Mrs. Mecomber’s Scrapbook

I just updated one of my computers to the Grisoft AVG 8.0 version. It’s working very well. AVG is a free email scanner/antivirus program (they also have a paid-for “pro” version). I’ve been using AVG for many years on various computers and I really like it. This new version looks like a million bucks. They’ve done a good job with their interface (previous interfaces were a little baffling). And the download went smooth and easy.

I have two complaints– one is that the link for the download is rather hidden. AVG is now emphasizing their Pro version, and the links to that are everywhere. I had to be very careful what link I clicked, because I did want to accidentally get the Pro version and have to pay for after 30 days. Here’s a page with the download links. Look for “AVG Free.” If you’ve never downloaded AVG before, there are special instructions with a license key that is emailed to you. Just going to the home page and looking around will show it. Or, you can do a quick search at Download.com and get it directly there.

Secondly, AVG 8.0 has a toolbar (they do ask you first, and give you a choice; I chose yes) you can download with the anti-virus program. I really like the idea behind it (protect you from phishing sites, etc), but it either severely slowed down my Firefox browser or crashed it. And I was unable to uninstall the AVG toolbar, I could only “disable” it. It’s not in my Add/Remove programs, either.

So AVG 8.0 is much nicer, but dump the buggy toolbar and watch which version you download. I do wish software programs would stop trying to overextend themselves. I personally prefer the basic, minimal programs that only do one or two things. I don’t like software that dumps everything under the sun along with baby clothes and free sunglasses.

But AVG is free, and I can’t complain about that! And it’s a good program, to boot.