir, AVG's combination of a plain interface and slow speed means it doesn't offer much beyond the basic requirements of a free scanner.
In terms of features, AVG offers an E-mail Scanner for scanning and revealing viruses in your e-mail messages and attachements, an AVG Resident Shield for real-time virus monitoring and protection, an on-demand scanner for performing manual scans of drives, a Virus Vault for quarantining infected files, a scheduling utility for scheduling scans, and automatic update functionality for ensuring you stay current with the latest program updates and virus definition files.
And while it's not the most attractive interface you'll come across in a virus scanner, AVG's layout is intuitive enough to accomodate novice users and extensive enough to satisfy more advanced users. Buttons are available on the main interface for performing complete scans of all your hard drives or on all your removable media, and customized scanning options are a simple menu click away. Program settings and information, scanning results, and scheduling options are also available via the main interface.
Relative to AntiVir, support is the only real area where AVG comes up short. While AntiVir features a technical support forum where questions are generally answered quite quickly, AVG's free support is limited to a specially designed frequently asked questions (FAQ) interface for resolving common installation and maintenance issues. Support via e-mail is available but requires (at minimum) a one-year paid subscription or an upgrade to one of the professional editions.
The free edition of AVG is restricted to single home computer use only, so commercial and professional environments — and even non-profit organizations such as schools, charities, and churches — will need to purchase the professional edition of AVG, which retails for about $30 per license.
Pros: Free virus scanner with Virus Guard real-time scanning protection, regularly updated definition files, and technical support; integrated scheduler and Web update utilities
Cons: Extremely basic interface, no integrated email scanner, slow relative to the competition, limited help file and virus list, English Web site can be slow and even unresponsive at times
